Research in computer-based learning environments has long recognized the vital role of adaptivity in promoting effective, individualized learning among students. Adaptive scaffolding capabilities are particularly important in open-ended learning environments, which provide students with opportunities for solving authentic and complex problems, and…

Problem-solving skills in creative, open-ended domains are both important and little understood. These domains are generally ill-structured, have extremely large exploration spaces, and require high levels of specialized skill in order to produce quality solutions. We investigate problem-solving behavior in one such domain, the…

Abilities in scientific thinking and reasoning have been emphasized as core areas of initiatives, such as the Next Generation Science Standards or the College Board Standards for College Success in Science, which focus on the skills the future will demand of today's students. Although there is rich literature on studies of how these abilities…

This article reports on the explicit introduction of metacognitive strategies by an early career science teacher to support the application of mathematics skills. The research investigated the effectiveness of these strategies with three Year 11 physics students using an action research approach. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected…

Students with and without learning disabilities in high school chemistry classes, either co-taught or self-contained, received instruction on calculating molar conversions using universal design for learning (UDL) or business-as-usual techniques. For Study 1, posttest scores of students with and without learning disabilities (LD) in co-taught…

This research presents the investigation of physics students' and physics faculty members' professional development and a design methodology via which we could best support them in their professional development. In particular, the first part of this dissertation will focus on undergraduate upper-division physics students' conceptual learning and…

It is well known that many students have tremendous difficulties with applying Gauss's law for purposes of solving quantitative as well as qualitative problems. In this study, it was investigated how understanding of Gauss's law can be facilitated by analyzing the superposition of electric field vectors for increasingly complex geometric…

This article examines how students taking a post-compulsory physics course for 16- to 19-year-olds (A-level physics) benefited from a change in pedagogy which meant that they spent more time problem solving in collaborative groups. Video analysis of these collaborative problem-solving sessions revealed that the students improved a number of key…

Drawing appropriate diagrams is a useful problem solving heuristic that can transform a problem into a representation that is easier to exploit for solving it. One major focus while helping introductory physics students learn effective problem solving is to help them understand that drawing diagrams can facilitate problem solution. We conducted an…

Physics problems can be posed in different ways. Given a physics scenario, different problem types presenting that scenario in various ways can emphasize different instructional goals. In this investigation, we examined the views of physics graduate teaching assistants (TAs) enrolled in a semester-long TA professional development course about the…

Generic problem-solving skills have been identified as one of the key competencies valued by professional programmes, university students and their future employers. A lack of widely available and simple testing tools prevents assessment of the development of student problem-solving skills. As part of a research study, a generic problem-solving…

Putting an electrical circuit within an inaccessible black box and asking pupils to deduce what wiring is contained within the box based solely on the circuit's behaviour is a simple teaching idea with a long history. Problems arise when trying to build enough physical black boxes to simulate a larger number of circuits within a typical school's…

Problem-based learning (PBL) fosters both content knowledge and content understanding, improves critical and process thinking skills, and promotes peer-to-peer learning, leadership, and teamwork (Hmelo-Silver 2004). Instructors support the PBL process by guiding students through activities that challenge their current knowledge and understanding…

The Creative Responsibility Based Teaching (CRBT) model is an innovative physics-teaching model designed to enhance students' scientific creativity and responsibility. Therefore, this research aims to analyze the effectiveness of CRBT model to improve scientific creativity and first year students' responsibility on Basic Physics learning in…

The design of a teaching model must qualify to be applicable or practical and effective, therefore the research aimed to analyze the practicality and effectiveness of the IBMR (Investigation-Based Multiple Representation) teaching model in improving physics problems solving skills of bachelor programs' students. The research was conducted by…