This study examines the role of spatial reasoning in learning among 5th and 6th grade students participating in a set of in-school, technology-enhanced, STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and math) making activities. We focus our analysis on a particular type of reasoning: spatial reasoning. Prior research has shown that spatial…

This article describes the process of designing and creating six computer-based simulations for school leadership training programmes, in the context of the Chilean school system. For the design and construction of the simulations, six scenarios were selected from case analysis of principals with formal training and experience in different…

Background: Students conducting peer review on open-ended problem solutions require training. For that training, the selection of training examples is critical. Purpose: This study explored how the characteristics of five example solutions used in training and their associated expert evaluations affected students' abilities to score peer team…

Over the years, mnemonic instruction has been promoted as an effective strategy to teach students with learning problems including learning disabilities (LD) or mild intellectual disability (MID). This paper discusses mnemonic instruction, including types, versatility in use, and effectiveness with struggling learners. Specific emphasis then is…

Solar energy is clean, free, and abundant worldwide. The challenge, however, is to convert it to useful forms that can reduce our reliance on fossil fuels. This article presents an activity for physical science classes in which students learn firsthand how solar energy can be used to produce electricity specifically for transportation. The…

Throughout the years, there appears to be an increase in Problem Based Learning applications in education; and Problem Based Learning related research areas. The main aim of this research is to underline the fundamentals (basic elements) of Problem Based Learning, investigate the dimensions of research approached to PBL oriented areas (with a look…

A good formula is like a good story, rich in description, powerful in communication, and eye-opening to readers. The formula presented in this article for determining the coefficients of the binomial expansion of (x + y)n is one such "good read." The beauty of this formula is in its simplicity--both describing a quantitative situation…

This column presents a strategy for teachers to use with students with challenging behaviors motivated by a desire to escape a setting. Although many detailed strategies are available for students with behavior problems, few provide a structured approach for working with the students motivated by escape or avoidance. To effectively intervene with…

We describe a modeling project designed for an ordinary differential equations (ODEs) course using first-order and systems of first-order differential equations to model the fermentation process in beer. The project aims to expose the students to the modeling process by creating and solving a mathematical model and effectively communicating their…

In this work the authors investigate the effectiveness of robotics in education. Rather than creating excitement for children when playing with robots in games, they are examining the overall learning environment where a robot acts as a teaching assistant. They designed a suitable lesson plan when groups of teenagers participate in activities…

Past educational reforms have failed because they didn't meet teachers where they were. They expected major changes in practices that may have been unrealistic for many teachers even under ideal professional learning conditions. Instead of promoting broad scale changes, improvement may be more likely if they are composed of small yet powerful…

To further understand student thinking in the context of combinatorial enumeration, we examine student work on a problem involving set partitions. In this context, we note some key features of the multiplication principle that were often not attended to by students. We also share a productive way of thinking that emerged for several students who…

The Puppy Love problem asked fifth and sixth grade students to use their prior knowledge of measures of central tendency to determine a data set when given the mean, mode, median, and range of the set. The problem discussed in this article is a task with a higher level of cognitive demand because it requires that students (1) explore and…

In this paper, we present a set of activities for an introduction to solving counting problems. These activities emerged from a teaching experiment with two university students, during which they reinvented four basic counting formulas. Here we present a three-phase set of activities: orienting counting activities; reinvention counting activities;…

This work aims to demonstrate the use of Excel spreadsheets for solving L-L extraction problems. The key to solving the problems successfully is to be able to determine a tie line on the ternary diagram where the calculation must be carried out. This enables the reader to analyze the extraction process starting with a simple operation, the…