As early childhood educators of young children, we recognize that children draw what they know from cultural transmissions, moving through many developmental transitions with drawing. As children's skills developed, a PreK/Kindergarten teacher in a university laboratory school classroom with 27 children was interested in studying ways children can…

This study explores the dynamic, interactive nature of digital drawings and writing in a knowledge building community in which students used a multimedia online environment--Knowledge Forum--to represent and advance ideas in the field of optics. The research employs a mixed-methods case study to collect and analyze multimedia notes created by 22…

Constructing explanations of scientific phenomena is a high-leverage practice that promotes student understanding. In the context of this study, we acknowledge that children are used to receiving explanations from teachers. However, they are rarely encouraged to construct explanations about the causes and consequences of phenomena. We modified a…

Professional teaching competence is significantly influenced by beliefs about teaching and learning. Prospective teachers start their teacher training with quite persistent beliefs about learning processes. These beliefs are mainly influenced by the way they experienced their own lessons as a student at school. Previous biology lessons at school…

Graphing is an important practice for scientists and in K-16 science curricula. Graphs can be constructed using an array of software packages as well as by hand, with pen-and-paper. However, we have an incomplete understanding of how students' graphing practice vary by graphing environment; differences could affect how best to teach and assess…

This article explores some of the complexities of teaching art and design history to students in a Design Extended Curriculum Programme at a university of technology in the context of post-1994 South African society--a society troubled by the ghosts of colonial and apartheid histories that agitate the present/future. Tracking a series of…

The purpose of this study was to investigate knowledge of high school students related to conductors at electrostatic equilibrium and electric field lines. The descriptive model was preferred in line with the purpose of the study. The sample of the study consisted of 35 11th grade students, 18 females and 16 males, who were enrolled in a…

Imagination, as an essential aspect of human nature, is fundamental to all ways of thinking. However, this powerful faculty is usually overlooked or marginalized in educational research. In the article, I explore imagination as a methodological source for researchers to generate expansive, purposeful, fluid, and developmental knowledge about the…

Whereas we acknowledge that drawing as process and product within the visual arts is complex and wide ranging, this study concentrates on testing the effectiveness of different pedagogical strategies for enhancing accuracy as a learning objective in drawing from observation. Based on our collective experience teaching observational drawing, we…

This study investigated preschool children's opinions on educational robots using their robot drawings. The study group consisted of 64 five- and six-years old children in an independent kindergarden affiliated to the Ministry of National Education (MoNE) in Ankara province, Turkey and participated in the Preschool Robotics Coding Workshop within…

Ascertaining young children's attitudes towards mathematics has its challenges. Methodologically, limitations exist regarding the type of research techniques that can be employed. The use of children's drawings as a data source has both methodological affordances and issues. The study was conducted with 106 children in Years 2 and 3 from three…

Participatory research methods that focus on children's right to form and express views about research topics have grown in popularity in recent decades. It is less common for play to have a central role in participatory research. This article provides an account of a small, participatory research project conducted in a School Age Care setting in…

Natural selection is a fundamental scientific process, yet students and educators alike demonstrate misconceptions of the process. Though images are used often in science to facilitate learning, it is less common to assess learners' understanding through their own drawings. This study utilizes a multiple-choice assessment of evolutionary processes…

An indirect connection between executive functioning and imagination was revealed earlier in the study of pretend play. This study aimed to explore the relationship between imagination and executive functions in children. Two-hundred-six typically developing children aged 6-7 years were assessed with main executive functions (working memory,…

The present study aims to analyse the perceptions of reality of 5-6 year old children about the cartoons they watch. The study group of the research includes pre-schoolers. Within the scope of the study, a private pre-school and a public preschool which volunteered to be a part of the study were determined, and the study was carried out with 101…