Computer-based multimedia presentations employing animated agents (avatars) can positively impact perceptions about engineering; the current research advances our understanding of this effect to pre-college populations, the main target for engineering outreach. The study examines the effectiveness of a brief computer-based intervention with…

Research has underlined the necessity to prepare pupils to cooperate in order to boost cooperative learning benefits. However, this kind of training may appear very demanding. The present study aims to demonstrate that a short preparation related to social support and targeted cooperative rules relevant for the task increases constructive…

This study examined the development of school-related causality beliefs which are children's generalized perceptions of the utility or power of different categories of specific means in producing school outcomes. Based on the action theory perspective, we analyzed the developmental model of these beliefs as well as the trajectories of the…

This study examined the effectiveness of a social-cognitive training model of self-regulation on students' dribbling performance, calibration accuracy, and motivational beliefs. Participants were 120 fifth and sixth graders. Students who sequentially experienced emulative and self-control practice setting either process or performance goals…

When students read for learning, they frequently are required to integrate text and graphics information into coherent knowledge structures. The following study aimed at analyzing how students deal with texts and how they deal with graphics when they try to integrate the two sources of information. Furthermore, the study investigated differences…

In teaching, representations are used as ways to illustrate the concepts underlying a specific topic. For example, use symbols (e.g., 1?+?2?=?3) to express the concept of addition. To compare students' abilities to interpret different representations in mathematics, the symbolic representation (SR) test and the pictorial representation (PR)…

Learning materials incorporating written texts as well as instructional pictures are the basis for learning in many subjects. However, text-picture integration makes high cognitive demands of learners, and it seems plausible that the development of this competence is influenced by teachers' instructional skills. The present studies investigated…

In experiment 1, novice fourth-grade students (N = 92) who compared multiple examples that separately varied each critical aspect and then simultaneously varied all critical aspects developed better conceptual knowledge about the "altitude of a triangle" than students who compared multiple examples that did not separately vary each critical aspect…

A case study of what appears to be an inclusive classroom in Sweden is reported. The group of children in the class studied was very heterogeneous: five of the 15 children had a disability diagnosis at the time of the study. One aim of the study was to develop a methodology which can be used in order to investigate in what sense classrooms are…

The present study explored typically developing children's understanding of, and attitudes towards, the inclusion of children with physical disabilities (PD) in mainstream settings. The 60 children who participated in the study attended sixth grade in two mainstream primary schools (30 in contact with a child with PD and 30 without such contact).…

This paper highlights the framework and discusses the results of an action research network which aimed to promote academic access in two general educational settings within which a pupil with blindness and a deaf pupil were educated respectively. The persons involved in this collaborative scheme were general teachers, a school counsellor,…

The causal explanation has an effect: (1) on expectancy and value at an intra-individual level (Weiner, 2000); (2) on feeling and affective evaluation at an interpersonal level (Weiner 2000); and (3) on institutional judgment at an organizational level (Dubois, 2003). A study was conducted with pupils between the 4th and 9th grades in order to…

This study investigated the benefits of computer-assisted instruction (CAI) for middle-school students attending remedial reading classes. As a supplement to a strong language-based reading curriculum, a CAI programme that works on strengthening phonics word identification skills was provided to students in the treatment group. These students were…

The objectives of the study were to examine the characteristics of non-referred children with behaviour difficulties (BD) (such as verbal and physical aggression towards children and objects), aged 9-12 years and attending mainstream schools, and to compare them with children with no BD. The second objective was to evaluate the contribution of a…

After the effectiveness of self-regulation training outside school was demonstrated, a self-regulation intervention was developed to foster the learning achievement in regular math classes. Based on the theoretical framework of self-regulated learning, self-regulation training was integrated into a math class unit. The evaluation of the…