This study investigates how previous exposure to a foreign language and culture influences student performance in online knowledge-building tasks. As knowledge-building tasks allow students to share and distribute their knowledge; this study examines whether foreign language and culture knowledge is also distributed amongst the group. The study…

This study examined the impact of teaching a planning strategy for planning argument-based written responses on the writing performance of ninth grade students in the context of social studies. The Self-Regulated Strategy Development (SRSD) model was used as an instructional framework to teach the planning strategy. Pre- and posttest writing…

As part of an effort to improve students' knowledge of constellations and bright stars in an introductory level descriptive astronomy survey course, we measured the baseline knowledge that students bring to the class and how their score evolve over the course of the semester. This baseline is needed by the broader astronomy education research…

Only recently has cognitive load theory been applied in conceptual change approaches. To the authors' knowledge, theirs is the first study to examine the effects on students' cognitive load of an approach contrary to a refutation text design. The authors combined computer and textbook instruction with involving alternative conceptions (ACs) to…

Analogies are ubiquitous during instruction in science classrooms, yet research about the effectiveness of using analogies has produced mixed results. An aspect seldom studied is a model of instruction when using analogies. The few existing models for instruction with analogies have not often been examined quantitatively. The Teaching With…

The coherence principle states that all non-essential information in multimedia messages should be eliminated to minimise demands on cognitive resources. This assertion has been empirically verified in controlled laboratory studies with learners who have little prior knowledge and limited interest in the domain of instruction. It has not been…

The students of the targeted fourth, fifth, sixth, and ninth grade classes exhibited difficulties with number sense that interfered with understanding and recall of basic math facts. Evidence for the existences of the problem included teacher observation, test scores, and student and teacher surveys. The research participants included 42 children…