Both professional and classroom-based scientific communities develop and test explanatory models of the natural world. For students to take up models as tools for sensemaking, practice must be agentive (where students use and revise models "for" specific purposes) and conceptually productive (where students make progress on their ideas).…

Concepts contain rich structures that support flexible semantic cognition. These structures can be characterized by patterns of feature covariation: Certain features tend to cluster in the same items (e.g., "feathers," "wings," "can fly"). Existing computational models demonstrate how this kind of structure can be…

A source of contestation in higher education curricula is the multiplicity of demands they serve and purposes they seek to fulfil. In this paper, we see this contestation as actively shaping assessment theory and practice, resulting in paradoxes of valorisation and vilification of everyday assessment practices. We address the plethora of…

False alarming, or detecting an error when there is not one, is a pervasive problem across numerous industries. The present study investigated the role of elaboration, or additional information about non-error differences in complex visual displays, for mitigating false error responding. In Experiment 1, learners studied errors and non-error…

This study aims to develop and validate a Constructivist Learning Environment Model to address secondary students' misconceptions in learning Science. Employing a Design and Development approach (Richey & Klein, 2007), the research is conducted in two phases. Phase 1 focuses on model design, drawing from an extensive literature review to…

The notion of children's working theories is an overarching outcome of Aotearoa New Zealand's early childhood curriculum document "Te Whariki." An ever-growing base of research and literature is available about the working theories children hold and ways that teachers might support working theory development. In this article, I draw on…

Background: Prior research suggests that the teaching of abstract concepts can be enhanced by the use of concrete examples, but there are few controlled studies. Objective: To replicate key findings from experiment one from Rawson et al. (2015). Method: Experiment participants studied definitions of abstract concepts from psychology, either with…

Geometry and spatial reasoning form the foundations of learning in mathematics. However, geometry is a subject often ignored by curriculum writers and teachers until high school, leading to students lacking in critical skills in geometric reasoning. As the United States moves into a new curriculum epoch, heralding the commencement of the national…

The Dual Pathway to Creativity Model theorizes that creative performance arises from cognitive flexibility, persistence, or a combination of the two. Existing research has only examined these pathways independently, limiting our understanding of the model and of how people generate ideas. We extend the DPCM model by predicting that creative output…

The phenomenon of misconception and poor conceptual understanding is a problem that often occurs in science learning, not least in physics learning. Learning models that specifically aim to improve conceptual understanding and remediate misconceptions are not widely available. This study aims to determine the effect of the CCBL model in improving…

This article aims to clarify fundamental aspects of the process of assigning fuzzy scores to conditions based on family resemblance (FR) structures by considering prototype and set theories. Prototype theory and set theory consider FR structures from two different angles. Specifically, set theory links the conceptualization of FR to the idea of…

Much has been made of the apparent capacity for creativity of generative AI. However, as research expands the knowledge base regarding the capabilities and performance of this technology, the prevailing view is shifting away from "AI is creative" and towards a more balanced model of Human-AI co-creativity. Nevertheless, even this…

Design ideation is a critical early step in any design process to generate a large number of ideas that can be cut down into the best and most innovative ones to inspire better design solutions and products. This study seeks to unearth how graphic design students generate design ideas and the extent to which traditional analogue and digital tools…

Atomic-level visualizations serve as pivotal instructional tools in chemistry education, providing insights into the particulate level of matter, a dimension fundamental, yet typically invisible, in the study of chemistry. This research investigates how students' engagement with these visualizations influences their conceptual understanding of…

Effective spatial visualization and reasoning skills are often credited for students' success in science and engineering courses. However, students enrolled in these science courses are not always exposed to or trained properly on the best ways to utilize models to aid in their learning. Improving spatial visualization techniques with 3D models,…