Developing fluency and flexibility in mathematics is a key goal of upper primary schooling, however, while fluency can be developed with practice, designing activities that support the development of flexibility is more difficult. Drawing on concepts of adaptive expertise, we developed a task for a multi-touch classroom, NumberNet, that aimed to…

This study examined whether and why assigning children to a segmented inquiry task makes their investigations more productive. Sixty-one upper elementary-school pupils engaged in a simulation-based inquiry assignment either received a multivariable inquiry task (n = 21), a segmented version of this task that addressed the variables in successive…

Recent studies exploring the effects of instructional animations on learning compared to static graphics have yielded mixed results. Few studies have explored their effectiveness in portraying procedural-motor information. Opportunities exist within an applied (manufacturing) context for instructional animations to be used to facilitate build…

Based on current theories of multimedia learning, we propose a strategy for learning from animations. Two different experimental studies were conducted in order to evaluate the strategy. In the first study, 22 sixth graders learned from an animation without the strategy while 21 students were encouraged to make use of the proposed strategy during…

In two experiments, we investigated how learners comprehend the functioning of a three-pulley system from a presentation on a computer screen. In the first experiment (N = 62) we tested the effect of static vs. animated presentations on comprehension. In the second experiment (N = 45), we tested the effect of user-control of an animated…

This study examined whether cooperative learning and feedback facilitate situated, example-based e-learning in the field of statistics. The factors "social context" (individual vs. cooperative) and "feedback intervention" (available vs. not available) were varied; participants were 137 university students. Results showed that…

This study explored the effects of active learning and types of elaboration on procedure acquisition (writing database queries). Training materials emphasized elaborations of conditions for executing actions versus elaborations of the connection between conditions and actions. In the "active" conditions, participants performed structured exercises…

Qualitative features of teacher-student interaction during classroom teaching and learning while modern technological thinking and problem-solving skills were mediated were studied for 22 seventh-grade boys in Finland. Reciprocal understanding between teacher and student were necessary in order for the teacher's special instructional assistance to…