Current reading research largely focuses on word reading. This study complements that focus by considering what children do when encountering unknown words and how that problem-solving changes over time. We used overlapping wave theory to describe how children who were having difficulty with reading changed their word-solving actions across nine…

In 2 experiments, I studied the effects of an Equivalence Based Instruction (EBI) math intervention on the emergence of untaught selection responses and abstraction to production responses. In Experiment I, using a multiple baseline design, I implemented the EBI intervention among a group of 17 first grade participants with varying levels of math…

This study focuses on the relationship between an autonomy-supportive classroom climate and changes in attitudes towards social participation in mixed-grade classes. The research field involved the learning activities conducted in a Japanese elementary school. Learning activities were carried out in mixed-grade classes, and the children engaged in…

Mathematics is, universally, considered the heartbeat of the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematical (STEM) education. Accordingly, the learners must be equipped with strong mathematical proficiency very early in life. This behoves mathematics practitioners to use various impactful pedagogical strategies. The bigger action research from…

This study examined how word-problem characteristics influenced students' learning and retention of word-problem knowledge during and after an intervention. The participants were 221 fourth-grade students (average age at pretest = 8.8 years) who experienced word-problem difficulties (WPD) and had received a word-problem intervention in third…

With STEM education, children obtain 21st-century skills, such as systematic thinking, problem-solving, being able to see the relationships between events and creative thinking skills, etc. and as for the development of problem-solving skills, it is included in 21st century skills in connection with STEM education. In parallel with the…

This paper explores Year 3 Irish students' problem-solving strategies when responding to a skyscraper growing pattern problem. Students' strategies reveal their understandings of multiplicative thinking, pattern, and algebraic reasoning. The version of the growing pattern lesson was that a 'teaching through problem solving' approach was taken,…

This paper takes a 'networking of theories' approach to understand the complexity of the phenomenon of agency. We examine an episode, where a kindergarten teacher and nine children work on an addition problem, from three different perspectives: Valsiner's zone theory; Radford's theory of objectification; and Pickering's dance of agency. Our…

This article focuses on students' meaning-making when working with mathematics textbooks from a multimodal approach that encompasses all resources for communication, which is an under researched area. Central to this study are the designed meanings of the textbooks and the affordances discovered by students when working with the textbooks. Video…

The aim of the study is to find out the problem-solving strategies used by primary school 3rd and 4th-graders in solving non-routine problems. The basic qualitative research design, one of the qualitative research approaches, was used in the research. The participants of the research consisted of 216 students, 104 of them in the third-grade and…

As elementary students begin to program using tangible blocks, they must coordinate their use of counting with the movements, directions, and numbers they use to move a character. In our study, we analyzed 13 first graders' first attempts at coordinating these elements when playing a programming game on the iPad that used tangible programming…

In the study, problem-solving educational software (ProSES) was developed to reduce the challenges and mistakes experienced by primary school third-grade students in mathematical problem solving and to provide scaffolding and hint support for teacher help for the students using mobile technologies. The study aimed to determine the impact of the…

This study investigated the extent to which domain-general and domain-specific antecedents contributed to pre-algebra's initial level and growth rate among students who experience word-problem difficulty (WPD). We examined if such a profile differs for English-language learners (ELLs; n = 75) and non-ELLs (n = 55) with WPD. We assessed 130 U.S.…

Boost young children's problem-solving skills and set them up for long-term success with the second edition of this practical guidebook! Enhanced with new lessons and timely topics--including equity and the use of makerspaces--this book will help you get all children ready for kindergarten by teaching them basic practices of engineering design and…

The current paper overviews a nine-month PhD study that investigated the impact of learning mathematics through sequences of challenging tasks on the mathematical competence and attitudes of Year 2 students (n = 59). Adopting a Self-Determination Theory lens, a pragmatist paradigm and a mixed-method design, the study found that at all levels of…