Quantitative reasoning is considered a crucial prerequisite for acquiring domain-specific expertise in higher education. To ascertain whether students are developing quantitative reasoning, validly assessing its development over the course of their studies is required. However, when measuring quantitative reasoning in an academic study program, it…

Many students persistently misinterpret histograms. Literature suggests that having students solve dotplot items may prepare for interpreting histograms, as interpreting dotplots can help students realize that the statistical variable is presented on the horizontal axis. In this study, we explore a special case of this suggestion, namely, how…

Eye tracking technology enables the visualisation of a problem solver's eye movement while working on a problem. The eye movement of experts has been used to draw attention to expert problem solving processes in a bid to teach procedural skills to learners. Such affordances appear as eye movement modelling examples (EMME) in the literature. This…

Teaching is an immensely complex profession that often requires managing multiple and varied professional challenges. Despite these challenges, teachers tend to report moderate to high levels of well-being. This qualitative study explored this paradox by investigating the professional challenges reported and the coping strategies Swiss teachers…

Collaborative problem solving (CPS) has been shown to both engage and benefit students' learning of mathematics. However, there is evidence that group work is not always easy to facilitate, in part because educators lack details about learners' engagement during group work: the processes of problem solving involved, and how these are engaged. In…

Mobile eye-tracking research has provided evidence both on teachers' visual attention in relation to their intentions and on teachers' student-centred gaze patterns. However, the importance of a teacher's eye-movements when giving instructions is unexplored. In this study we used mobile eye-tracking to investigate six teachers' gaze patterns when…

Cognitive load theory is one of the most influential theoretical explanations of cognitive processing during learning. Despite its success, attempts to assess cognitive load during learning have proven difficult. Therefore, in the current study, students' self-reported cognitive load after the problem- solving process has been combined with…

The ability to correctly interpret data is an important skill in modern knowledge societies. The present study investigates adults' ability to interpret covariation data presented in bar graphs. Drawing on previous findings that show that the problem context influences the interpretation of contingency tables (grounded and concrete problems are…

The paper analyzes a collaborative learning process among Finnish pre-service teachers planning their own learning in a self-regulated way. The study builds on cultural-historical activity theory and the theory of expansive learning, integrating for the first time an analysis of learning actions and an analysis of types of interaction. We examine…

We propose a conceptual framework which may guide research on fostering diagnostic competences in simulations in higher education. We first review and link research perspectives on the components and the development of diagnostic competences, taken from medical and teacher education. Applying conceptual knowledge in diagnostic activities is…

Diffusing inquiry-based pedagogy in schools for deep and lasting change requires teacher transformation and capacity building. This study characterizes the professional identity of three elementary school teachers who have productively engaged in inquiry-based classroom practice using knowledge building pedagogy and Knowledge Forum, a…

Non-routine word problem solving is an essential feature of the mathematical development of elementary school students worldwide. Many students experience difficulties in solving these problems due to erroneous problem comprehension. These difficulties could be alleviated by instructing students how to use visual representations that clarify the…

In Singapore, primary school students are taught to use bar diagrams to represent known and unknown values in algebraic word problems. However, little is known about students' understanding of these graphical representations. We investigated whether students use and think of the bar diagrams in a concrete or a more abstract fashion. We also…

Conceptions of learning are seen as an important factor in shaping students' patterns of learning. However, conceptions are often implicit and difficult to assess. Metaphors have been proposed as a method to assess conceptions, because metaphors are closely linked to the conceptual system. Therefore, in our study we assessed which conceptions of…

One crucial issue in mathematics development is how children come to spontaneously apply arithmetical principles (e.g. commutativity). According to expertise research, well-integrated conceptual and procedural knowledge is required. Here, we report a method composed of two independent tasks that assessed in an unobtrusive manner the spontaneous…