Mutualism is a developmental theory that posits positive reciprocal relationships between distinct cognitive abilities during development. It predicts that abilities such as language and reasoning will influence each other's rates of growth. This may explain why children with Language Disorders also tend to have lower than average non-verbal…

As part of a mixed-methods reconnaissance action research study, I assessed the impressions teachers had of using an innovation configuration for vocabulary instruction at an English education center in China. The quantitative data strand consisted of lesson artifacts and documents. The qualitative data strand consisted of semi-structured…

Background: Problem-solving in early and middle childhood is of high relevance for cognitive developmental research and educational support. Previous research on science problem-solving has focussed on the process and strategies of children handling challenging tasks, but less on providing insights into the cognitive network that enables science…

This study aimed to investigate the following questions: Does the use of thinking maps and semantic mapping during explicit vocabulary instruction affect content specific science vocabulary knowledge and comprehension in fourth grade students? and What are student perceptions of using thinking maps and semantic maps to learn new vocabulary? To…

Higher-order thinking is relational reasoning in which multiple representations are linked together, through inferences, comparisons, abstractions, and hierarchies. We examine the development of higher-order thinking in 64 preschool-aged children, observed from 14 to 58 months in naturalistic situations at home. We used children's spontaneous talk…

Background: The South African Department of Basic Education (DBE) aims to expand science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) learning in the national curriculum through a "Digital Skills for All Curriculum" (DSfAC) for Grade R-9. The DSfAC intends to educate a STEM-literate future citizenry with refined computational thinking…

Poetry can be a significant aspect of a person's literacy experiences (Tomlinson & Lynch-Brown, 2002). It is an excellent genre for learning, but what are the best methods and should poetry be required for English as a foreign language (EFL) literature majors? The main purpose of this study is to determine how effective poetry can be in…

The aim of this research was to study how children's play behaviour was related to their cognitive skills and vocabulary development in integrated early childhood special education (ECSE) groups. The longitudinal study is part of the LASSO research project, which concerns children's stress regulation, learning and quality of early childhood…

Marsh et al.'s tests of appropriate spatial relationship concepts were administered to groups of college students to determine whether learning GIS enhances students' overall ability to generate and recognize fundamental spatial relationship concepts. 119 undergraduate students enrolled in various GIS courses and in non-GIS courses participated in…

As students advance to and through middle school, teachers expect them to meet higher academic expectations. Students' ability to meet these expectations depends, in part, on their use of effective study skills. Using notecards represents one study skill that students can use flexibly in many subjects to prepare for upcoming assessments. With some…

As a genre, science fiction is uniquely suited for highlighting and modeling the basic tenets of critical pedagogy, that branch of educational philosophy and theory devoted equally to 1) exposing the hidden power structures embedded in educational practice and 2) articulating equitable and sustainable alternatives. The science fiction novum --…

Intellectual abilities are consistently found to be associated to child functioning. To date, however, it is unclear how varying intellectual profiles relate to differential aspects of child functioning. We screened 513 fifth-grade children on their intellectual abilities and selected three groups of gifted children, scoring in the top 10%:…

We examined if North (n = 123) and South Korean (n = 123) children in Grades 3 to 8 studying in South Korea differ in their reading, vocabulary, and literacy-related cognitive skills, and whether language and literacy-related skills contribute to reading outcomes differently among North and South Korean children. The results showed that South…

This quantitative and qualitative study explored students' perceptions of a flipped German course and its measurable impact on their critical-thinking skills. The instructional design of the course shifted grammar and vocabulary instruction outside of class so that students in the newly created collaborative in-class space could engage in more…

As South East Asia enters a new decade of English language education, attempts are being made to maximize the utility of university EAP courses to fully meet students' language learning needs and prepare them for further academic study. In order for this to be achieved, language educators have begun to focus on incorporating '21st century skills'…