Digital game-based learning (DGBL) has emerged as an effective strategy to enhance students' learning effectiveness. Concept mapping, recognized as a valuable tool for knowledge construction, has been widely implemented in educational settings. However, research indicates challenges when integrating concept maps into games, particularly when the…

This study investigates the cognitive processes of novice students in science learning, with a specific focus on how inhibitory control is employed to overcome a common student misconception about the buoyant force in liquid, which leads to the belief that "the greater the depth an object is in a liquid, the greater the buoyant force it…

This paper presents a qualitative study developed with a group of 16-year-old students who were asked to estimate large numbers of elements on a bounded surface. Taking the realistic mathematics education framework as a reference, we presented the students with an activity sequence comprised of four different tasks--each one with a different…

Functional fixedness involves difficulty with conceptualizing creative object uses. When it obstructs problem-solving, individuals must reframe their approach. We examined how different training techniques--chunk decomposition (i.e., considering an object's basic parts and physical properties) and constraint relaxation (i.e., considering an…

Participants rated Intuition, Suddenness, Pleasure, and Certainty accompanying their solutions to items of a popular fluid intelligence test -- Raven's Advanced Progressive Matrices (RAPM) -- that varied from easy (around 80% correct) to difficult (around 20% correct). The same ratings were collected from four insight problems interleaved with…

This study aims to describe metacognitive interventions for students who experience suspension of sense-making when solving integration problems based on the characteristics of students' thinking. This research applied a qualitative research approach and provided essay tests followed by task-based interviews to classify students who experience…

The task of higher education is twofold: (1) to prepare students to meet the expectations of the labor market; and (2) to create a learning environment and conditions so that as many students can meet the subject requirements as possible, the dropout rate should be the lowest possible. Input and continuous monitoring of students' transversal…

This paper develops a method for the construction and evaluation of cognitive models to support students in their problem-solving skills during robotics in school, aiming to build a basis for an implementation of a tutoring system in the future. Two Wizard-of-Oz studies were conducted, one in the classroom and one in the lab. Based on the…

Drawing on a concept-map methodology, we investigated how 18 prospective elementary teachers (PSTs) conceptualize STEM thinking as habits of mind shared across STEM domains in the context of problem-solving prior to explicit classroom discussions about STEM thinking. A 28-question, 5-point Likert-scale survey was used to explore PSTs' orientations…

The field of anatomy is often seen by nonanatomists as concerned primarily with the tasks of locating, naming, and describing structures; these tasks, in turn, are often assumed to require only lower-order cognitive skills (LOCSs), i.e., the Knowledge or Comprehension levels of Bloom's taxonomy. Many nonanatomists may thus believe that studying…

Chance favors the prepared mind, said Louis Pasteur. Sometimes, significant breakthroughs occur when we creatively integrate new information, leading to a creative insight or an Aha! moment, while at other times when we fail to use a clue, we remain stuck in our habitual thinking patterns. In this study, we hypothesized that the brain's transient…

There is broad consensus on the assumption that adults solve single-digit multiplication problems almost exclusively by fact retrieval from memory. In contrast, there has been a long-standing debate on the cognitive processes involved in solving single-digit addition problems. This debate has evolved around two theoretical accounts. Proponents of…

Even after many decades of productive research, problem solving instruction is still considered ineffective. In this study we address some limitations of extant problem solving models related to the phenomenon of insight during problem solving. Currently, there are two main views on the source of insight during problem solving. Proponents of the…

One of the well-known approaches to creativity differentiates between creative person, process, product, and press. In the study presented in this paper we focus on creative process and product associated with Problem Posing through Investigation (PPI) by experts in mathematical problem solving. We link the creative process to creativity of PPI…

Students come to their high school physics classroom with experiences and knowledge that can be used to help explain physics concepts, but those experiences may not fully align with the scientifically accepted science concept. When there is a misalignment between a student's prior knowledge and the scientifically accepted concept a misconception…