The following study examines two researchers' perspectives on play in the lives of children from diverse cultural contexts. Two questions guided this study: (1) how do researchers conceptualize children's play and (2) what shapes their understanding of play. In order to answer these questions, a critical discourse was established between two…

In this paper we show an example of how to use a computational simulation to obtain visual feedback for students' mental models, and compare their predictions with the simulated system's behaviour. Additionally, we use the computational simulation to incrementally modify the students' mental models in order to accommodate new data,…

The present research approached a problem which has a twofold aspect: the concept of angle and the techniques needed to represent how pupils construct that concept in their cognitive structure during their years in school. In order to access the knowledge of the concept of angle, we used the pathfinder associative networks. This technique provided…

Previous research has demonstrated the effectiveness of particular instructional practices that support students' constructions of the partitive unit fraction scheme and measurement concepts for fractions. Another body of research has demonstrated the power of a particular mental operation--the splitting operation--in supporting students'…

Although many advances have been made in recent years concerning the theoretical dimensions of content and language integrated learning (CLIL), research still has to meet the necessity to come up with integrative models that adequately map the interrelation between content and language learning in CLIL contexts. This article will suggest that…

This study aims to map the cognitive structure of pre-service English language (EL) teachers about three key concepts related to approaches and methods in language teaching so as to discover their learning process and misconceptions. The study involves both qualitative and quantitative data. The researcher administrated a Word Association Test…

Although much done in the name of discipleship and theological education pronounces lofty goals, such as movement from orthodoxy to orthopraxy, in many cases mere doctrinal assent is assumed to reflect deep change. An analysis of discipleship, worldview theory, and certain cognitive approaches to education suggests that worldview-level…

This study investigates the perceptions of 207 college students in early childhood education and child and family studies (future professionals) regarding the role of play in early childhood classrooms. The results indicate that future professionals in their freshman and sophomore years in college held relatively positive perceptions of play in…

One of the overarching goals of education is the development of intellectual abilities (IA). Yet, there are not enough tools to identify pedagogies that maximize students' IA. In this research, we consider the way teachers' reinforcing of versatility of opinions (pluralism) vs. teachers encouraging community views (communalism) has on developing…

This article brings together, summarizes, and comments on several threads of research that have contributed to our understanding of the challenges that novice programmers face when learning about the runtime dynamics of programs and the role of the computer in program execution. More specifically, the review covers the literature on programming…

This study aimed to develop the small-scale experiments involving electrochemistry and the galvanic cell model kit featuring the sub-microscopic level. The small-scale experiments in conjunction with the model kit were implemented based on the 5E inquiry learning approach to enhance students' conceptual understanding of electrochemistry. The…

In an attempt to reveal potential threshold concepts in the field of higher education pedagogy, groups of university teachers (in the UK and in Panama) were encouraged to develop personal reflection upon their conceptions of teaching. This was initiated through concept mapping activities. It was hoped that this would help participants to address…

Problem Statement: Student teachers' beliefs and conceptions affect not only what and how they learn in teacher education programs, but also their future professional development in their teaching careers. Examining and understanding student teachers' beliefs and conceptions is therefore crucial to improving their professional preparation and…

This paper aims at shedding light on what students can "construct" when they learn science and how this construction process may be supported. Constructivism is a pluralist theory of science education. As a consequence, I support, there are several points of view concerning this construction process. Firstly, I stress that constructivism…

The purpose of this paper is to examine some mathemagenic activities that would transform the internal representations of learners' cognitive structure. The paper pointed out that understanding scientific concept involves the learner's role in translating instructive information into internal representation through the use of some mathemagenic…