The work in this dissertation is presented in two parts. The first part (Chapters 3 and 4) details work relating to students' explanations of reaction mechanisms in organic chemistry. The second part (Chapters 5 and 6) details work relating to the evaluating the uptake of research-based instructional practices in introductory chemistry,…

A 2020 study from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Hussman School of Journalism and Media found that since 2004 over one-quarter of U.S. newspapers have disappeared. This reduction has left many people, especially those in poor rural areas, living in news deserts, where access to professionally vetted information is limited, if not…

Principal Component Analysis (PCA) is a powerful statistical technique for reducing the complexity of data and making patterns and relationships within the data more easily understandable. By using PCA, students can learn to identify the most important features of a data set, visualize relationships between variables, and make informed decisions…

Vocabulary knowledge plays a critical role in supporting text comprehension and broader learning across the school day. While school offers opportunities to build vocabulary knowledge, studies have shown that very little time is devoted to vocabulary instruction at the elementary level. This may be, in part, because educators commonly report being…

One strategy for developing science literacy and scientific literacy in young children is through published trade books. To better understand how science literacy and scientific literacy may be represented in elementary classrooms, we investigated children's books that explore science concepts. Specifically, we examined high-quality science trade…

We consider the problem of bias arising from conditioning on a post-outcome collider. We illustrate this with reference to Elwert and Winship (2014) but we go beyond their study to investigate the extent to which inverse probability weighting might offer solutions. We use linear models to derive expressions for the bias arising in different kinds…

Montessorians, with their long history of careful attention to children's developmental possibilities, can and should develop materials and pedagogical methods that can help children not merely use but master the technologies of the future. This does not mean putting a computer in the hands of every 3-year-old; quite the contrary. Rather, it means…

My personal exploration of how digital technology can support my Montessori practice has been a 20+-year journey. This journey has taken me to many places-- some fascinating, some frustrating. One place I never imagined it would take me (because I didn't even know this place existed) was to a lake in Massachusetts.

Over the past 35 years, the dance domain has adopted sports medicine as a key driver of professional practice. However, similar to limitations identified within sport, research is yet to achieve its full translational potential within applied settings. This "Viewpoints" paper begins to identify and unpick key philosophical and…

This article discusses the necessity and possibilities of introducing ballet training into the process of teaching Chinese ethnic dance from theoretical and practical perspectives involving pedagogical analysis. We propose that there is a homologous and complementary relationship between ballet and Chinese ethnic dance in philosophy, aesthetic and…

Science teacher education literature has emphasized the importance of prospective teachers' prior knowledge of their K-12 experiences as a key factor influencing their professional development as future science teachers. The purpose of the study was to identify the teaching practices in prospective teachers' prior knowledge of science instruction…

Implementing the delayed measure feature in music education has transformed the learning experience for students that are learning to read music. By combining cognitive engagement, visual perception, and real-time performance, this approach enhances students' ability to recognize, process, and perform intricate rhythm and note patterns…

A method is presented which can be used to obtain analytical solutions for boundary value problems (BVPs) using the matrix exponential and Maple. Systems of second order, linear differential equations are expressed as two or more first order equations in matrix form, and their solutions are obtained using the matrix exponential, matrix…

In contemporary education, game-based learning (GBL) has become a captivating instructional method applied across various academic subjects, including mathematics. The utilization of online GBL in mathematics education constitutes a segment of the activities that mathematics educators can employ during their lessons to teach students and enhance…

There exist already many practical projects that bring together Education for sustainable development (ESD) and artistic practices. They tie in with the transformative potential and the power that are attributed to the field of art in dealing with issues in the context of sustainable development. However, it is currently not clear how this…