Technology-mediated simulation is often used in medical problem-based learning (PBL) approaches to offer authentic contexts and immersive engagement for learning. However, critiques argue that these approaches are lacking in the structure necessary to support productive learning--that they often result in mindless doing without the thinking…

Argumentation is a core practice of science that inherently contains uncertainty. Relatively few studies have examined the role of uncertainty within argumentation and how teachers manage uncertainty leading to conceptual development. This design-based, multiple-case study employed the constant comparative method to analyze 24 videos focused on…

The present writer is drawn to write on this topic based on the realization that the Nigerian society seems to be one that is bereft of the practicalisation of the ideal standards of virtues. There is apparent lack of objective measures of rightness and wrongness of actions, especially in the present dispensation, irrespective of the so much…

Introductory electricity is a difficult topic for most lower secondary students, especially the development of an adequate conceptualisation of voltage is seen as a major obstacle. A few instructional concepts concerning the teaching and learning of physics have been proven helpful when it comes to constructing conceptual knowledge. For example,…

The first phase of this multiphase study involves modeling of college students' thinking of friction at the microscopic level. Diagnostic interviews were conducted with 11 students with different levels of physics backgrounds. A phenomenographic approach of data analysis was used to generate categories of responses which subsequently were used to…

Relational reasoning is a hallmark of human higher cognition and creativity, yet it is notoriously difficult to encourage in abstract tasks, even in adults. Generally, young children initially focus more on objects, but with age become more focused on relations. While prerequisite knowledge and cognitive resource maturation partially explains this…

The paper describes two versions of an inquiry-based activity in geometry, designed as a game between two players. The game is inspired by Hintikka's semantic game, which is a familiar tool in the field of logic to define truth. The activity is designed in a dynamic geometry environment (DGE). The inquiry is initially guided by the game itself and…

Problem solving is a critical feature of highly quantitative physical science topics, such as chemical kinetics. In order to solve a problem, students must cue into relevant features, ignore irrelevant features, and choose among potential problem-solving approaches. However, what is considered appropriate or productive for problem solving is…

We report our qualitative study of twenty-four students enrolled in the second-semester of a second-year undergraduate (sophomore-level) organic chemistry course, Organic Two. We asked the research participants to propose the product and electron-pushing mechanism of elementary mechanistic steps in the absence and presence of the corresponding…

While a vast body of research has identified difficulties in students' understanding about forces and acceleration and their related alternative conceptions, far less research suggests ways to use students' alternative conceptions to enhance conceptual understanding of a specific fundamental concept. This study focused on distinguishing between…

This chapter describes how Salt Lake Community College established an ePortfolio program to help students develop critical and analytic thinking skills, and to assess their proficiency in general education.

In contrast to a world that often feels filled with madness and disillusion, education is associated with reason and redemption. Yet from a psychoanalytic perspective, such positivity in relation to education suggests a fantasmatic dimension -- a refusal of the inevitable dislocations that prevent life from being harmonious and complete. In this…

This article explores facilitating meaningful mathematics discourse, one of the research-based practices described in "Principles to Actions: Ensuring Mathematical Success for All." Two tools that can support teachers in strengthening their classroom discourse are discussed in this, another installment in the series.

There is general agreement that humans represent numerical, spatial, and temporal magnitudes from early in development. However, there is disagreement about whether different magnitudes converge within a general magnitude system and whether this system supports behavioral demonstrations of cross-magnitude interactions at different developmental…

This project aimed to develop an engaging formative assessment that simulates the social and dialogic processes that are often missing in traditional instruction and assessment of argumentation. In this article, we describe the design of an argumentative reasoning task within a scenario-based assessment enhanced with game elements…