Many studies use instructional designs that include two or more artifacts (digital manipulatives, tables, graphs) to support students' development of reasoning about covarying quantities. While students' forms of covariational reasoning and the designs are often the focus of these studies, the way students' interactions and transitions between…

Despite holding wide-ranging experiences with constant velocity and non-zero acceleration, students wrestling with physical science concepts struggle to demarcate the two distinct characteristics of motion. In fact, this prior experience and loose familiarity with associated terminology often act as an obstacle toward a deep and robust…

Introduction: Participants' perspectives are valuable in evaluating the effectiveness of an intervention. Methods: Interviews were conducted with teachers of students with visual impairments and students who completed an intervention designed to build graphics literacy skills. Results: Six themes were identified with corresponding subthemes. The…

With the advances in mobile network technology, the use of portable devices and mobile networks for learning is not limited by time and space. Such use, in combination with appropriate learning strategies, can achieve a better effect. Despite the effectiveness of mobile learning, students' learning direction, progress, and achievement may differ.…

To support students' development of concepts in mathematics, the use of technology is often encouraged (Common Core State Standards Initiative [CCSSI] 2010). Technology can contextualize learning and provide a meaningful setting for mathematical ideas. Most teachers are supportive regarding the use of technology to encourage learning and…

There is limited research on teaching narrative writing skills to students with moderate to severe intellectual disability. In the current study, we used a multiple probe across participants single case design to evaluate the effects of an intervention package comprised of modeling, story templates, and self-graphing, on the inclusion of story…

This paper discusses issues arising in the design of questions to use in an on-line computer-based formative assessment system, focussing on how best to identify the stages of a learning hierarchy for reporting to teachers. Data from several hundred students is used to illustrate how design decisions have been made for a test on interpreting line…

There are urgent calls for more studies examining the impact of Professional Development (PD) programs on teachers' instructional practices. In this study, we analyzed how grades 5-9 mathematics teachers used graphs to teach mathematics at the start and end of a PD program. This topic is relevant because while many studies have investigated…

A classroom discussion started after a student noticed three days of accumulated trash in the wastebasket and exclaimed, "Wow, look at the trash! If it keeps piling up like this, it will soon be everywhere!" His statement motivated the authors' class to research about the trash, or solid waste, we create and what can we do about it.…

No person, place, or thing can capture the attention of a class of sixth graders like "man's best friend." To prompt students' interest in a series of lessons on proportional relationships, the authors brought in a unique teaching aid--a dog. A family dog was used to supply the measurements for scatter plots and variables so that students could…

An nth-term problem involves a sequence. Students must determine which expression will allow them to calculate the nth position of the sequence. To solve such problems, students are to find "a rule that determines the number of elements in a step from the step number." These types of problems help students develop concepts of functions, variables,…

Middle school teachers tend to rely heavily on texts that have become increasing more visual. There is little information available about the graphical demands of general middle grades' science texts. The purpose of this study was to quantify the type and quality of the graphical representations and how they interacted with the textual material in…

The 7th International Conference on Education Data Mining held on July 4th-7th, 2014, at the Institute of Education, London, UK is the leading international forum for high-quality research that mines large data sets in order to answer educational research questions that shed light on the learning process. These data sets may come from the traces…

Over the past decade, research on the use of technology in the mathematics classroom has focused primarily on issues of student learning and engagement. In this article, we focus on middle grades mathematics teachers' use of The Geometer's Sketchpad, and study both the decisions they make about when to use technology, and their motivations for…

This mixed methods study combining a single-subject experimental design with an embedded case study focuses on the impact of a visual treatment on the handwritten and typed output of a struggling male writer during his 5th through 7th grades who has undergone a longitudinal remedial phase of two and a half years creating text-only material as well…