Sudoku is a puzzle that has a unique solution. No matter how many methods are used, the result will always be the same. The player thought that the number of givens or clues, the initial value on the Sudoku puzzles, would significantly determine the difficulty level, which is not necessarily correct. This research uses two search algorithms,…

Background and Context: Block-based programming is a popular approach to teaching introductory programming. Block-based programming often works in the context of microworlds, where students solve specific puzzles. It is used, for example, within the Hour of Code event, which targets millions of students. Objective: To identify design guidelines…

Self-efficacy, the beliefs learners hold about what they can do, develops largely from whether learners perceive and interpret their experiences as successful (i.e., perceived mastery). In mathematics, the relationship between perceived mastery and self-efficacy has been well established. Less is known about the factors that may influence…

Introduction: There are major differences when children with blindness perform construction tasks using haptics, without relying on sight, compared to when children with typical vision perform them through sight. When using sight, in all of the processes, the overall image can be grasped simultaneously while executing the task. When using haptics,…

During dialogue, people reach mutual comprehension through the production of feedback markers such as "yeah" or "okay." The purpose of the current study was to determine if mental load affects feedback production, as there is currently no consensus as to how mental load constrains the way in which dialogue partners reach mutual…

Attention-based learning tasks of modern classrooms require processing of information in working memory. Not much is known about the cognitive processes operating during these tasks. To gain an understanding of the processes that support cognitive functions like learning, we have monitored the activity of the brain waves emanating from the frontal…

The testing effect occurs when students, given information to learn and then practice during a test, perform better on a subsequent content post-test than students who restudy the information as a substitute for the practice test. The effect is often weaker or reversed if immediate rather than delayed post-tests are used. The weakening may be due…

Fifty-one 23-to-55-month-old-infants faced two apparatuses that required the use of a rigid (box apparatus) or flexible (hose apparatus) stick-like tool to retrieve a toy stuck inside. Before attempting the extraction, however, they had to pick the only one tool (of three) on display that had the appropriate rigidity/flexibility to be effective.…

While the development of creativity, or creative thinking, in mathematics is considered important by many researchers, there are several difficulties in implementing creative tasks, especially before secondary school. Within the original context of a mathematical escape game, this paper reports two episodes exemplifying the difficulties met by…

The current student body will, by and large, seek online resources to supplement their learning. However, resources that are freely available online vary in accuracy and quality, and the vast majority rely on passive learning. Therefore, there is a need for interactive physiology teaching resources that facilitate application of knowledge, that…

Typically developing (TD) children exhibit a transfer deficit imitating significantly less from screen demonstrations compared to a live demonstrations. Although many interventions for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) include video materials, little research exists comparing the effectiveness of video demonstration over live…

Mastery behaviours -- seeking out challenging tasks and continuing to work on them despite difficulties -- are integral to achievement but difficult to measure with precision. The current study reports on the development and validation of the computer-based persistence, effort, resilience, and challenge-seeking (PERC) task in two demographically…

We examined children's task engagement during a challenging puzzle task in the presence of their primary caregivers by using a representative sample of rural children from six high-poverty counties across two states. Weighted longitudinal confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling were used to identify a task engagement factor…

The purpose of this quasi-experimental study is to examine whether attention cueing benefits learners of ancient Egyptian culture using mobile-assisted instrumentation. A self-regulatory, mobile phone based set of visualizations depicting ancient Egyptian culture served as the primary instrument. A total of 50 learners of English as a foreign…

Why do people enjoy jigsaw puzzles, which--challenging and time-consuming as they are--might be considered more like work than play? The author investigates the motivations, preferences, and satisfactions of individuals working on jigsaw puzzles, and she explores how these elements of play relate to the procedures and strategies puzzlers use to…