Recursion is one of the most difficult programming topics for students. In this paper, an instructional method is proposed to enhance students' understanding of recursion tracing. The proposal is based on the use of rules to translate linear recursion algorithms into equivalent, iterative ones. The paper has two main contributions: the…

The aim of this study is to achieve a deeper understanding of the repertoire of cognitive resources children can display in the process of learning numbers. Forty-two children attending Age 4 Kindergarten Class or Year-One in Argentina were individually interviewed, based on a semi-structured script requiring them to represent definite and…

After working with a number of scholars for two years, a university designed a mobile learning platform referred to as 'College English IV,' where learners could have easy access to various kinds of learning resources through installing the program in their smart phones. This study aims to identify whether this platform could significantly improve…

This study investigated the design and delivery of MOOCs to facilitate student self-monitoring for self-directed learning (SDL) using mixed methods. The data sources of this study included an online survey with 198 complete respondents, semistructured interviews with 22 MOOC instructors, and document analysis of 22 MOOCs. Study results indicated…

Research indicates the benefits of collaborative learning for supporting academic literacy in content classrooms, especially for diverse and exceptional students such as students with learning disabilities or English learners (ELs) who can become disengaged in content classrooms if they struggle to access complex, content-related texts. Drawing…

The paper-and-pencil Mental Rotation Test (Vandenberg & Kuse, 1978) consistently produces large sex differences favoring men (Voyer, Voyer, & Bryden, 1995). In this task, participants select 2 of 4 answer choices that are rotations of a probe stimulus. Incorrect choices (i.e., foils) are either mirror reflections of the probe or…

The study reported in this article examined the impact of task type on the ways in which learners resolve grammatical language-related episodes (LREs) and whether the level of engagement affects subsequent language development. Data were collected over a six-week period. Thirty-two Iranian second language (L2) learners were paired up to complete a…

This study tested the hypothesis that exploratory learning, with and without analogous problems, would improve students' ability to make connections between conceptually-related topics. In this randomized experiment, undergraduates in introductory physics (N = 171) studied a new topic under three different instructional conditions. Order and type…

The present study examines the influence of ambiguity tolerance on the performance of Iranian GFL-learners (Note 1) at level B1 in the processing of gap-filling-text tests. It is assumed that learners with more tolerance of ambiguity achieve better results in the reading comprehension or in the contextual guessing of the omitted words. 34 GFL…

Physics educators today face two major challenges: supporting the acquisition of a solid base of conceptual knowledge and reducing the persisting gender gap. In the present quasi-experimental study, we investigated the potential of physics instruction that is enriched with evidence-based cognitively activating methods, such as inventing with…

Individuals with better spatial thinking have increased interest and greater achievement in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines (Wai, Lubinski, & Benbow, 2009). This relationship means that STEM education may benefit from leveraging spatial thinking, but measures of spatial thinking as they relate to specific…

Rational number understanding is a critical building block for success in more advanced mathematics; however, how rational number magnitudes are conceptualized is not fully understood. In the current study, we used a dual-task working memory (WM) interference paradigm to investigate the dominant type of strategy (i.e., requiring verbal WM…

The popularity of social media among students and practitioners has encouraged marketing educators to find ways to incorporate social media into their classrooms. We offer results from an intercollegiate collaboration that provides an innovative learning environment through a social media education ecosystem. Participating students discuss current…

In an experiment, secondary students from Australia and Malaysia (n = 130) were randomly assigned to one of three approaches (equation, unitary, unitary-pictorial) to learn how to solve challenging percentage-change problems. In line with the differential types of cognitive load associated with the three approaches, the unitary-approach group…

Research indicates that learning from erroneous examples (EE) is superior to correct examples because errors may provide students with a stimulus to spontaneously produce more self-explanations, leading to better learning outcomes. However, because most studies were conducted in individual settings, it remains an open question whether the…