We propose and evaluate a framework supporting collaborative discovery learning of complex systems. The framework blends five design principles: (1) individual action: amidst (2) social interactions; challenged with (3) multiple tasks; set in (4) a constrained interactive learning environment that draws attention to (5) highlighted target…

Undergraduate biology majors require biological literacy about the critical and dynamic relationships between plants and ecosystems and the effect human-made processes have on these systems. To support students in understanding systems relationships, we redesigned an undergraduate botany course using an ecological framework and embedded systems…

Interactive learning environments with body-centric technologies lie at the intersection of the design of embodied learning activities and multimodal learning analytics. Sensing technologies can generate large amounts of fine-grained data automatically captured from student movements. Researchers can use these fine-grained data to create a…

Background: Cooperative Learning has been recently defined as a true pedagogical model. Moreover, in a recent review Casey and Goodyear reported that it can help physical education promote the four basic learning outcomes: physical, cognitive, social and affective. Purpose: The main goal was to investigate the impact of a sustained Cooperative…

The 2-MEV model is a widely used tool to monitor children's environmental perception by scoring individual values. Although the scale's validity has been confirmed repeatedly and independently as well as the scale is in usage within more than two dozen language units all over the world, longitudinal properties still need clarification. The purpose…

Engineering byDesign™ (EbD) provides teachers and students with reflective, formative, and comprehensive summative assessment tools throughout the curriculum. Each lesson, unit, and course is created with a list of essential questions that are meant to guide students to a deeper understanding of national standards across the STEM domains (STL,…

Considering well-documented difficulties in mastering ecology concepts and system thinking, the aim of the study was to examine 9th graders' understanding of the complex, multilevel, systemic construct of feeding relations, nested within a larger system of a live model. Fifty students interacted with the model and manipulated a variable within it…

Purpose: Organisations invest heavily in training and development initiatives (Miller, 2012). However, a small percentage of what is learnt by the trainees from training gets transferred to the job (Mackay, 2007). The purpose of this study is to extend previous findings and examine various organisational factors, which have not been studied…

The focus of this article is two-fold. First, it describes a model that can be used to guide the evaluation of teacher professional development. The model combines important components of existing models and incorporates the use of students' perceptions for examining teacher change. Second, the article reports the evaluation of a teacher…

Multiple evidences in the Technology-Enhanced Learning domain indicate that Game-Based Learning can lead to positive effects in students' performance and motivation. Educational games can be completely virtual or can combine the use of physical objects or spaces in the real world. However, the potential effectiveness of these approaches…

Purpose/Objectives: The goal of the program was to establish youth gardens across Wisconsin by conducting workshops for school staff and childcare providers on how to start and sustain a youth garden with limited resources. Methods: Evaluation utilized an end-of-workshop questionnaire and follow-up survey. The end-of-workshop questionnaire focused…

This paper studied the empirical pattern to observe the overall attitude of pre service teachers' of different training colleges towards environmental education and practice. Environmental education is a continuous lifelong process, starts at the preschool level and continues up to adulthood via all levels of education. In this context, to know…

Bowers (2001) described how our ecological crisis is marked by metaphors of difference and separation. By adopting an ecological paradigm, students have the opportunity to move past harmful distinctions that have characterized relations with the earth. Instead, students can move to a deep recognition of the interconnectedness of living things.…

Background: Although instructional development for teachers has become an important topic in higher education, little is known about its actual impact. In particular, evidence regarding the impact of teachers' instructional development on students' perceptions of the teaching-learning environment is scarce. Aims: The impact of an instructional…

This paper discusses a study of students learning core conceptual perspectives from recent scientific research on complexity using a hypermedia learning environment in which different types of scaffolding were provided. Three comparison groups used a hypermedia system with agent-based models and scaffolds for problem-based learning activities that…