We present a method for assessing science inquiry performance, specifically for the inquiry skill of designing and conducting experiments, using educational data mining on students' log data from online microworlds in the Inq-ITS system (Inquiry Intelligent Tutoring System; www.inq-its.org). In our approach, we use a 2-step process: First we…

Descriptions of faculty practice that illuminate nuances of how course planning and classroom instruction occur in specific contexts are important to inform pedagogical interventions. The study reported in this article draws on systems-of-practice theory to focus on the dynamic interplay among actors, artifacts, and tasks that constrains…

The concept of "intrinsic motivation" lies at the heart of the user engagement created by digital games. Yet despite this, educational software has traditionally attempted to harness games as extrinsic motivation by using them as a sugar coating for learning content. This article tests the concept of "intrinsic integration" as a way of creating a…

Linking research to a compelling societal interest can build financial commitments to research, bring increased attention to findings, and grow support for scaling up impacts. Among many compelling societal interests that learning scientists can cite--such as increasing the quality of life, preparing citizens to make decisions in a complex world,…

E-moderation has been a common practice in asynchronous discussions of postsecondary courses. We consider here e-moderation of synchronous discussions in the school context. We adopt a design research approach to elaborate an environment, the Argunaut system, that fits the reality of classrooms in which moderation of several small-group…

This article presents a designed learning environment intended to engage students in learning about the relationships among multiple representations as they work together on a shared task. Over the course of several extended problem-solving sessions, groups developed several successive alignments of participants and representations as they learned…

Despite the fact that teaching is increasingly referred to as a design science, teacher education programs devote relatively little time to developing expertise in the design of instruction, beyond lesson planning. Yet today's teachers not only plan lessons that incorporate existing classroom activities and instructional resources, they also…

Teachers' involvement in curriculum design is essential for sustaining the relevance of technology-enhanced learning materials. Customizing--making small adjustments to tailor given materials to particular situations and settings--is one design activity in which busy teachers can feasibly engage. Research indicates that customizations based…

Teachers are not typically involved as participatory designers in the design of technology-enhanced learning environments. As they have unique and valuable perspectives on the role of technology in education, it is of utmost importance to engage them in a participatory design process. Adopting a case study methodology, we aim to reveal in what…

Teachers often find themselves in a position in which they need to adapt technology-enhanced materials to meet the needs of their students. As new technologies--especially those not specifically designed for learning--find their way into schools, teachers need to be able to design learning experiences that use these new technologies in their local…

While the benefits of teacher involvement in designing technology enhanced learning are acknowledged in the literature, far less is known about shaping that involvement to yield those benefits. Research is needed to understand how teachers learn through design; how teacher design activities may be supported; and how teacher involvement in design…

Working with digital video technologies, particularly advanced video tools with editing capabilities, offers new prospects for meaningful learning through design. However, it is also possible that the additional complexity of such tools does "not" advance learning. We compared in an experiment the design processes and learning outcomes of 24…

This paper presents a small group computing environment in which four students each control a different point in a geometric space, such that as a group they collectively manipulate the vertices of a quadrilateral. Prior research has revealed that students have considerable difficulty in learning about the interrelationships among quadrilaterals…

During the past two decades a variety of approaches to support argumentation learning in computer-based learning environments have been investigated. We present an approach that combines argumentation diagramming and collaboration scripts, two methods successfully used in the past individually. The rationale for combining the methods is to…

There is a general consensus among researchers and teacher educators that classroom video can be a valuable tool for pre-service teacher education. Media such as video are not, however, in themselves effective. They have to be embedded in an instructional program to be useful. Yet, little empirical research examines how specific instructional…