Tangrams are a traditional Chinese puzzle comprising seven pieces that fit together to make a square. The seven pieces include two large right angled isosceles triangles, one medium size right angled isosceles triangle, two small right angled isosceles triangles, a small parallelogram, and a small square. The literature shows tangrams have been…

Creative potential is a set of multidimensional resources concerning the latent ability to produce original and adaptive work. Confluent theoretical models, in particular, stated that, in order to express creative potential in an effective way, resources should converge and interact efficiently. Within such a confluent framework, the present study…

Understanding of the equal sign is associated with early algebraic competence in the elementary grades and equation-solving success in middle school. Thus, it is important to find ways to build foundational understanding of the equal sign as a relational symbol. Past work promoted a conception of the equal sign as meaning "the same as".…

Learning to teach science using engineering design is a complex endeavor for elementary preservice teachers (PSTs). This entails helping PSTs understand students as sense makers and recognizing ways to notice, respond, and leverage their students' ideas throughout the design process. In this study, we follow a cohort of elementary PSTs through a…

Economic literacy is critical for success in one's career and life. Such literacy has never been more relevant than today due to supply-chain issues causing product shortages, surging inflation, and rising interest rates. Discovery learning through active learning materials discussed in this article were employed with fifth and sixth-grade…

This conceptual paper discusses two frameworks, developed independently by the lead author, that will provide the conceptual foundation for the identification and evaluation of mental computation strategies students demonstrate during an upcoming research project entitled Mental Computation in Year 5. These frameworks will be used by the lead…

With accelerating advances in artificial intelligence, it is clear that introducing K-12 students to AI is essential for preparation to interact with and potentially develop AI technologies. To succeed as the workers, creators, and innovators of the future, we argue students should encounter core concepts of AI as early as elementary school.…

The primary purpose of this study is to investigate the degree to which register knowledge, register-specific motivation, and diverse linguistic features are predictive of human judgment of writing quality in three registers--narrative, informative, and opinion. The secondary purpose is to compare the evaluation metrics of register-partitioned…

This research aimed to study the effects of the WeDo 2.0 robot workshop on grade five students' acquisition of the computational thinking concepts (CTCs) and their acceptance of the robot technology. A quasi-experimental method, One-Group Pre-test Post-test design, was used. Thirty-five grade 5 students participated in a five-day (four hours of…

This study investigates students' and adults' performance in judging reasonableness of computational results, namely reflecting on whether these results qualify as acceptable answers to mathematical tasks. Data was gathered via task-based questionnaires from 160 participants, evenly divided between fifth-graders and adults. Their responses to a…

With the increasing importance of teaching STEM to young students, the engineering design process (EDP) has become a popular learning platform in K-12 STEM education. The engineering design process guides students in solving engineering problems, but there is a lack of understanding of how students utilize this process. In this study, we explored…

The current study investigated the effects of the concrete-representational-abstract integrated sequence (CRA-I) for teaching fifth grade students receiving tier two interventions within a multi-tiered system of support (MTSS). The research questions addressed the following: the extent to which students' rational number skills changed as a result…

Mathematics learning is essential for children with special needs (CSN). The process of learning mathematics at the CSN can be started from concrete to abstract. During the math learning process, many gestures are produced by CSN. Gestures can direct the individual to take and understand the implied meaning of any movement or facial expression.…

One of the goals of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education is to promote students' understanding of and interest in STEM careers. However, young students often hold stereotypical perceptions of STEM professionals. This study aimed to apply two newly developed checklists to explore upper elementary students' perceptions…

This study examines the convergent validity of the Physical Activity Questionnaire for Children (PAQ-C) for assessing moderate-to-vigorous and total physical activity (PA) in school children. 430 participants (51.6% girls) aged 9-12 years provided valid accelerometer data (wGT3X-BT) and completed the PAQ-C. Convergent validity was assessed using…