This sequential explanatory mixed methods study (quant + QUAL) examined elementary preservice teachers' conceptions of teaching engineering. Participants (n = 104) from two large western universities completed the Draw-An-Engineering-Teacher-Test (DAETT) as part of their elementary science methods course. Additionally, a subgroup of participants…

This Study Snapshot highlights key findings from a study on why students often experience a decline in academic achievement as they transition to middle school. Academic mindsets, such as a belief in the malleability of ability (growth mindset) or a reluctance to engage academically because of embarrassment or a fear of failure (performance…

In this article, a cognitive framework for observing learning activities based on human-computer coupling is proposed. The observation is based on the vectorization of a learning situation along with human-computer interaction factors. An evolutionary high-dimensional topology of learning cognitive flow is introduced for human-computer…

Reading fluency is commonly defined as reading accurately at a quick rate with appropriate prosody--a simple sounding definition. In fact, this definition hides complex processes and skills needed to produce the seemingly effortless performance of a fluent reader. Using both theory and empirical research, the presence and role of underlying…

This article acknowledges Kazimierz Dabrowski as a foundational influence and inspiration for our work in supporting the development of highly gifted individuals. Our intention is to help disambiguate the ways this farsighted theory of global human development can be employed in uncommon and atypical profiles in the gifted population. Our focus is…

Children personally construct explanations of natural phenomena, some of which differ from currently accepted scientific explanations. The replacement of personal explanations with scientific explanations, as well as the development of concrete, formal, and post-formal reasoning patterns, requires self-regulation in which alternative explanations…

Seeking more effective mathematics instruction, this author decided to incorporate Cognitively Guided Instruction (CGI) into first-grade classroom lessons. Students in CGI mathematics classrooms are prompted to use their prior knowledge to solve new problems, establish cognitive structures to which new learning can be connected, and be driven by…

To examine how conceptual knowledge about fraction magnitudes changes as students' learning progresses, 5th and 7th-grade students were asked to solve fraction magnitude problems that entailed finding a fraction between two given fractions and then to evaluate solutions for similar problems that were modeled for them. When the given fractions…