Providing examples suitable for the children's world in the music education given to younger age groups may reinforce the knowledge to be taught. For this reason, cartoons can be utilized for an engaging and fun lesson environment. One of the best examples of this situation is believed to be the short cartoon series Silly Symphony produced by Walt…

In this paper, we pursue a materialist approach to tool use to account for the material dimensions of learning mathematics with technology while decentralizing the human body from activity. We root this vision in theoretical advances on embodied mathematics learning and tool use that have been recently offered as alternatives to traditional…

Energy is a topic that is often treated as an accounting process-a number that students are asked to calculate, but that is not particularly meaningful in itself. When we try to ascribe meaning to this number ("an ability to do work," for example), we are met with caveats and hedges. As Feynman notes when lecturing on the conservation of…

Biomechanics, and specifically the biomechanics associated with human movement, is a potentially rich backdrop against which educators can design innovative science teaching and learning activities. Moreover, the use of technologies associated with biomechanics research, such as high-speed cameras that can produce high-quality slow-motion video,…

This study investigated how enriching visualizations with arrows indicating the motion of objects may help in conveying dynamic information: Multiple static-simultaneous visualizations with motion-indicating arrows were compared with either multiple visualizations without arrows or a single visualization with arrows. Seventy-one students were…

Humans have an evolved embodied cognition that equips them to deal easily with the natural movements of object manipulations. Hence, learning a manipulative task is generally more effective when watching animations that show natural motions of the task, rather than equivalent static pictures. The present study was completed to explore this…

In mathematic courses, construction of some concepts by the students in a meaningful way may be complicated. In such circumstances, to embody the concepts application of the required technologies may reinforce learning process. Onset of learning process over daily life events of the student's environment may lure their attention and may…

Multiple representations are a valuable tool to help students learn and understand physics concepts. Furthermore, representations help students learn how to think and act like real scientists. These representations include: pictures, free-body diagrams, energy bar charts, electrical circuits, and, more recently, computer simulations and…

Animation has become enormously popular in feature films, television, and video games. Art departments and film schools at universities as well as animation programs at high schools have expanded in recent years to meet the growing demands for animation artists. Professional animators identify the technological facet as the most rapidly advancing…

A controlled experiment was conducted on the effects of two types of animation--motion and highlighting--on learning. The treatment consisted of a 3.5 minute multimedia presentation that described the workings of a flushing toilet tank. A 2x2 factorial design ({motion, no-motion} x {highlight, no-highlight}) was employed with two dependent…

In 2006, as a beginning teacher in a Western Sydney school, the author explored slow motion animation ("slowmation") as a strategy for teaching Year 4 students about equivalent fractions. She taught at this school five days a week, teaching Kindergarten, Year 4, and Year 5. Slowmation can be defined as a simplified version of claymation…