In the Netherlands, university programs increasingly use the binding study advice (BSA) to select students after the first year. Students with insufficient progress after the first year and who therefore do not conform to pre-defined BSA norms have to quit their program. This study investigated whether the introduction of the BSA is associated…

In this analysis, we argue that science education should attend more deeply to youths' cultural resources and practices (e.g. material, social, and intellectual). Inherent in our argument is a call for revisiting conceptions of "prior knowledge" to theorize how people make sense of the complex ecologies of experience, ideas, and cultural…

This study examined the relationship between student anxiety about high-stakes testing and their subsequent test performance. The FRIEDBEN Test Anxiety Scale was administered to 1,134 11th-grade students, and data were subsequently collected on their statewide assessment performance. Test anxiety was a significant predictor of test performance…

If teachers are to be informed, aware actors in today's labyrinthine policy environment, they need to be knowledgeable about the issues and interests that so extensively impact their work lives. One skill needed to construct such a knowledge base is the ability to read strategically. This article is an account of an attempt to make learning…

Individuals who change careers to assume teaching roles in secondary schools are more likely to struggle in the classroom than those without such backgrounds. In this investigation, we identified three such career-changing teachers who were beginning their education careers in rural schools, and observed and interviewed them throughout their first…

The purposes of this action research study were first to explore teacher perceptions of Japanese lesson study as a method of professional development, and second to take teachers through an action research process as they observed the implementation of a literacy lesson in the classroom. Situated Learning Theory, particularly related to teacher…

Students in higher education are being taught pedagogically. Moreover, pedagogy has long persisted as the basis for the entire educational system. Education is, however, discovering that adults learn differently than children learn even though they have been taught as children were taught. Students tend to behave dependently when they are in a…

In this study we compared the effects of two math game designs on math and game performance, using discrete-time survival analysis (DTSA) to model players' risk of not advancing to the next level in the game. 137 students were randomly assigned to two game conditions. The game covered the concept of a unit and the addition of like-sized fractional…

This paper is located within the research into encouraging learners to reason mathematically and become engaged with concepts rather than just procedures. It reports on a research in progress examining two techniques to be used at the beginning of a sequence of lessons in order to elicit students' prior knowledge and understanding of topics about…

Comparing common mathematical errors to correct examples may facilitate learning, even for students with limited prior domain knowledge. We examined whether studying incorrect and correct examples was more effective than studying two correct examples across prior knowledge levels. Fourth- and fifth-grade students (N = 74) learned about decimal…

Theories on learning with Multiple External Representations (MER) claim that low prior knowledge learners in science have difficulties using MER, which are seen as necessary to achieve a conceptual understanding. In two experiments, we analyze the mechanisms underlying the learning of chemistry with MER. Our first experiment focuses on how MER can…

Chemical principles are taught in elementary education across much of the United States because the "National Science Education Standards" include concepts about the nature of matter, states of matter, and changes in matter among other science concepts within the first to fifth grade levels. "Chemicals" is a word related to the nature of matter…

Individual aptitude, attitudes, and behavior in inquiry-based learning (IBL) settings may affect work and learning performance outcomes during activities using different technologies. To encourage multifaceted learning, factors in IBL settings must be statistically significant and effective, and not cognitively or psychomotor intensive. We…

The present study aimed to explore the contribution of a mathematics in-service training course to elementary school teachers (1st-6th grades) in Israel. The study was conducted among 449 educators. They were required to respond to background questions. Moreover, they were asked to indicate their expectations from the in-service training course…

This study examined students' views on a blended learning environment designed for 29 in-service teachers in Singapore enrolled in an educational research method course. Their self-report data highlighted that students' prior knowledge and the amount and difficulty of content covered in the course affected the effectiveness of blended learning…