Classically, geometry has been the subject in which students encounter mathematical proof based on formal deduction. Attention to proof in the geometry curriculum is strengthened by a focus on reasoning and sense making. This book examines the four key elements (conjecturing about geometric objects, construction and evaluation of geometric…

Constructivism has been widely considered the most influential perspective in science education research for some decades, and has been the basis of widespread pedagogic advice in many educational contexts. Yet it has been claimed in this "Journal" that the philosophical basis of constructivist thought in chemical education is confused, and…

The purpose of this research was to determine whether teaching argumentation to high school biology students improved their argumentation skills, informal reasoning, and genetics understanding. Using a quasi-experiment with mixed methods of data collection, five teachers participated in professional learning on argumentation and socioscientific…

This paper outlines a theoretical paradigm for distinguishing thinking, knowing and believing. A new taxonomy is presented for categorizing levels of knowing and outlines a structure of justification for each level. The paper discusses and explains the importance of such distinctions in decision making and thinking in general.

To support 11th-grade students' informal inferential reasoning, a teaching and learning strategy was designed based on authentic practices in which professionals use correlation or linear regression. These practices included identifying suitable physical training programmes, dyke monitoring, and the calibration of measurement instruments. The…

Explanations are considered to be key aids to understanding the study of mathematics, science, and other complex disciplines. This paper discusses the role of students' explanations in making sense of data and learning to reason informally about statistical inference. We closely follow students' explanations in which they utilize their experiences…

There is a rising trend to provide low-cost laptops to children in developing countries. Notwithstanding strong claims about the educational effectiveness of these programs, there is very little systematic evidence. Given the level of modernization and the teacher-led learning environment in developing countries, the usage of laptops in such…

This particular study is part of a research programme on the difficulties encountered by students when learning about wave phenomena in a three-dimensional medium in the absence or presence of obstacles. It focuses on how students reason in situations in which wave optics need to be used: diffraction of light by an aperture, imaging in the…

Students often use study groups to prepare for class or exams; yet to date, we know very little about how these groups actually function. This study looked at the ways in which undergraduate organic chemistry students prepared for exams through self-initiated study groups. We sought to characterize the methods of social regulation, levels of…

Teachers' knowledge of mathematical content and children's mathematical thinking have been identified as critical elements related to teachers' ability to effectively teach mathematics (Fennema & Franke, 1992; Kazemi & Franke, 2001; Ma, 1999; Peterson, Carpenter, & Fennema, 1989). Literature on teachers' knowledge…

Clinicians are believed to use two predominant reasoning strategies: system 1 based pattern recognition, and system 2 based analytical reasoning. Balancing these cognitive reasoning strategies is widely believed to reduce diagnostic error. However, clinicians approach different problems with different reasoning strategies. This study explores…

Context: A concept map is a graphical and cognitive tool that enables learners to link together interrelated concepts using propositions or statements that answer a posed problem. As an assessment tool, concept mapping reveals a learner's research skill proficiency and cognitive processing. Background: The identification and organization of the…

The minimal control principle (Taatgen, 2007) predicts that people strive for problem-solving strategies that require as few internal control states as possible. In an experiment with the Abstract Decision Making task (ADM task; Joslyn & Hunt, 1998) the reward structure was manipulated to make either a low-control strategy or a high-strategy…

This study reports on the types of academic talk that contribute to enhanced explanatory responses, reasoning, problem-solving and learning. The study involved 10 groups of 3-4 students who were provided with one of three linguistic tools (i.e. Cognitive Questioning, Philosophy for Children and Collaborative Strategic Reading (CSR)) to scaffold…

The purpose of this study was to examine how moral reasoning develops for 236 students enrolled in either a diversity course or a management course. These courses were compared based on the level of diversity inclusion and type of pedagogy employed in the classroom. We used causal modelling to compare the two types of courses, controlling for the…