Researching informal gameplay can be challenging, since as soon as a formal study design is imposed, it becomes neither casual nor self-motivated. As a case study of a non-invasive design, we analyze publicly posted gameplay videos to assess the effectiveness of a physics educational video game on special relativity. These videos offer unique…

This article serves as a practical guide to mediation design and analysis by evaluating the ability of mediation models to detect a significant mediation effect using limited data. The cross-sectional mediation model, which has been shown to be biased when the mediation is happening over time, is compared with longitudinal mediation models:…

Debriefing is routinely used in pilot training. Limited empirical studies, however, have investigated what aspects of debriefing contribute to learning outcomes across professions. In this investigation, we focus on the learning of pilots flying large commercial aircraft in a multi-crew flight deck. The researchers observed, recorded and analysed…

Efficient teamwork skills, high level of complex process knowledge and a vast set of operational abilities are essential for safe and economical operation in process industries. During the past decade, human factors have emerged as a strong research area in industrial simulator training, where traditionally focus is in the engineering technology.…

Excel spreadsheets are used as an excellent tool in physics laboratory experiments related to wave optics. This paper presents a simple way to simulate diffraction of waves through a slit using Excel spreadsheets without any tedious programming. These simulations are used to visualize the effect of variation of different parameters such as number…

Research on self-efficacy has provided evidence that it is a moderating factor that positively impacts students' choices to pursue and persist in engineering. Engineering graphics is seen as the preferred method of communication for the profession, yet to date no instrument is available that measures students' self-efficacy as it relates to…

Teachers and students struggle with the complexities surrounding the evolution of species and the process of natural selection. This article examines how science teacher candidates (STCs) engage in a clinical simulation that foregrounds two common challenges associated with natural selection--students' understanding of "survival of the…

Although inter-rater reliability is an important aspect of using observational instruments, it has received little theoretical attention. In this article, we offer some guidance for practitioners and consumers of classroom observations so that they can make decisions about inter-rater reliability, both for study design and in the reporting of data…

This article presents a fundamental advance in the theory of mental models as an explanation of reasoning about facts, possibilities, and probabilities. It postulates that the meanings of compound assertions, such as conditionals ("if") and disjunctions ("or"), unlike those in logic, refer to conjunctions of epistemic…

All reviews are selective and this one restricts itself to content analysis of articles published between the beginning of 2005 and the end of 2014 in the premier, generalist, Science-education, research journals: International Journal of Science Education; Journal of Research in Science Teaching; Research in Science Education; Science Education,…

The Enhanced Virtual Laboratory (EVL) is the product of a Department of Defense grant to enhance outreach, research, and education for cyber security. Through web-based laboratories, EVL allows users to remotely experience interactive content with virtual machines inside a modern web browser providing constructivism-based, student-centered,…

This study was conducted to analyze potential item parameter drift (IPD) impact on person ability estimates and classification accuracy when drift affects an examinee subgroup. Using a series of simulations, three factors were manipulated: (a) percentage of IPD items in the CAT exam, (b) percentage of examinees affected by IPD, and (c) item pool…

The belief, which includes the ability of doing something effectively, is self-efficacy. In this study, effective learning were intended to provide the participants, by using simulation and micro-teaching techniques from current method and approaches considering internationals standarts in growing school leaders. In this context, the purpose of…

Extension educators should think of themselves as change agents, yet many act as information dispensers. Accordingly, we sought to determine whether we could change perceptions of county Extension educators in Oklahoma regarding their function as change agents. Educators participated in a two-part (two-treatment) professional development…

The need for youth credit card education is clear given the many statistics indicating increasing credit card debt and an overall scarcity of credit card education targeting youths. The Teen$ Credit Card simulation program offers youths an opportunity to experience "owning" a credit card, using it, and realizing the consequences of…