Feedback is generally considered a beneficial learning tool, and providing feedback is a recommended instructional practice. However, there are a variety of feedback types with little guidance on how to choose the most effective one. We examined individual differences in working memory capacity as a potential moderator of feedback type. Second-…

Subjective cognitive load (CL) rating scales are widely used in educational research. However, there are still some open questions regarding the point of time at which such scales should be applied. Whereas some studies apply rating scales directly after each step or task and use an average of these ratings, others assess CL only once after the…

During the last two decades various researchers confronted upper elementary and lower secondary school pupils with word problems that were problematic from a realistic modelling point of view (so-called P-items), and found that pupils in general did not use their everyday knowledge to solve such P-items. Several attempts were undertaken to…

It is commonly suggested to mathematics teachers to present learners different methods in order to solve one problem. This so-called "learning with multiple solution methods" is also recommended from a psychological point of view. However, existing research leaves many questions unanswered, particularly concerning the effects of…

The introduction of problem-based learning into K-12 science classrooms faces the challenge of achieving the dual goal of learning science content and developing problem-solving skills. To overcome this content-process tension in science classrooms, we employed the knowledge-creation approach as a boundary object between the two seemingly…

In this paper, we introduce restorying, a pedagogical approach based on social constructivism that employs successive iterations of rewriting and discussing personal, student-generated, domain-relevant stories to promote conceptual application, critical thinking, and ill-structured problem solving skills. Using a naturalistic, qualitative case…

Previous research has found that embedding a problem into a familiar context does not necessarily confer an advantage over a novel context in the acquisition of new knowledge about a complex, dynamic system. In fact, it has been shown that a semantically familiar context can be detrimental to knowledge acquisition. This has been described as the…

Students' judgments about "what counts" as mathematics in and out of school have important consequences for problem solving and transfer, yet our understanding of the source and nature of these judgments remains incomplete. Thirty-five sixth grade students participated in a study focused on what activities students judge as…

In this study, we examined the effect of two metacognitive scaffolds on the accuracy of confidence judgments made while diagnosing dermatopathology slides in SlideTutor. Thirty-one (N = 31) first- to fourth-year pathology and dermatology residents were randomly assigned to one of the two scaffolding conditions. The cases used in this study were…

The purpose of this research is to investigate the relative effectiveness of using three different question-prompt strategies on promoting metacognitive skills and performance in ill-structured problem solving by examining the interplay between peer interaction and cognitive scaffolding. An ill-structured problem-solving task was given to three…

Multiple studies have shown benefits of problem-solving prior to instruction (cf. Productive Failure, Invention) in comparison to direct instruction. However, students' solutions prior to instruction are usually erroneous or incomplete. In analogy to "guided" discovery learning, it might therefore be fruitful to lead students…

To explore the assessment challenge related to case based learning we study how experienced clinical teachers--i.e., those who regularly teach and assess case-based learning--conceptualize the notion of competent reasoning performance for specific teaching cases. Through an in-depth qualitative case study of five expert teachers, we investigate…

This paper presents the outcomes of teaching an inventive problem-solving course in junior high schools in an attempt to deal with the current relative neglect of fostering students' creativity and problem-solving capabilities in traditional schooling. The method involves carrying out systematic manipulation with attributes, functions and…

Twenty-four mathematics teachers were asked to think aloud when posing a word problem whose solution could be found by computing 4/5 divided by 2/3. The data consisted of verbal protocols along with the written notes made by the subjects. The qualitative analysis of the data was focused on identifying the structures of the problems produced and…

Innovative professionals rely on a specific ways of thinking to solve the nonstandard problems that come up in practice (Goodwin, "Am Anthropol" 96(3):606-633, 1994; Schön, "The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think in Action," 1983; "Educating the Reflective Practitioner: Toward a New Design for Teaching and…