Educational technology is shifting toward facilitating personalized learning. Such personalization, however, requires a detailed understanding of students' problem-solving processes. Sequence analysis (SA) is a promising approach to gaining granular insights into student problem solving; however, existing techniques are difficult to interpret…

A compact disc (CD) can be used as a diffraction grating, even though its track consists of a series of pits, not a continuous groove. Previous authors described how to measure the track spacing on a CD using an incident laser beam normal to the surface or one at an oblique angle. In both cases, the diffraction pattern was projected on a screen…

As visual methods are increasingly validated in the social sciences, including educational research, we must interrogate the sight of inquiry as we employ visual methods to examine our research sites. In this essay, three layers of engagement with the visual are examined in relation to educational research: looking, seeing, and envisioning. This…

How do diagrams and illustrations affect mathematical problem solving? Past research suggests that diagrams should promote correct performance. However, illustrations may provide a supportive context for problem solving, or they may distract students with seductive details. Moreover, effects may not be uniform across student subgroups. This study…

This paper applied a social semiotic lens toward investigating the metonymic representations repeatedly displayed on the Instagram official account and the Instagram blog. The main source of data were 90 photos gathered from ten "Weekend Hashtag Projects" (WHPs), a weekly photo challenge organized by the Instagram team. The multimodal…

Successful mathematical problem-solving relies on choices about how best to represent and solve problems. In this article, a range of methods and strategies are presented for solving a single mathematical problem, including novel methods posed by in-service teachers at one Australian university. The variety of problem-solving strategies rely on…

Teaching determinants poses significant challenges to the instructor of a proof-based undergraduate linear algebra course. The standard definition by cofactor expansion is ugly, lacks symmetry, and is hard for students to use in proofs. We introduce a visual definition of the determinant that interprets permutations as arrangements of…

In recent educational reforms, policy papers present students' desire and motivation for learning as decisive issues. The documents indicate that motivation has become a crucial issue for governmental intervention and results in a number of motivational technologies. Envy, once perceived as a mortal sin, is shown as integral of the ambiguous…

This study replicated a study conducted by Branch, Rezabek and Cochenour (1998) who contended that perception and interpretation can be influenced by the type of graphic elements used to compose a diagram. Because instructional design conditions resemble complex situations that require learning development systems sufficient to address the…

French history textbooks occupy a pivotal position in the colonial fracture. They impart difficult knowledge about the Algerian War of Independence, knowledge that impacts the relationships between the communities of memory in France today. Textbook analysis has focused on their verbal content and, recently, in the work of Jo McCormack, on…

The "n"-back task is likely the most popular measure of working memory for functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies. Despite accumulating neuroimaging studies with the "n"-back task and children, its neural representation is still unclear. fMRI studies that used the "n"-back were compiled, and data from…

This article highlights four routines that use visual images and open questions to invite students to discuss, justify, make arguments, and question their own thinking as well as their classmates' thinking. The authors share specific classroom examples from each routine that highlight the meaningful discourse they can inspire. Teacher prompts and…

Diagrams are powerful opportunities for grappling with and learning abstract relationships, for example learning the relations between elements in an ecosystem rather than simply memorizing the objects within the system. Further, what is crucial from any diagrammatic learning opportunity is the ability to use this relational knowledge in a new…

Picturebooks aid children's developing social understanding because they are dialogic, relational contexts where child readers have opportunities to engage vicariously with a wide range of imagined others. We use research by literacy and literature scholars, including our own past work, to showcase a series of visual and linguistic elements in…

Statistical literacy involves engagement with the data one encounters. New forms of data and new ways to engage with data--notably via interactive data visualisations--are emerging. Some of the skills required to work effectively with these new visualisation tools are described. We argue that interactive data visualisations will have as profound…