To ensure a robust pipeline of computer scientists worldwide, male and female students must perceive computer science (CS) as a viable field of study and career. Using expectancy-value theory (EVT) as an interpretive framework, this paper reports on a descriptive case study conducted within a CS course in a private, international high school in…

The aim of this qualitative case study was to determine the cognitive and metacognitive strategies used by the Secondary School 6th grade students while reading science texts in a Biology unit titled "Support and Motor System", and to compare these strategies in accordance with the type of their school (private or state school), their…

Word problems form an important part of the early grade mathematics curriculum in South Africa. Studies have shown that the relative difficulty of word problems differ: learners are more likely to solve certain types of word problems than others, with compare type problems being the most difficult. In order to help early grade learners understand…

Graphic novels are a form of authentic text that have started to gain widespread acceptance in the English language arts field and have been shown to increase students' motivation to read and engage deeply with texts. By integrating text with pictures, graphic novels have the advantage of requiring a lighter cognitive load than traditional…

Supply chain management (SCM) is a complex business discipline because it combines the concepts of forecasting, inventory management, logistics and distribution, vertical and horizontal integration, and global issues. This complexity creates a challenge when teaching the concepts to both undergraduate and graduate students. A web-based computer…

This paper outlines a tutoring initiative intended to re-engage students who have become alienated from mathematics class at school. The initiative is focused on priming students for their subsequent mathematics lessons, and is referred to as "Getting Ready in Numeracy" (G.R.I.N.). Following a discussion outlining the principles of…

Guided by Expectancy Value Theory (EVT), we investigated the association of students' engineering self-efficacy and subjective task values (attainment, intrinsic, utility and cost) to four achievement-related behaviours: choice to take more engineering courses, effort in academic tasks, persistence to complete engineering tasks in the face of…

Pre-service physics teachers often do not recognise the relevance for their future career in their university content knowledge courses. A lower perceived relevance can, however, have a negative effect on their motivation and on their academic success. Several intervention studies have been undertaken with the goal to increase this perceived…

Among the critical components related to the improvement of mathematics learning are the design of high cognitive demand tasks and teachers' ability to maintain these cognitive demands during their implementation of lessons. We investigate the factors affecting the maintenance and decline of cognitive demand in the implementation of a statistics…

To inform the development of gamified assessments, this study explored how students with or at risk for reading difficulties in Grades 6-8 (N = 202) perceived and interacted with a decoding assessment designed with gamification characteristics. Three data sources enhanced the methodological triangulation: observations and scores from testing,…

Adult learners acquire information in a method that comes naturally: self-directed, in that they seek information as problems present themselves, connected to a vast amount of information and various social networks, and in a timely manner. Timely, in regards to when they need the information, when they have a moment to pay attention, and within…

Logic and science are in some respects fundamentally different disciplines, in that for example, application of rules of logic can yield conclusions that are at odds with physical reality. Not surprisingly, people have ample difficulty with logical thinking. Nonetheless, in some instances, logical thinking can fuel empirical decision making. In…

Background: The overarching goal of this study was to explore the underlying mechanism of solving statics or structural analysis problems by utilizing cognitive load theory to examine task characteristics (i.e., the characteristics of instructional materials) with a focus on working memory load (WML) and automaticity. Purpose/Hypothesis: According…

The present study is based on a large cross-cultural study, which showed that a systemizing cognition type has a high impact on motivation to learn science, while the impact of gender is only indirect thorough systemizing. The present study uses the same structural equation model as in the cross-cultural study and separately tests it for physics,…

Learning human anatomy may be a difficult task for students for a variety of reasons including the quantity of material in the course or discipline-specific factors such as understanding anatomical terminology or learning complex physiological processes. Additionally, students may find certain organ systems more challenging than others. While…