Students who struggle with learning mathematics often have difficulties with geometry problem solving, which requires strong visual imagery skills. These difficulties have been correlated with deficiencies in visual working memory. Cognitive psychology has shown that chunking of visual items accommodates students' working memory deficits. This…

This study explores how young children appropriate school rules and what opportunities for active participation are afforded in a Reggio Emilia elementary classroom with particular interest in the interactional and communicative competences children display in situated practice. An ethnographic and microanalytic approach is used to study how the…

The demand for graduates with exposure in Cloud Computing is on the rise. For many educational institutions, the challenge is to decide on how to incorporate appropriate cloud-based technologies into their curricula. In this paper, we describe our design and experiences of integrating Cloud Computing components into seven third/fourth-year…

This study provides insights with regard to the types of cognitive processes that are involved in the formation of mental models and the way those models change over the course of a semester in novice programmers doing a design task. Eight novice programmers participated in this study for three distinct software design sessions, using the same…

First year Geology students at the University of the Witwatersrand experience problems with both three-dimensional and "four-dimensional" (or time) visualization when attempting to interpret geological maps. These difficulties have been addressed by the introduction of hands-on modeling exercises, which allow students to construct…

Chemists and scientists use spatial abilities as part of the way they understand and communicate their subject areas. A review of the foundational research literature in spatial ability and its connections to chemistry as a field and chemical education research allows for the formulation of implications for teaching in chemistry. (Contains 7…

The study we report here examines parts of what Chevallard calls the "institutional" dimension of the students' learning experience of a relatively under-researched, yet crucial, concept in Analysis, the concept of infinite series. In particular, we examine how the concept is introduced to students in texts and in teaching practice. To…

The teaching of introductory computer programming seems far from successful, with many first-year students performing more poorly than expected. One possible reason for this is that novices hold "non-viable" mental models (internal explanations of how something works) of key programming concepts which then cause misconceptions and difficulties. An…

Visual cognitive tools (VCTs) are external mental aids that maintain and display visual representations (VRs) of information (i.e., structures, objects, concepts, ideas, and problems). VCTs allow learners to operate upon the VRs to perform epistemic (i.e., reasoning and knowledge-based) activities. In VCTs, the mechanism by which learners operate…

Entrepreneurship is increasingly viewed as a plural rather than singular endeavour. This paper develops a conceptual framework of team-based entrepreneurial learning, challenging the myth of the entrepreneurial "Lone Ranger" and revealing the significance of power structures in the SME management team in mediating what is and is not learnt.…

Submicrorepresentations (SMRs) are a powerful tool for identifying misconceptions of chemical concepts and for generating proper mental models of chemical phenomena in students' long-term memory during chemical education. The main purpose of the study was to determine which independent variables (gender, formal reasoning abilities, visualization…

When teachers provide students with every opportunity to visually understand a mathematical concept, process, definition, or notation, they allow them to construct and manipulate relevant and useful images in their minds. Visual understanding has a dynamic character that they do not easily develop with alphanumeric symbols alone despite the…

The Web is now a standard tool for information access and dissemination in higher education. The prospect of Web-based, simulated learning platforms and technologies, however, remains underexplored. We have developed a Web-based tutorial program (ChemVoyage) for a third-year organic chemistry class on the topic of pericyclic reactions to…

This research study provides the finding of a qualitative case study in Technology, Engineering, and Design Education as well as Social Studies Education. The purpose of this study was to describe the role of graphics within a social studies lesson by examining a student's experience when a new lesson is implemented in class. The participants were…

This research contributes to answer the question whether learning/cognitive styles of students serve as a justified starting point for creating target-group appropriate instruction. The study was realized in a self-regulated problem-based learning environment. Data of 56 participants on their individual learning styles, their acquired problem…