Design-based learning has been recognized by educational scholars as the key approach to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education at K-12 levels. However, it is unclear whether, and which dimensions of, design thinking mindsets support the conceptual learning of science. This quasi-experimental study aims to explore 37…

Background: Personalized learning (PL), conceptualized as an education innovation that tailors learning to meet diverse student needs, has drawn increased attention from different fields of study, such as education, learning sciences, and computer science. Regardless, there is a lack of a comprehensive understanding of PL instructional designs…

In this study, the effects of design-oriented STEM activities on preschool children were examined. In the research conducted with case study in qualitative research designs, 20 preschool children aged five years in a kindergarten formed the participants of the study. Design Oriented STEM Activities were completed with 24 sessions of 8 weeks, 3…

In this article, we offer theory-grounded narratives of a 4-year participatory design process of a Learning Analytics tool with K-12 educators. We describe how we "design-in-partnership" by leveraging educators' routines, values and cultural representations into the designs of digital dashboards. We make our long-term reasoning visible…

Although online course design is no longer new, few design cases describe the development of entire courses based on principles of student-centered learning design. This design case chronicles the context, design challenges, and successes and failures of a graduate course on Technology & Inquiry-based Instructional Methods for an online…

The purpose of this mixed methods triangulation convergence study (Creswell & Clark, 2017) was to identify the differences between expressions of understanding through writing versus video reflection in a second-grade science classroom. Specifically, we analyzed the reflective piece of the design thinking of the engineering and design process…

The International Technology and Engineering Educators Association's (ITEEA's) "Standards for Technological and Engineering Literacy" ("STEL") describes design thinking as an approach that allows students and educators to integrate other content areas by considering relevant contextual information to guide design and making…

An open-ended assignment to "make something" out of cardboard was a good fit for a half-day camp class of children in kindergarten, first, and second grades where the first goal was to have fun while learning. Given the opportunity to make something of their own design for their own purposes out of cardboard, the children persisted while…

With the increasing importance of teaching STEM to young students, the engineering design process (EDP) has become a popular learning platform in K-12 STEM education. The engineering design process guides students in solving engineering problems, but there is a lack of understanding of how students utilize this process. In this study, we explored…

This paper reports on a large clinical study with 193 children (Grades 3-6) who interacted with 12 digital math games during clinical interviews. Children completed a pretest, interacted with the digital math games, completed a posttest, and answered questions about their interactions with the games. During the interviews, researchers used two…

As technological advancements continue to revolutionise the realm of education, use of technology in both K-12 and university classrooms paves the way for making flipped classroom a trending pedagogical model. Flipping a course simply means reversing a traditional model of in-class lecture followed by practice and homework. Research has shown that…

Makerspaces are increasingly popular in K-12 schools, particularly when associated with STEM learning. Many schools are successfully entering the makerspace arena. Others face significant barriers in ideating their design, often resorting to tinkering, or the purchase of commercial kits as resources. At the heart of a makerspace is its intent, as…

Cognitive interviews play an important role in articulating the intended construct of educational assessments. This paper describes the iterative development of protocols for cognitive interviews with kindergarten through second-grade children to understand how their spatial reasoning skill development aligns with intended constructs. We describe…

In this study, we present a conceptual tool for guiding teachers' principled pedagogical actions toward equitable instruction, referred to as the "Transforming Science Learning" (TSL) framework. The TSL framework was developed to address the challenges of enacting an ideological commitment in local contexts--promoting equity and justice…

The official policy documents of the Greek preschool education adopt a functional perspective of writing (i.e., writing for real communicative purposes) which signals an attempt to align the national language policy with the communicative language policy of the European Union. In this article, the consistency of this alignment is examined by…