This article represents the findings from the qualitative portion of a mixed methods study that investigated the impact of middle school students' spatial skills on their plate tectonics learning while using a computer visualization. Higher spatial skills have been linked to higher STEM achievement, while use of computer visualizations has mixed…

The study was designed to assess the effectiveness of an alternative teaching approach strategy called the Hybrid Strategy. It was intended specifically in minimising the common errors made by students, which were Comprehension and Transformation errors, and aimed at helping students to perceive word problems as a story line to be completed using…

We explored whether existing curricula can be adapted to increase students' skills at comprehending and learning from diagrams using an intervention delivered by regular middle-school teachers in intact classrooms. Ninety-two teachers in three states implemented our modified materials over six curricular units from two publishers: "Holt"…

This paper explores the role of diagrams and text in middle school students' understanding and visualisation of human body systems. We develop a common framework based on structure and function to assess students' responses across diagram and verbal modes. Visualisation is defined in terms of understanding transformations on structure and relating…

Children's mental representations about physical concepts and phenomena play a vital role in the learning process. This is confirmed by the data derived from relevant researches which demonstrate that the students formulate incompatible ideas compared with the scientific ones. In this research we investigate the representations of 14-15 years old…

For English-language learners, comprehension can be hindered by a lack of understanding of homonyms, homophones, and homographs, but the right instructional strategies can alleviate this problem. Following a discussion of issues such as the importance of being aware of a student's literacy skills in his or her home language and the need to…

For the thirty-seventh year, the Research and Theory Division and the Division of Instructional Design of the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) sponsored the publication of these Proceedings. Papers published in this volume were presented at the annual AECT Convention in Jacksonville, Florida. This year's Proceedings…