The role of scientific reasoning in promoting scientific literacy during the early years of schooling is well acknowledged. Using the analytical framework for scientific reasoning skills by A. Opitz et al. (2017, "Educational Research and Evaluation," 23(3-4), 78-101), this multi-age observational study investigated the extent of…

The purpose of this study was to analyze the problem-solving techniques that students in a fifth-grade classroom applied while solving mathematical word problems. Fifth-grade students in a private school with Ministry of Education curricula in Al Ain, Abu Dhabi, were given a set of 15-word problems to solve with detailed justifications. The…

Mechanistic reasoning about an artifact or system involves thinking about its underlying entities and the properties, activities, and cause-effect relationships of those entities. Previous studies of children's mechanistic reasoning about engineering solutions have mostly focused on specific mechanical systems such as gear trains. Yet there is…

Findings on children's proportional reasoning abilities strongly vary across studies. This might be due to the different contexts that can be used in proportional problems: fair-sharing, mixtures, and probability. A review of the scientific literature suggests that the context of proportional problems may not only impact the difficulty of the…

Proportional reasoning has been greatly influencing the development of students' mathematical abilities. Along with the area conservation ability, it helps elementary students comprehend area measurement. This exploratory study aimed to produce qualitative-descriptive data on elementary students' proportional reasoning in solving the conservation…

Background: Computational thinking (CT) has been broadly considered one of the 21st-century competencies, and an emerging trend has been seen in integrating CT into primary education. Cumulative research was conducted to investigate the influencing factors of CT learning performance, and an ample range of factors has been identified, involving…

Reading comprehension skill is seen as a predictor of word problem-solving performance, and the close relationship between reading comprehension and mathematical skills is accentuated. On the other hand, more research is needed as to determine how logical thinking and word problem solving are related to each other and to analyze the role of…

Purpose: Since developing science literacy is a primary objective of science education and socio-scientific (SSI) decision-making is an important aspect of science literacy, it is valuable to explore how students structure their decisions related to SSIs, and how they discuss and solve SSIs. The aim of present study was to examine elementary…

While patterning was commonly seen as evidence of mathematical thinking, interdisciplinary interest has recently increased due to pattern-recognition applications in artificial intelligence. Within two empirical studies, we analyze the analogical-transfer capability of primary school students when completing three types of bi-dimensional patterns,…

In this article, the authors share frameworks for problem types and students' reasoning about integers. The authors found that all ways of reasoning (WoRs) were used across grade levels and that specific problem types tended to evoke particular WoRs. Specifically, students were more likely to use analogy-based reasoning on all-negatives problems…

This study investigated potential differences in the processes of solving analogies between gifted and average-ability children (aged 9-10 years old) in a dynamic testing setting. Utilizing a pre-test-training-post-test control group design, participants were split in four subgroups: gifted dynamic testing (n = 24), gifted control (n = 26),…

Problem solving is an essential skill for students to be successful in life and careers. Students need to use efficient strategies to solve problems effectively. In this basic interpretive qualitative study, we aimed to (a) explore children's problem-solving strategies in a game-based tool (i.e., puzzles), and (b) investigate the troubleshooting…

Whole number arithmetic is the foundation of higher mathematics and a core part of elementary mathematics. Awareness of pattern and underlying problem structure promote the learning of whole number arithmetic. A growing consensus has emerged on the necessity to provide students with the opportunity to engage in algebraic reasoning earlier in their…

Teaching mathematics to students at the elementary level needs logical thinking, the students have to be encouraged to study hard to improve solving skills. The objective of this study is to improve the learner's problem solving skill in mathematics 2. This research aims to find out how the implementation of the visualize, represent and solve…

In the process of problem solving, intuitive thinking leads to findings that go beyond gaps and plays a decisive role in problem solving. Considering that problems often need to be solved in groups rather than by individuals, it is necessary to examine how intuitive thinking expressed by individuals is shared and elaborated among peers in a group…