Following a design-based research framework, this article reports two empirical studies with an educational MMOG, called "McLarin's Adventures," on facilitating 9th-grade students' complex problem-solving skill acquisition in interdisciplinary STEM education. The article discusses the nature of complex and ill-structured problem solving…

Computer-assisted learning, in the form of simulation-based training, is heavily focused upon by the military. Because computer-based learning offers highly portable, reusable, and cost-efficient training options, the military has dedicated significant resources to the investigation of instructional strategies that improve learning efficiency…

This conceptual paper discusses some principles for powerful learning environments based on a cognitive perspective. Throughout the paper, it is argued that the accommodation of different individual cognitive preferences is crucial for its alignment with the human cognitive architecture. The paper concludes that in order to be aligned with the…

Most college students do not habitually do the deep thinking that will allow them to take their learning beyond the acquisition of knowledge. This paper examines the findings from a phenomenological study of 8 students involved in an interdisciplinary community focused on developing responsible, life-long learners and effective team members.…

Issues of desire in music education are integral and anathema to the profession. Constituted of and by desire, we bodily engage music emotionally and cognitively; yet references to the body are limited to how it may be better managed in order to produce more satisfactory (desired) sounds, thus disciplining desire as we focus on the content of…

Teacher reflectivity has become significant to practice and research in teacher education and development. The literature on teacher reflectivity is substantial, and reflection has come to be widely accepted as a central factor in the professional growth of teachers. In contemporary research and practice, teacher reflectivity has come to refer to…

Much has been written by academics lamenting the lack of preparedness of students for entrance to the university (and, by employers, lamenting the additional training that students need after college to enter the workforce). Although such lamentations may be merited, students pick up the binary rhetoric of real world versus academic world that…

Sets of mathematics problems are generally arranged in 1 of 2 ways. With "blocked practice," all problems are drawn from the preceding lesson. With "mixed review," students encounter a mixture of problems drawn from different lessons. Mixed review has 2 features that distinguish it from blocked practice: Practice problems on…

Comparing and contrasting examples is a core cognitive process that supports learning in children and adults across a variety of topics. In this experimental study, we evaluated the benefits of supporting comparison in a classroom context for children learning about computational estimation. Fifth- and sixth-grade students (N = 157) learned about…

Since the early 1980's, the number of picture books that present Queer characters and themes has grown. Correspondingly, the number of challenges to these books has also increased. "And Tango Makes Three," the true story of two male penguins who hatch and raise a chick in New York City's Central Park Zoo, is one such picture book that has received…

This paper reports on two upper primary teachers' use of particular scaffolding practices, individual discussion and the use of manipulatives. The cognitive and affective impact on four low-attaining students in these classes is described. The teachers and students were observed during eight to ten sequential tasks. "Scaffolding…

Teaching students the most frequent sounds of the alphabet letters is the first crucial step in good phonics instruction. But beginning letter and sound lessons, especially if poorly taught or too rapidly paced, can be overwhelming and confusing for some young children and struggling readers. How can we simplify the cognitive task for such…

Work in category learning addresses how humans acquire knowledge and, thus, should inform classroom practices. In two experiments, we apply and evaluate intuitions garnered from laboratory-based research in category learning to learning tasks situated in an educational context. In Experiment 1, learning through predictive inference and…

Students with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) often experience serious academic deficits. One area that is particularly problematic is written expression. This study assesses the effectiveness of a persuasive essay-writing strategy taught by using the self-regulated strategy development model on the writing skills of 3 high school…

There is a large volume of literature that discusses the at-risk high school student. This literature tends to focus on the factors that create the at-risk student whether those are environmental factors or perhaps the failure of schools in general that create the at-risk problem in the United States. Although the causes are important to…