Aim/Purpose: This study seeks to understand the various ways information systems (IS) students experience introductory programming to inform IS educators on effective pedagogical approaches to teaching programming. Background: Many students who choose to major in information systems (IS), enter university with little or no experience of learning…

At Haverford High School, a suburban high school in Haverford, Pennsylvania, a mathematical achievement gap exists for economically disadvantaged, special education, and Black students. Researchers have found that students in lower tracked classes often receive less rigorous tasks, tasks with lower cognitive demand, and fewer tasks that focus on…

The adaptive use of strategies, that is selecting a strategy which allows an efficient solution for a given problem, can be considered as an important individual ability relevant in various domains. Based on models of subjects' skills of adaptive use of strategies, two idealized instructional approaches are suggested to foster students in their…

The purpose of this study was to examine the use of heuristics by students and gain insight into the thought process behind their problem-solving skills. The study used an adaptive narrative as the information delivery medium. An adaptive narrative was chosen because it could be designed to simulate decision making processes encountered in real…

Element interactivity is a central concept of cognitive load theory that defines the complexity of a learning task. The reduction of task complexity through a temporary segmentation or isolation of interacting elements was investigated with 104 students randomly assigned to an interacting elements group, where participants were required to deal…

Programming is a complex learning activity that involves coordination of cognitive processes and affective states. These aspects are often considered individually in computing education research, demonstrating limited understanding of how and when students learn best. This issue confines researchers to contextualize evidence-driven outcomes when…

The history and evolution of science assessment remains poorly known, especially in the context of the exam question contents. Here we analyze the Finnish matriculation examination in biology from the 1920s to 1960s to understand how the exam has evolved in both its knowledge content and educational form. Each question was classified according to…

Instructional reforms in science education require changes in the type of intellectual work students are engaging in. This study explored the cognitive demand of tasks pre-service teachers selected during their full time teaching semester. Using the Task Analysis Guide in Science, we analyzed 177 tasks from the lesson plans that seven pre-service…

Background: We present a unique study of adventure sports coaches teaching lead climbing. Expanding existing work on judgement and decision making, we examine the coaching process and the decision making employed to manage the pedagogical and security needs of climbers when they are being introduced to lead climbing. Research design and data…

There have been many practical obstacles for teachers to implement evidence-based educational technology, especially in STEM classrooms. By implementing learning principles related to Cognitive Load Theory, we developed an innovative Technology-Assisted Guided Learning (TAGL) approach and its web-based instructional tool, combining expertise from…

Game-based learning is supposed to motivate learners. However, to what degree does motivation driven by interest in playing an instructional game affect learning outcomes compared to motivation driven by interest in the very learning process? This is not known. In this study with a unique design and intervention, young adults (N = 128; a…

Studies on gender differences in mobile English learning are in their initial stages. College English IV, designed by a number of professors and engineers in a university in China, serves as a mobile English learning platform. This study aims to determine gender differences in cognitive loads, attitudes, and academic achievements in English…

Learner engagement matters, particularly in simulation-based education. Indeed, it has been argued that instructional design only matters in the service of engaging learners in a simulation encounter. Yet despite its purported importance, our understanding of what engagement is, how to define it, how to measure it, and how to assess it is limited.…

This paper aims to sketch a framework for comparing the efficiency of printed and digital textbooks. Considering the fact that digital textbooks are a relatively new phenomenon, they lack both practical experiences with their use, and research on their efficiency - which is why all results will only be of a preliminary nature. This is also why our…

This qualitative case study examined similarities and differences between circle geometric proof development tasks set up in the Malawian Grade 11 mathematics textbook, and those that are set up and implemented by teachers in the classroom. Data generation included analysing the content of circle geometry proof tasks from the mathematics textbook…