Comprehension of the 3D structure of objects usually represented in 2D is a critical part of understanding molecular geometries. The frequency with which students actually get hands-on with 3D molecular structures is often limited to a singular laboratory session. We sought to develop a set of molecular shapes that were inexpensive enough not only…

This paper reports on a multimodal teaching approach delivered to grade 5 elementary students in a bilingual school in Hong Kong, as part of a larger research study aimed at supporting English Language Learners (ELLs) in science class. As language demands of reading, writing and talking science place additional challenges on ELLs, there is much…

Sculpting representations of human organs out of modeling clay is an acknowledged method of teaching anatomical structures. Because of its potential to provide detailed spatial information, stereoscopic imagery can be understood to function as a suitable template for such sculpting tasks. Currently, it is unknown whether the advantages of…

A multiple probe across participants design was used to examine the effectiveness of a treatment package to teach students with moderate intellectual disability how to solve simple linear equations. The investigator read realistic scenarios of a problem, used actual items as manipulatives, presented a visual aid of the equation, and used a system…

The goal of this study is to analyze undergraduate elementary school pre-service teachers' conceptions and misconceptions of physical and virtual manipulative materials using an interpretive "framework." The "framework" involved the use of the "Concrete," "Pictorial" and "Abstract cognitive levels"…

Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) is an easy to use neuroimaging technique that is portable and maintains a liberal tolerance to movement. As such, fNIRS represents an ideal tool to observe children's neural activity as they engage in real-world classroom activities, such as the interaction with digital math apps on an iPad. Here, we…

In this article, we examined whether technical drawing increased the mental rotation ability in 13- to 15-year-old students (N = 201). Students were pretested with the Mental Rotations Test. Later, a group of students was exposed to technical drawing for 10 weeks, which involved specific training with spatial activities and tasks, to increase…

Mathematics education is an important but underexplored area of research for secondary students with mild intellectual disability. In this multiple probe across behaviors replicated across two participants study, the researchers explored the effectiveness of the virtual-representational-abstract (VRA) instructional sequence to support two…

In this experiment, the students explore the synthesis of a crystalline solid-state material, barium zirconate (BaZrO3) by two different synthetic methods: (a) the wet chemical method using BaCl[subscript 2]·2H[subscript 2]O and ZrOCl[subscript 2]·8H[subscript 2]O as the precursors, and (b) the solid-state reaction from BaCO[subscript 3] and…

Using a convergent parallel mixed methods design, this exploratory study examined mathematics lessons in two third-grade classrooms to analyze the mathematical classroom discourse when using tutorial instructional software. A chi-square test for independence revealed statistically significant correlations between teachers use of the focusing and…

Instructional technology is growing at rapid rates. In the field of mathematics, virtual manipulatives are a research-based tool that has shown to have a positive impact on students' mathematic achievement, as well as student engagement in learning. In an effort to extend the research, this study investigated the impact of virtual manipulatives,…

Recognizing the challenges that students face when they may lack background and experiential knowledge with regard to coins is important so that teachers can address this during instruction. Exposure to coins is one of the basic necessities to learning about the coins, but that is just the initial part of the learning sequence. Unless students are…

Early childhood research has investigated children's use of objects largely focusing on cognitive and motor development. Yet members of a particular culture, such as young children's peer groups, use objects that have cultural relevance as "conversational" items, as a means to interacting with other members of the group. This article…

Concrete manipulatives and dynamic geometry software (DGS) are both commonly used for geometry education in elementary and middle schools. This study sets out to understand which of the two approaches was better in improving the conceptual understanding of quadrilaterals for fifth graders. A pre-/post-test design was conducted in which the same…

Introduction: The aim of this study was to determine whether individuals with congenital blindness make more recognizable drawings of known objects that are furniture sized (table, man, tree) rather than hand sized (egg, coconut, banana; Hypothesis 1). We also investigated whether knowledge that the tactile drawings had been produced by people who…