Investigating students' thinking in classroom tasks, particularly in science and engineering, is essential for improving educational practices and advancing student learning. In this context, the notion of "Ways of Thinking" (WoT) has gained traction in STEM education, offering a framework to explore how students approach and solve…

The introduction of programming education in K-12 schools to promote computational thinking has attracted a great deal of attention from scholars and educators. Debugging code is a central skill for students, but is also a considerable challenge when learning to program. Learners at the K-12 level often lack confidence in programming debugging due…

Background/purpose: This research explores the use of robotics to facilitate the learning of computer programming among non-specialist pre-service teachers with no prior programming experience. With the increasing demand for 21st-century teaching competencies, it is essential to equip future educators with computational thinking (CT) skills, even…

Virtual Labs (vLabs) have been gaining popularity in high school and undergraduate education, but there are few studies looking at their use in graduate-level courses. In this study, we investigated the use of six Labster vLabs assigned as homework in a graduate-level in-person Genomic Methodologies course at the University of Toronto. This course…

Background: Computational thinking (CT) is a cognitive approach intricately linked with core competencies in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). Numerous studies have explored strategies to effectively integrate CT into STEM education and systematically evaluated the multidimensional impact on student learning outcomes.…

Although exploratory play is considered a hallmark of cognitive development and learning, relatively few studies have been able to quantitatively characterize the shifts that may occur in children's approach to exploration. One reason for this gap is due to challenges coding and analyzing children's exploratory play behavior. In our paper, we…

Background: In professional contexts, engineers use engineering judgment to create mathematical models. Despite the importance of judgment in professional practice, the development and enactment of engineering judgment by engineering students are understudied. To better prepare students for engineering careers, there is a need to recognize and…

Mathematics intervention research has established several effective interventions for building accuracy and fluency of math fact computation, as well as components that may improve student learning rates. While several evidence-based interventions promoting math fact accuracy and fluency exist, further work is needed to determine additional…

Background: In response to persistent challenges in early grade mathematics achievement in South Africa, two intervention projects -- Base-Ten Thinking (BTT) and the Mental Starters Assessment Project (MSAP) -- were implemented to enhance number sense through mental mathematics in Grades 2 and 3. These projects integrate Freudenthal's theory of…

In response to disruptions introduced to the job market by AI résumé screeners, this article introduces a novel theoretical framework for the life cycle of artificial intelligence systems to help unblackbox résumé screening AI systems. It then applies the AI life cycle framework to a digital case study of RChilli's job-résumé matching algorithm.…

Estimation supports the development of higher level mathematical thinking and reasoning; however, has received relatively little research attention. We examined whether making predictions influences the accuracy of numerosity estimates in elementary-aged children, and whether the amount of information available to the estimator determines the…

Missing covariates is a common issue when fitting meta-regression models. Standard practice for handling missing covariates tends to involve one of two approaches. In a complete-case analysis, effect sizes for which relevant covariates are missing are omitted from model estimation. Alternatively, researchers have employed the so-called…

This article provides an overview of the diverse ways in which computational thinking has been operationalised in the literature. Computational thinking has attracted much interest and debatably ranks in importance with the time-honoured literacy skills of reading, writing, and arithmetic. However, learning interventions in this subject have…

Most physics courses begin with one-dimensional kinematics, which is usually restricted to the case of constant acceleration. Here we report a unique exercise for an introductory algebra-based physics course involving the running and non-constant acceleration of the theropod dinosaur "Dilophosaurus wetherilli" and the world-famous…

Oxidation number (ON) is taught as an electron-counting concept for redox reactions in chemistry curriculum. The molecular formula method, the Lewis formula method, and the structural formula method have all been used to determine ON. However, the task of assigning ON still poses problems for some teachers and students. This paper explores a new…