Instructional Science

Instructors traditionally lecture on new content before providing practice problems, but learning is often superficial. Exploratory learning before instruction deepens conceptual understanding by giving students a novel activity to explore before direct instruction. We examined how increasing the salience of contrasting cases in exploration versus practice activities impacts these learning benefits. Undergraduate students in statistics courses (Experiments 1–2) or a lab study (Experiment 3) completed a problem-solving activity either before (explore-first condition) or after (instruct-first condition) instruction about statistical variance. In Experiment 1 (N = 116), the problem-solving activity included a dataset with minimally contrasting cases. In Experiment 2 (N = 143), the activity increased the contrasts between cases to highlight important problem features. In Experiment 3 (N = 225), students were randomly assigned to complete problems with either minimal or increased contrasts. Students completed a posttest measuring conceptual understanding. When contrasts were minimal (Exps. 1&3), posttest scores were equal between explore-first and instruct-first conditions. When contrasts were increased (Exps. 2&3), posttest scores were higher in the explore-first condition compared to the instruct-first condition. However, in Experiment 3, minimal contrasts led to middling scores that were neither better nor worse than increased contrasts. Students in the instruct-first conditions used fewer correct problem steps on the learning activity when given increased compared to minimal contrasts, suggesting disengagement. Exploratory learning before instruction may help deepen cognitive engagement, showing benefits only when students might otherwise disengage.

The study examined the influence of feedback features on revision uptake in dialogic peer feedback activities, and the moderating effect of self-efficacy and prior knowledge on this relationship. Data were collected over a 10-week course at a comprehensive university in China, involving 29 students and resulting in 242 revision-oriented comments. To understand peer feedback features, we analyzed the feedback received by students in terms of cognition (identification, explanation, suggestion, or solution) and affect (positive, negative, positive-and-negative, or neutral). Binary logistic regression analysis revealed that: (1) explanation, suggestion and positive-and-negative evaluation negatively predicted revision uptake; (2) self-efficacy had a significant positive effect on revision uptake, and also played a role in moderating the relationship between explanation and uptake; (3) although prior knowledge could not directly predict revision uptake, it moderated the relationship between positive-and-negative evaluation and feedback uptake. These findings have instructional implications for designing and organizing peer feedback activities.

Cognitive load studies are mostly centered on information on perceived cognitive load. Single-item subjective rating scales are the dominant measurement practice to investigate overall cognitive load. Usually, either invested mental effort or perceived task difficulty is used as an overall cognitive load measure. However, the extent to which the results of these two single-items differ has not yet been sufficiently investigated. Although subjective rating scales are widely used, they are criticized and questioned as their validity is doubted. This study examines construct validity of both cognitive load rating scales (invested mental effort, perceived task difficulty) using relative task difficulty and task demands (cognitive processes and availability of possible answer options) as criteria, adds further evidence supporting the validity of single-item subjective ratings as an indicator for overall cognitive load, and shows how ratings of cognitive load differ when the invested mental effort or the perceived task difficulty item is used. The results indicate that self-ratings might be influenced by the availability of possible answer options as well as cognitive processes necessary to work on a task. The findings also confirm the idea that self-ratings for perceived task difficulty and invested mental effort do not measure the same but different aspects of overall cognitive load. Furthermore, our findings clearly advise to precisely examine at which point and how frequently cognitive load is measured as delayed ratings are closely related to more demanding items within a set of items. Considering advantages of single-item subjective ratings (easy to implement even in huge samples, low time exposure, and suitableness for repeated measures) and disadvantages of alternative ways to measure cognitive load (regarding cost and time efficiency and problem of additional load), current results confirm the use of these items to get an impression of the overall cognitive load. However, the results also suggest that both items do not measure the same thing and researchers should therefore discuss carefully which item they use and how this may limit the results of their study.

In learning journals, prompts were shown to increase self-regulated learning processes effectively. As studies on effects of long-term prompting are sparse, this study investigates the effects of prompting cognitive and metacognitive self-regulation strategies short-term and long-term in learning journals on learners’ strategy use, self-efficacy, and learning outcome. Therefore, 74 university students kept a weekly learning journal as follow-up course work over a period of eight weeks. All students’ learning journals included prompts for a short-term period, half of the students were prompted long-term. While self-efficacy was assessed via self-reports, strategy use was measured with self-reports and qualitative data from the learning journals. Learning outcomes were assessed via course exams. Short-term prompting increased self-reported cognitive and metacognitive strategy use, and the quantity of cognitive strategy use. Yet, it did not affect self-efficacy, which predicted the learning outcome. Irrespective whether prompting continued or not, self-reported cognitive and metacognitive strategy use, and self-efficacy decreased. Qualitative data indicate that the quantity of learners’ cognitive strategy use kept stable irrespective of the condition. The results indicate that short-term prompting activates cognitive and metacognitive strategy use. Long-term prompting in learning journals had no effect on strategy use, self-efficacy, and performance. Future research should investigate possible enhancers of long-term prompting like feedback, adaptive prompts or additional support.

In teacher education, video representations of practice offer a motivating means for applying conceptual teaching knowledge toward real-world settings. With video analysis, preservice teachers can begin cultivating professional vision skills through noticing and reasoning about presented core teaching practices. However, with novices’ limited prior knowledge and experience, processing transient information from video can be challenging. Multimedia learning research suggests instructional design techniques for support, such as signaling keyword cues during video viewing, or presenting focused self-explanation prompts which target theoretical knowledge application during video analysis. This study investigates the professional vision skills of noticing and reasoning (operationalized as descriptions and interpretations of relevant noticed events) from 130 preservice teachers participating in a video-analysis training on the core practice of small-group instruction. By means of experimental comparisons, we examine the effects of signaling cues and focused self-explanation prompts on professional vision performance. Further, we explore the impact of these techniques, considering preservice teachers’ situational interest. Overall, results demonstrated that preservice teachers’ professional vision skills improved from pretest to posttest, but the instructional design techniques did not generally offer additional support. However, moderation analysis indicated that training with cues fostered professional vision skills for preservice teachers with low situational interest. This suggests that for uninterested novices, signaling cues may compensate for the generative processing boost typically associated with situational interest. Research and practice implications involve the consideration of situational interest as a powerful component of instructional design, and that keyword cueing can offer an alternative when interest is difficult to elicit.

Discourse analysis, as a mainstream research method in classroom teaching, has gained widespread attention in education. Educators believe that children's thinking development requires support from interactive discourse. In this study, four primary school mathematics classes were segmented based on the form, frequency, content, and purpose of teacher-student interactions. A total of 73 dialogue segments were selected for coding, resulting in 338 codes. The coding process was based on the turn of talk and assigned corresponding coding numbers to the content of teacher-student discourse in the fragments according to the Bloom-Turney teaching questioning code list and the Hierarchical Framework of Student Thinking Level based on Biggs-Collis Structure of the observed learning outcome. The results show that Knowledge level question (Q1), Understanding level question (Q2), Application level question (Q3), Synthesis level question (Q5), and Evaluation level question (Q6) are related to students' low-level thinking. The questions of Analysis level (Q4), Synthesis level (Q5), and Evaluation level (Q6) are related to students' high-level thinking. We found that there are variety of interactive structures between teachers and students in the question and answer session, among which three interaction structures show significant performance, namely Q2 → M (Multiple-point structural level) → Q4 → C (Correlational structural level), Q3 → M → Q4 → C, Q3 → M → Q6 → A (Abstract-extension level), these structures can show how teachers timely adjust the types of questions according to students' answers to improve students' thinking level.

Transfer of responsibility for learning from the teacher to the learner has been considered the final aim of successful scaffolding. Despite this importance, few studies have been conducted in this area. The present conversation analytic study examined the scaffolding interactions of a sample of Iranian English language teachers to identify how responsibility for learning was transferred in scaffolding interactions. The teachers were divided into two groups of novice and experienced based on the criteria proposed in the extant literature. The results showed that the novice and experienced language teachers enacted transfer differently. The novice teachers used more high-support moves, like models and questions with scarce use of low-support moves, thereby mostly curbing the transfer process. However, the experienced teachers used a wider range of scaffolding strategies especially low-support moves to encourage learners to use their learning potentials. The novice teachers mismanaged repair-initiations while experienced teachers mainly ended repair-initiations in self-repairs. The study suggests that the teachers’ experience level can significantly impact their scaffolding interactions with students. Further, it highlights the significance of providing ongoing professional development and training opportunities for language teachers to improve their ability to provide effective scaffolding. Overall, the study highlights the need for continued research in this domain.

Online reading for academic purposes is a complex and challenging activity that involves analysing task requirements, assessing information needs, accessing relevant contents, and evaluating the relevance and reliability of information given the task at hand. The present study implemented and tested an analytical approach to strategy training that combined a detailed, step-by-step presentation of each strategy with the integration of various strategies across modules and practice tasks. One hundred sixty-seven university students were assigned to either a treatment or a control condition. The training program was implemented as part of a digital literacy course. Instructors received background information and instructional materials prior to the beginning of the term. The intervention improved students’ performance on a set of search and evaluation tasks representative of the target skills, although to varying extent. The impact was higher for evaluation than for search skills, in terms of accuracy and quality of students’ justifications. The data provides initial evidence that an analytical approach may foster university students’ use of advanced reading strategies in the context of online reading. Implications for instruction and future research are discussed.

To maximize our teacher candidates’ learning about culturally and linguistically diverse students, we developed and implemented Case-Based Instructional (CBI) Modules (Language, Identity, Family, Assumptions) in two teacher preparation courses at a US university. We examined the Modules’ impacts on teacher candidates’ learning, self-efficacy, attitudes, and transfer of learning to novel contexts. Examining the Modules’ effectiveness within and across two delivery modes indicated that both instructor-facilitated and instructor-supported approaches to CBI elicit similar positive attitudes and are effective in enhancing teacher candidates’ learning, but not transfer. When teacher candidates’ analyses of cases were not facilitated by instructor, however, there were some missed opportunities for learning.

Recent research has shown that enhancing instructional videos with questions, such as self-explanation prompts, and thus shifting the process from receptive to constructive learning, is beneficial to learning. However, the inclusion of questions is often confounded with the implementation of learner pacing through navigation features. Furthermore, previous studies have often not controlled for learning time. To address these shortcomings, an experiment (N = 128) was conducted. Participants watched an instructional video about cloud formation and lightning, with learning time controlled. In a 2 × 2 between-subjects design, navigation features (learner pacing vs. system pacing) and self-explanation prompts (prompts vs. no prompts) were manipulated. The results showed no effects of navigation features and self-explanation prompts on learning performance. While navigation features did not affect cognitive load, self-explanation prompts increased both intrinsic and extraneous cognitive load. Overall, the quality of responses to prompts was low but positively related to comprehension. The results are discussed in terms of the Interactive-Constructive-Active-Passive framework and Cognitive Load Theory. They highlight the importance of boundary conditions when investigating the effects of interactive features in instructional videos.

Tinkering learning is a pedagogical strategy that emphasizes hands-on exploration, experimentation, and learning from mistakes in STEM education. It involves using personal fabrication tools, such as a 3D printer, to develop and improve ideas through interactive play. Design-based making activities have gained popularity in K-12 classrooms as they provide students with this authentic learning experience. This descriptive case study aims to understand the impact of students' interactions with a 3D printer on their tinkering learning during a formal design-based making activity. Specifically, the study explores what types of learning paths students follow when developing and improving their ideas through tinkering and what factors negatively affect this iterative design experience. In this design-based making activity, students tinker both in the digital world with Tinkercad and in the physical world with a 3D printer. Approaching real-world problems through iterative design can change their production-oriented actions. To understand the impact of this change on their tinkering learning, the study observes students’ actions and collects their reflections on their tinkering through multiple surveys. The analysis revealed that students followed one of three different paths that led to varying levels of tinkering learning and that their tinkering experiences were negatively impacted by five major factors.

Learning styles are a popular concept in the educational field, although there is no empirical evidence that matching learning materials to an individual’s learning style actually enhances learning outcomes (the so called meshing hypothesis). In this online study, the meshing hypothesis was tested in a sample of prospective teachers (N = 222) employing the revised Verbalizer-Visualizer Questionnaire (VVQ-R). In a between-subjects design, participants were presented with either visual or verbal learning materials (figures vs. texts) of the same content based on actual course material. There was no significant interaction between presentation mode and learning styles on learning outcome, revealing no advantage of matching learning style and presentation mode. Similarly, learning styles did not predict judgements of learning (JOL) or confidence ratings for the matching presentation mode. In sum, the study provides further evidence that considering learning style in teaching methods such as presentation mode is not beneficial. Importantly, the present study used ecologically valid learning materials and a sufficiently powered sample. Moreover, as in previous studies, attitudes towards learning styles and their implementation in the classroom were very positive in the present sample. Teaching about the theoretical and empirical background of learning styles somewhat decreased these positive attitudes.

Although learning approaches are designed to enhance individuals' ability to store and retrieve information, not all of them are considered effective. The goal of the present study was to experimentally compare the test performance as well as the accuracy of metacognitive judgements of a multiple text reading group, rereading group, and single reading group in a one-day vs. one-week delayed test (3 × 2 between subject design). A total of 186 psychology students (Mage = 20.76) participated in the experiment focused on reading comprehension, accuracy of metacognitive judgments and knowledge retention. Results of the knowledge test indicate that in the one-day delayed test, multiple text reading and rereading yield similar results: both deliver slightly better results than single reading. In the one-week delayed test, though, multiple text reading yields better results than rereading, and both these reading approaches outperform single reading. Moreover, multiple text reading results in fairly robust knowledge retention with only a slight decrease in scores between the one-day delayed and one-week delayed test. Regarding metacognitive monitoring, judgements of learning in the multiple text reading group remained relatively stable after each reading and participants were underconfident about their knowledge. In the rereading group, judgements of learning increased after each reading and participants were overconfident about their knowledge, especially on the one-day delayed test. These findings have implications for educational practices aimed at enhancing learning outcomes and promoting effective learning.

The ability to solve equations and inequalities is necessary for success in algebra. However, reasoning biases and misconceptions may create barriers for students to build knowledge of algebraic symbols and their values. This study investigated whether students’ errors when solving equations and inequalities could be attributed to their tendency to misinterpret the phenomenal sign of an expression (e.g., − 2x  interpreted as representing negative numbers only). Additionally, the study examined whether an intervention using erroneous reasoning examples in refutational texts would be more effective than correct examples in helping students address the specific misconception. The study involved 119 9th-grade Greek students who underwent Pre-, Post-, and Retention tests. The Experimental Group (N = 44) saw erroneous examples of reasoning with solving inequalities in refutational text, while the Control Group (N = 65) saw correct examples in non-refutational text. The results showed that students’ misinterpretation of the phenomenal sign in algebraic expressions may influence their mistakes when solving certain kinds of equations and inequalities. Both erroneous and correct examples were effective in helping students address some of their misconceptions, although the gains were not sustained in the long term.

Clearly defining and clarifying crosscutting concepts (CCCs) helps students to apply them as thinking tools or lenses to understand disciplinary core ideas and science and engineering practices. This study identified three characteristics of the sub-concepts of CCCs: conceptual, superordinate, and common across disciplines, and explored a way based on the 5E instructional model that supports making CCCs explicit. A targeted and coherent unit of scale (one of the CCCs) served as an example to introduce the design and implementation of the instructions to externalise CCCs to students. After defining the four sub-concepts of scale based on scientific research literature, supportive teaching activities were selected and organised according to the 5E instructional model. There were 65 students (35 boys and 30 girls; 59 students in Grade One and six in Grade Two), who participated for two rounds of a CCCs elective course that we offered. They were all East Asian, aged 15–17, and came from 22 different classes. Most of them had chosen science as the compulsory subject to take the future university entrance exam. Through quantitative and qualitative analyses of students’ responses to the paper test, multiple group interviews, and group work, we determined their spontaneous uncertainty, pre-concepts, and prior foundational experiences before entering the unit; identified their process of activating, constructing, and clarifying thinking during the unit; and found their better understanding of the three characteristics of scale after the unit. The 5E-based instruction facilitated active learning, conceptual change, and transfer by actively constructing understanding, formalising knowledge, and interrelating disciplines.

Students’ individual characteristics influence the effectiveness of instruction and learning and, therefore, the depth of learning. This study brings forth the voices of middle school students regarding their science learning preferences through four modalities: visual, auditory, sensorimotor, and agency support. We examined the relationship between the students’ science learning preferences and three of their personal characteristics (gender, having or not having a learning disability, and level of scientific knowledge and skills). The study encompassed 305 students (166 girls) and applied a quantitative methodology employing two questionnaires: Scientific Knowledge and Skills and Learning Preferences. Analysis of variance and multiple regressions revealed that the participants favored all four learning modalities, with a significant preference for learning via visual and sensorimotor means. Girls significantly preferred learning preferences via visuals and agency support. A significant correlation was found between the level of preference for learning science via auditory means and the students’ level of scientific knowledge and skills. Hierarchical regression analysis showed a significant positive contribution of gender and preference for learning science via auditory means but no contribution of having a learning disability to the students’ level of scientific knowledge and skills. The study results show the importance of implementing multi-faceted instructional strategies to address students’ diversity and learning preferences. Our findings underscore the need for educators and policymakers to be attentive to the students’ voices when striving to narrow gaps, achieve equality among students, and elevate students’ knowledge and skills in science studies.

The retention of fundamental mathematical skills is imperative to provide a foundation on which new skills are developed. Educators often lament about student retention. Cognitive scientists and educators have explored teaching methods that produce learning which endures over time. We wanted to know if using spaced recall quizzes would prevent our students from forgetting fundamental mathematical concepts at a post high school preparatory school where students attend for 1 year preparing to enter the United States Military Academy (USMA). This approach was implemented in a Precalculus course to determine if it would improve students’ long-term retention. Our goal was to identify an effective classroom strategy that led to student recall of fundamental mathematical concepts through the end of the academic year. The concepts that were considered for long-term retention were 12 concepts identified by USMA’s mathematics department as being fundamental for entering students. These concepts are taught during quarter one of the Precalculus with Introduction to Calculus course at the United States Military Academy Preparatory School. It is expected that students will remember the concepts when they take the post-test 6 months later. Our research shows that spaced recall in the form of quizzing had a statistically significant impact on reducing the forgetting of the fundamental concepts while not adversely effecting performance on current instructional concepts. Additionally, these results persisted across multiple sections of the course taught at different times of the day by six instructors with varying teaching styles and years of teaching experience.

In this paper, we examine how researchers and teachers in a multi-year professional development program shifted their conceptualizations of equity. Following (Grapin et al (2023) Sci Educ 107:999–1032), we ground our analysis in two conceptualizations of equity that exist across fields: equity-as-access (learners should have access to disciplinary knowledge, practices, and career paths) and equity-as-transformation (learners should transform what it means to learn and participate in disciplines). In this study, we describe a professional development (PD) design initially intended to support equitable science teaching and learning by focusing on representations. This initial framing did not distinguish between conceptions of equity-as-access versus equity-as-transformation. As a result, the PD did not provide facilitators or teachers with resources for ideological sensemaking towards equity-as-transformation. Catalyzed by teachers’ request for PD focused on multilingual learners (MLs), we noticed aspects of our design that offered only images of equity-as-access. In response, we designed activities for teachers that offered space and resources for considering equity-as-transformation. As a case study (Yin (2014) Case study research: design and methods, SAGE) using interaction analysis (Jordan and Henderson (1995) J Learn Sci 4:39–103) of PD videos, we describe how we PD activities and facilitation strategies to integrate transformative conceptualizations of equity. These findings have implications for both research and practice. In terms of research, they demonstrate the importance of using multiple lenses to consider equity in science classrooms. In terms of practice, they underscore the importance of providing teachers with opportunities to explicitly connect new perspectives of equity with day-to-day experiences of classroom teaching.