This study explores pre-service geography teachers' assessment of the impact of hard and soft scaffolds used in problem-based learning on their own learning. Respondents had to complete a "Scaffolds in geography problem-based learning" instrument after the problem-based learning intervention. The respondents could also elaborate on the…

This paper explores how Problem-oriented Project Learning (PPL) can be organized in a context that meets the pedagogical needs of first year students. Under the assumption that, while PPL provides a fruitful context for learning, it is also challenging for early stage learners, the article formulates the theoretical considerations underlying a…

The impact of problem-based learning (PBL) in improving academic achievement comparedwith other forms of teaching is equivocal. This paper argues that poor tutorial preparation and vague reporting of the brainstorming stage of PBL are major contributing factors. To address these issues this study incorporated a scaffolding mechanism into the…

Raising academic standards has been part of the education policy discourse for decades. As early as the 1990s, states and school districts attempted to raise student achievement by developing higher standards and measuring student progress according to more rigorous benchmarks. However, the caliber of the standards--and their assessments--varied…

A problematic, yet common, assumption among educational researchers is that when teachers provide authentic, problem-based experiences, students will automatically be engaged. Evidence indicates that this is often not the case. In this article, we discuss (a) problems with ignoring motivation in the design of learning environments, (b)…

Computer technology is used as a mediational tool to support collaborative instructional methods. Computer support offers a platform for collaboration with the goal of scaffolding students' understanding, providing increased agency to the student for their own learning, and motivating students, as participants in a PBL process. In online PBL,…

Many innovative approaches to education such as problem-based learning (PBL) and inquiry learning (IL) situate learning in problem-solving or investigations of complex phenomena. Kirschner, Sweller, and Clark (2006) grouped these approaches together with unguided discovery learning. However, the problem with their line of argument is that IL and…

This study examined how scaffolds and student achievement levels influence inquiry and performance in a problem-based learning environment. The scaffolds were embedded within a hypermedia program that placed students at the center of a problem in which they were trying to become the youngest person to fly around the world in a balloon. One-hundred…

The aim of the 2018 International Association for Development of the Information Society (IADIS) Cognition and Exploratory Learning in the Digital Age (CELDA) conference was to address the main issues concerned with evolving learning processes and supporting pedagogies and applications in the digital age. There have been advances in both cognitive…

This document presents the proceedings of the 17th Annual Research Forum held June 29, 2012, at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Included herein are the following 25 action research papers: (1) "Reading and Writing": A Study Comparing the Strengths of Peer Review and Visible Author Writing Strategies (Elizabeth Behar); (2)…

These proceedings contain the papers of the IADIS International Conference on Cognition and Exploratory Learning in the Digital Age (CELDA 2013), October 22-24, 2013, which has been organized by the International Association for Development of the Information Society (IADIS), co-organized by The University of North Texas (UNT), sponsored by the…

The IADIS CELDA 2012 Conference intention was to address the main issues concerned with evolving learning processes and supporting pedagogies and applications in the digital age. There had been advances in both cognitive psychology and computing that have affected the educational arena. The convergence of these two disciplines is increasing at a…