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With its long tradition, research on misconceptions helps to understand how concepts are learned and how learning in the disciplines can be supported. Up to now, research on misconceptions has focused on natural sciences, while research on misconceptions in behavioral sciences is scarce, not to say absent. In this study an attempt was made to reveal upper secondary school students' misconceptions on doing research in behavioral sciences. The starting point for the study were research proposals of upper secondary school students. As part of a larger study, students were asked to write a research proposal in maximum two pages. A two-steps approach was adopted in the analysis of these research proposals. First, using a codebook containing both deductive and inductive codes, two-pagers were analyzed in order to identify 'errors'. In a second step, an interpretative analysis aimed at inferring potential misconceptions underlying these errors. The study can be considered as a starting point for research on misconceptions in behavioral sciences which is currently missing in the field.

As most of the life-threatening events, such as heart failure and trauma, occur out-of-hospital, first aid is considered crucial for a victim's survival chances. Unfortunately, a substantial part of these psychomotor or consciously brain-controlled motor skills are executed poorly or incorrectly due to the inexperience of first aid attendants or low retention after training. Together with an enlarged demand over the past years for first aid skills within the business sector and, corresponding, the tremendous load in teaching hours, this high need for training sessions in first aid led to the development of an online learning environment for psychomotor skills within the domain of Health Sciences. Although online learning environments already exist for teaching cognitive skills, developing one for psychomotor skills is considered challenging as it has not been proven effective yet. What is considered important, however, is to avoid cognitive overload and to maintain learners' motivation throughout the entire online learning environment. As such, to avoid cognitive overload, the designers used a cognitive instructional model, namely the 4C/ID model and used it as a framework for their online learning environment. On top, choice options were added to the online learning environment to maintain motivation throughout the process of learning psychomotor skills. The ultimate goal lies in enabling the learner to perform the psychomotor skill fluently in practice. The design process of the online learning environment, the corresponding design challenges, failures, and how they were dealt with are described in detail.

As online learning becomes a recurrent component of higher education, there have been growing interests in the interaction between students and educational resources within digital environments so as to understand and facilitate students' initiative in managing those resources. The present study is an explorative inquiry into the relationships between students' self-reported preferences of study materials, their actual usage of those materials and their learning performances in online learning. It focuses on analysing the learning management system's log files, test results and students' responses to an evaluative survey of a bachelor business course at a large Belgian university, which was a blended course turned fully online due to the pandemic circumstance. The first research question concerns how preferences relate to the usage of materials. A cluster analysis was conducted to classify students based on their perceived interest and actual access to learning resources. The results show three clusters of students with different preferences and levels of usage towards the four types of study materials provided in the course. However, the majority showed strong favour for multimedia online learning, with Web lectures being prioritised both in perception and access behaviour, while discussion boards receive mixed opinions and the lowest actual participation. The second question follows these up by linking the preference-usage patterns with academic performances. A multivariate analysis of variance was conducted to compare the learning performances of students with different preference-usage patterns. The results show no significant differences, which means the students' preferences and/or usage of study materials has little to no impact on their learning performances in the online course.

Although digital personalized learning (DPL) is assumed to be beneficial for the student as well as the teacher, the implementation process of DPL tools can be challenging. Therefore, the aim of our study is to scrutinize teachers' perceptions towards the implementation of DPL in the classroom. A total of 370 teachers from primary and secondary education (students aged 6-18 years old) were questioned through an online survey. An overview of descriptive results is presented regarding (1) teachers' reported technology use, (2) their perceptions towards adaptivity and dashboards in DPL tools and (3) their expectations of support in view of implementing DPL. Based on a cluster analysis, three teacher clusters are distinguished. Results reveal all three clusters had positive perceptions towards DPL. Nevertheless, there is great variety in reported use of DPL tools.

In order to design learning environments that foster students' research skills, one can draw on instructional design models for complex learning, such as the 4C/ID model (in: van Merriënboer and Kirschner, Ten steps to complex learning, Routledge, London, 2018). However, few attempts have been undertaken to foster students' "motivation" towards learning complex skills in environments based on the 4C/ID model. This study explores the effects of providing autonomy, competence and relatedness support (in Deci and Ryan, Psychol Inquiry 11(4): 227-268, https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327965PLI1104_01, 2000) in a 4C/ID based online learning environment on upper secondary school behavioral sciences students' cognitive and motivational outcomes. Students' cognitive outcomes are measured by means of a research skills test consisting of short multiple choice and short answer items (in order to assess research skills in a broad way), and a research skills task in which students are asked to integrate their skills in writing a research proposal (in order to assess research skills in an integrative manner). Students' motivational outcomes are measured by means of students' autonomous and controlled motivation, and students' amotivation. A pretest-intervention-posttest design was set up in order to compare 233 upper secondary school behavioral sciences students' outcomes among (1) a 4C/ID based online learning environment condition, and (2) an identical condition additively providing support for students' need satisfaction. Both learning environments proved equally effective in improving students' scores on the research skills test. Students in the need supportive condition scored higher on the research skills task compared to their peers in the baseline condition. Students' autonomous and controlled motivation were not affected by the intervention. Although, unexpectedly, students' amotivation increased in both conditions, students' amotivation was lower in the need supportive condition compared to students in the baseline condition. Theoretical relationships were established between students' need satisfaction, students' motivation (autonomous, controlled, and amotivation), and students' cognitive outcomes. These findings are discussed taking into account the COVID-19 affected setting in which the study took place.

In today's complex world, the acquisition of research skills is considered an important goal in education. Consequently, there is a growing body of literature that recognizes the value of well-designed learning environments for effectively supporting the development of this complex set of skills. However, a clear consensus on how these research skills can be facilitated is currently lacking, and the design processes underlying the learning environments aiming to foster students' research skills are not always clearly outlined. Furthermore, interventions aiming to foster these skills are often implemented in the domains of physics, biology, and chemistry, while other domains (such as behavioral and social sciences domains) remain understudied. In addition, current approaches to foster research skills often refer to only a few epistemic activities (Fischer et al., 2014) related to research skills. Inspired by a design-based research approach, this design effort case seeks to clearly explain the design considerations for, and the development of an online learning environment aiming to foster upper secondary school students' research skills in a behavioral sciences context. The online learning environment (RISSC or Research In Social SCiences) consists of a lesson series designed based on a systematic approach to four-component instructional design (van Merriënboer & Kirschner, 2018), and was piloted with two different cohorts in upper secondary education and in first year of university.

Developing countries exert much effort to improve the quality of their higher education. The use of information and communication technology (ICT) may address some of the quality problems in higher education in these countries. Previous studies on this topic stressed the impact of ICT use on learning, the status of ICT integration in education, and the factors associated with ICT integration with minimal attention to how instructors in higher education in developing countries use ICT. This study employed a qualitative approach, collecting data from twenty-one by then active instructors in three public universities in Ethiopia through focus group discussion to explore the educational use of ICT. The data were transcribed verbatim and analyzed thematically using ATLAS.ti software. The results show that instructors in the selected Ethiopian universities use ICT for course facilitation, course materials preparation, professional development, assessment, and information and resource exchange purposes. However, these findings do not reveal a transformative use of ICT in education, which may imply that ICT is not used in a manner that alters existing teacher-centered approaches. This study suggests that future studies may focus on why instructors rarely use ICT in a transformative way and developing a tailor-made and efficient model that informs practice.

The use of causal diagrams to externalize the mental representation of a problem is recognized to be an important step in solving complex problems. In geography education several global challenges taught about in class are highly complex due to the interconnectedness of many causes and consequences. A systems thinking approach might be helpful to better understand these global challenges. Former studies have shown the effectiveness of concept maps and causal diagrams to foster students' systems thinking. However, it is not always obvious for students to construct proper causal diagrams. In order to optimize teaching strategies concerning these complex systems in geography education, this study analyzes students' cognitive strategies while constructing a causal diagram. We used task-based think-aloud interviews to study their cognitive strategies. Four different cognitive strategies were observed. The different types of cognitive strategies all resulted in an acceptable constructed causal diagram by the students. The presented insights are explorative, but it reveals the thinking processes that are mostly tacit and therefore has the potential to contribute to better teaching strategies. After all, if we know what processes novices go through while carrying out a complex skill, which are often taken for granted by experts, in this case geography teachers, we can raise awareness among teachers to explicitly take those processes into account while designing lessons.

ICT can address concerns about access and quality of higher education in developing countries like Ethiopia. The crucial role of ICT in education has become more evident than ever during the COVID 19 crisis. Despite its role in addressing educational quality and access issues, evidence about the educational use of ICT in developing countries is scarce. Many previous studies on determinants of educational ICT focus on higher education in developed countries, while it remains unclear whether existing models explain ICT use by instructors in developing countries. This study reports the findings of a qualitative study conducted in three public universities of Ethiopia in order to elaborate determinants of instructors' educational use of ICT. First, it presents a conceptual framework of factors that explain instructors' ICT use based on literature. Second, based on empirical evidence collected from instructors, it assesses their experiences and opinions in relation to the proposed framework components. In-depth data were collected through focus group discussions from twenty-one instructors. The data were analyzed thematically with ATLAS.ti software. The results confirmed that the institutional, individual and infrastructure-related determinants of the framework are perceived to be relevant in determining instructors' ICT use. Moreover, the study revealed the necessity of extending the proposed framework through aspects of management support, course-related factors, students' ICT competence and access to ICT infrastructure as new determinants of instructors' educational ICT use. Implications for theory-building are discussed and follow-up research is proposed.

In recent decades, conceptualizations and operationalizations of self-regulated learning (SRL) have shifted from SRL as an aptitude to SRL as an event. Alongside this shift, increased technological capability has introduced computer log files to the investigation of SRL, uncovering new research avenues. One such avenue investigates the time-related characteristics of SRL through learners' behavioural sequences. Although sequence analysis is still relatively new in SRL research, other fields have fruitful traditions in its application and may serve as a basis for applications in the field of SRL. Ten years of investigating SRL through sequence analysis have produced a wide range of methodological approaches. While this variety of methods illustrates the diversity of opportunities, it also indicates the lack of consensus regarding the most appropriate approaches often resulting in difficult to understand methods and nontransparent ways of reporting. Since the introduction of sequence analysis in the field of SRL, researchers have been emphasizing the need for a methodological framework to guide its application. Yet, to date, no such framework has been proposed, hindering our progress through (1) transparent methods and (2) comparative studies to (3) empirical and ecological applications. To help overcome this issue, this manuscript discusses the basis of a methodological framework for the use of sequence analysis in SRL research. We first make a case for why such a framework is necessary; secondly, we propose a set of guidelines which could serve as a starting point for the construction of a framework.

To gain insight into complex sustainability problems and acknowledge complexity is essential and can be achieved by creating an overview of the entire system, including interaction between variables. Therefore, systems thinking is recognized as a vital cognitive skill required to grasp complex global problems. Nevertheless, the implementation of systems thinking into general education, and geography in particular, is sadly limited. Encouraging students to use appropriate tools will probably help them understand systems complexity. A lesson series to foster systems thinking in a Belgian high school geography course was developed and implemented. In this design, produced by researchers in consultation with teachers, students were required to elaborate causal diagrams based on original texts and graphs of complex geographical issues. Causal diagrams are expected to support the development of students' systems thinking ability. The interpretation of the information sources from a geographical, and thus multidimensional perspective, is the core of inquiry-based instruction aimed at fostering systems thinking. By describing the gradual use of causal diagrams as a tool to visually represent given data, this article contributes an example of this scaffolding technique in geography education. In addition to a description of the lesson series itself, we also discuss how decisions in the design process were influenced by theoretical as well as practical aspects of geography education in Flanders (Belgium). Furthermore, first reflections on the implementation are illustrated.

Due to the increasing digitisation, interest in digital personalised learning (DPL) continues to grow. Many empirical studies on the effect of adaptive tools have used a wide variety of conceptualisations and operationalisations of DPL. This systematic review aims to address the lack of consensus by presenting an analysis of empirical studies on technology for DPL in primary and secondary education. The work is guided by the following questions: (1) What are some different conceptualisations used in DPL research? (2) What types of tools are used in the studies and how are they implemented? (3) What is the current evidence on the impact of DPL with regard to student outcomes considering the nature of the current studies? A Boolean search string was used in the databases Web of Science and ERIC, resulting in a dataset containing 6,908 papers. A screening based on specific inclusion and exclusion criteria yielded 53 papers. Our findings revealed a great diversity in DPL conceptualisations, with several authors not defining the concept and others providing information regarding different elements such as technology, personalisation, personalisation target, personalisation source, personalisation method and personalisation outcomes. In line with these differences in conceptualisation of DPL, several DPL tools were used across the studies. Concerning the impact of DPL, a positive trend was observed on learning outcomes, although methodological differences need to be considered. The review ends with guidelines for future research.

The acquisition of research skills is an important goal of secondary education. Still, insights on what learner characteristics stimulate and hamper research skills are lacking. Therefore, this study investigates the relationship between students' research skills (assessed by means of the Leuven Research Skills Test (LRST) and students' gender, educational track, grade, autonomous and controlled motivation. The LRST was administered to 405 11th and 12th grade students, and to 156 first-year university students in Flanders. Multiple regression analyses reveal a significant relationship of grade and track with students' research skills in upper secondary education. Also in higher education, a significant relationship was found between students' former educational track and their research skills. In both groups, no significant differences were found in research skills based on gender and on students' controlled and autonomous motivation. This study contributes to future research by stressing the importance of curricular characteristics for fostering students' research skills.

Education is characterized by at least the following features: (1) it offers learning environments that help students to achieve preset goals; (2) it induces learners to engage in relevant learning tasks; and (3) it offers support while learners execute learning tasks. Offering learning environments builds on the assumption that learners will actually engage in the learning tasks and use the support provided. There is, however, growing evidence, that in a lot of cases students do not comply with that assumption. By not engaging as expected in the learning tasks and/or by not (adequately) using the support, learners reveal the phenomenon of what could be called--at least from the perspective of the (designer of the) learning environment--'instructional disobedience'. 'Instructional disobedience' occurs when learners do not act as expected from them in a learning environment. While the literature has already referred to faulty assumptions and specified conditions for the effectiveness of instructional interventions, it seems the phenomenon of instructional disobedience has not yet attracted systematic research attention. In this contribution, we want therefore further unravel the nature and relevance of the phenomenon. This is done by analyzing the occurrence of instructional disobedience, possible explanations and ways to deal with it. As a start we illustrate the phenomenon by providing some examples.

Blended forms of learning have become increasingly popular. However, it remains unclear under what circumstances blended learning environments are successful. Studies suggest that blended learning challenges learners' self-regulation. Yet little is known about what self-regulatory behaviour learners exhibit in such environments. This limited understanding is problematic since this insight is needed for effective designs. Therefore, the aim of this study was to identify learners' self-regulatory behaviour profiles in blended learning environments and to relate them to designs of blended learning environments. Learners' (n = 120) self-regulatory behaviour in six ecologically valid blended learning courses was captured. Log files were analysed in a learning analytics fashion for frequency, diversity, and sequence of events. Three main user profiles were identified. The designs were described using a descriptive framework containing attributes that support self-regulation in blended learning environments. Results indicate fewer mis-regulators when more self-regulatory design features are integrated. These finding highlights the value of integrating features that support self-regulation in blended learning environments.

According to (inter)national policy and curriculum documents, the acquisition of research skills is an important objective of secondary education. However, the conceptualization and hence the operationalization of this concept seems ambiguous. Furthermore, no test exists to assess students' proficiency in (a broad range of) research skills in a 11th- and 12th-grade behavioral sciences classroom context. This article first elaborates on what constitutes research skills in this educational context. Second, the development and testing process of the Leuven Research Skills Test (LRST) is described. Third, the psychometric properties and the dimensional structure of the LRST are presented, based on a large-scale sample (n = 405) of Belgian students in 11th and 12th grade. The results revealed that (a) the LRST is an internal consistent instrument and that (b) a hierarchical model with eight subordinate factors and one single uniting upper level factor appears to be the best fit to the data (in comparison with a unidimensional model and an eight-factor multidimensional model). It is argued that the LRST can be used to assess (individual differences in) overall research skills proficiency and to investigate the effect of particular interventions to foster research skills in future studies.

Several challenges faced by humanity, such as the world food problem, migration flows or climate change, are all taught about in geography courses worldwide. Behind these challenges are complex systems consisting of several interrelated causes and consequences. In order to better understand these highly complex geographical systems, a systems thinking approach is helpful. However, the spatial embeddedness of relations in a system is often not included in this approach. Although this spatial embeddedness is important to understand geographical systems, it also contributes to the complexity of systems. The aim of this study is to examine whether the enrichment of causal diagrams with spatial scales helps students to better understand these systems. A quasi experimental design with an intervention of four lessons and task-based think-aloud interviews is used. These results show that students who have used these enriched diagrams in class are more aware of the spatial embeddedness of relations and therefore achieve a higher level of geographical thinking. This study shows the potential of enriched causal diagrams to make them actively use this spatial component while processing information.

Background: While open-cohort blended education programmes allow for accessible and flexible study trajectories, they may present social challenges to learners. Social presence is a possible a way of enhancing adult learners' success. It can lead to an increased perception of community, which may result in lower rates of dropping out. Purpose: This study investigates how social presence may be enacted in blended adult education programmes with open cohorts. The paper reports on the first phase of a design-based research study focused on programme-level strategies to establish social presence. This includes three distinct phases: (1) a contextual analysis and jointly agreed problem setting; (2) a literature review to identify and develop social presence strategies, grounded in theory; and (3) a qualitative study to scrutinise the perceptions of adult learners and programme coordinators regarding the embedding of the social presence strategies in the ecological setting. Method: Based on a review of the literature that addressed the strategies to enact facets of social presence, three intervention scenarios for practice were elaborated. These were deliberately specified at the programme level -- hence encompassing multiple separate courses. Each intervention scenario proposed activities carried out by particular actors, at particular time points during a programme, by means of a certain medium and targeting a certain group size. Each intervention scenario was systematically assessed by means of semi-structured interviews with adult learners and programme coordinators, using an approach based on Kano matrices. Findings: The analysis indicated that learners and programme coordinators were not in favour of a series of programme-wide interventions which lead to enactment of social presence. However, the study also showed they were, though, in favour of shared course-related experiences. Although there were contradictory perceptions among learners and staff, the allocation of time and the compulsory nature of social presence activities seemed to be decisive factors. Conclusions: This study highlights that it is crucial to assess the perceptions of the full range of stakeholders prior to an intervention, in order to establish shared priorities.

This paper provides grounds for creating an integrated instructional design model that can be used to guide the design of quality classroom instruction in higher education also in countries with limited resources. To achieve its purpose the paper investigates various projects on integration of ICT in education in developing countries and identifies that limited ICT resources and financial constraints are major difficulties they face. The paper further elucidates, based on the findings from the literature that limited ICT resources are considered as a major barrier to successful integration of ICT in teaching and learning. In line with the literature on instructional design and technology, the paper argues that it is the effective use of the real principles of instruction rather than ICT that makes learning effective. Based on this proposition and the deficits of the current instructional design models, the paper presents theoretical and practical justifications for testing the generalizability of the basic instructional design models in the context of higher education classrooms with limited, moderate, and adequate ICT resources.

Critical thinking is an important goal in higher education. Students are expected to grow in critical thinking during their higher education programme. The present study investigates the development of critical thinking in 1134 bachelor students in Flanders, Belgium. The study followed a mixed longitudinal design. Students' critical thinking was measured by the Scipio, a test consisting of both constructed response items and forced choice items. The analyses were split up for academic and professional bachelor students. Students in both academic and professional bachelor programmes are shown to become better critical thinkers during the first two years of study, although the specific growth patterns of both programme types are different. Professional bachelor students show a large growth in the first year of higher education, but do not improve their critical thinking during the next two years. Academic bachelors on the other hand show a moderate growth in the first year and continue developing their critical thinking during the next years, leading to a higher overall growth than professional bachelor students.

Promoting students' critical thinking (CT) has been an essential goal of higher education. However, despite the various attempts to make CT a primary focus of higher education, there is little agreement regarding the conditions under which instruction could result in greater CT outcomes. In this review, we systematically examined current empirical evidence and attempted to explain why some instructional interventions result in greater CT gains than others. Thirty three empirical studies were included in the review and features of the interventions of those individual studies were analyzed. Emphasis was given to the study features related to CT instructional approach, teaching strategy, student and teacher related characteristics, and CT measurement. The findings revealed that effectiveness of CT instruction is influenced by conditions in the instructional environment comprising the instructional variables (teaching strategies and CT instructional approaches), and to some extent by student-related variables (year level and prior academic performance). Moreover, the type of CT measures adopted (standardized vs. non-standardized) appear to influence evaluation of the effectiveness of CT interventions. The findings overall indicated that there is a shift towards embedding CT instruction within academic disciplines, but failed to support effectiveness of particular instructional strategies in fostering acquisition and transfer of CT skills. The main limitation in the current empirical evidence is the lack of systematic design of instructional interventions that are in line with empirically valid instructional design principles.

Research has documented the use of tools in computer-based learning environments as problematic, that is, learners do not use the tools and when they do, they tend to do it suboptimally. This study attempts to disentangle cause and effect of this suboptimal tool use for experienced learners. More specifically, learner variables (metacognitive and motivational) were related to the tool presentation (non-/embedded), interventions, type of tool use (quantitatively and qualitative) and learners' performance. One hundred and seventeen graduate students were assigned to one of five conditions (embedded and non-embedded with explained tool functionality, embedded and non-embedded with non-explained tool functionality and one control condition) to study a hypertext using semi-structured concept maps as the tools. Findings are discussed with respect to experienced learners' role on tool use and performance. Although no differences among conditions and performance were found, results reveal that the self-regulation skill of organization and the explained tool functionality affected time on tool negatively, while the self-regulation skill of elaboration and perceived tool usability showed a positive effect. Time on tool influenced performance positively. Quality influenced performance negatively. It is argued that some tools and interventions are unnecessary for experienced learners.

Pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) is an important predictor of educational quality. PCK develops from various sources, such as teaching experience. Studies investigating the effects of teaching experience on PCK development mainly focus on the question whether experienced teachers differ from novices in the amount of PCK. In a mixed methods study, we study both quantitative and qualitative differences between pre-service and in-service teachers' PCK. Total scores on a paper-and-pencil instrument are used as a measure of French PCK. To analyse the participants' PCK in a qualitative way, answers are coded in four categories and the prevalence of answers in each category is compared between groups. Furthermore, the nature of answers is studied. No differences on our quantitative PCK measure are observed. The qualitative analysis shows that in-service teachers have more difficulties with conceptual knowledge, while showing more practical knowledge of students' understanding than pre-service teachers.

An increasing interconnectedness of people and goods enhances the complexity of many geographical problems. For students to understand geography, systems thinking is a promising approach. It helps to understand increasing complexity by looking at the entire system and at the interconnectedness between the elements in the system. In order to develop adequate systems oriented teaching and learning the current state of the art of students' systems thinking ability needs to be better understood. The authors developed a measuring tool in the form of a paper-and-pencil test in which 735 students in the last or penultimate year of secondary school (age 16-18 year) in Flanders, Belgium, took part. The main findings reveal a rather poor general level of students' systems thinking ability. Students have many difficulties recognizing relationships between variables when several elements of systems thinking come together such as in feedback loops, interactions between human and physical environment, and a combination of different information sources. Rather great differences were found according to the students' study background as well as an interaction effect between grade and gender of the students.

Increasing interconnectedness of people and goods enhances the complexity of geographical problems. For students to understand geography, systems thinking--and in this context, the use of causal diagrams--is a promising approach. A quasi-experimental design is used in which the systems thinking ability of students working with causal diagrams is compared to a control group where students did not work with causal diagrams. Pre- and posttests were taken by 448 students in the experimental group and 168 students in the control group. The results indicate that students in the experimental group outperform students in the control group.

It is still unclear on what and how tool and learner characteristics influence tool use and consequently performance in computer-based learning environments (CBLEs). This study examines the relationships between tool-related characteristics (tool presentation: non-/embedded tool and instructional cues: non-/explained tool functionality) and learner-related characteristics (self-efficacy and goal orientation) as well as their effects on tool use (quantity and quality) and performance in a CBLE. One hundred and forty students, without statically difference in prior knowledge, were randomly assigned to the four conditions (Embedded and non-embedded with explained tool functionality and embedded and non-embedded with non-explained tool functionality) to study a hypertext. Results reveal that embedding tools influenced positively quantity of tool use and negatively quality of tool use. Partial effects of explained tool functionality were found. There were significant interactions of goal orientation (mastery avoidance) and condition on quality of tool use. Performance approach influenced quality of tool positively and self-efficacy influenced negatively quantity of tool use. Only quantity of tool use affected performance. The implications of these results for future research on tool use in CBLE's are discussed. (Contains 3 tables and 8 figures.)

Critical thinking helps students to confront a multitude of challenges they will face in their careers and personal lives. It is therefore an important task of higher education to promote students' critical thinking. However, students do not enter higher education with a blank page. Background characteristics of students are important in developing instruction. The present study investigates the influence of an important background characteristic, namely students' secondary education, and their current higher education programme on critical thinking in the first year of higher education. The critical thinking of college freshmen was measured by the SCIPIO, a test consisting of both constructed response items and forced choice items. The results indicate that (1) the growth in critical thinking during the first year of higher education is on average small, (2) students with a background in general secondary education have higher entrance performances and show more growth during the first year than students with other educational backgrounds, (3) critical thinking plays a role in the educational choice that students make when they enter higher education, and (4) students in a professional bachelor programme grow more in CT during the first year of higher education than students in an academic bachelor programme.

Previous research indicates that when learners divide their attention over different sources of information (representations), learners perceive the information as more difficult and have a harder time increasing their understanding. This can be overcome by integrating representations. In this research, using 85 participants, we hypothesized that integrated representations of physics would be perceived as less difficult. Repeated measures MANOVA showed a significant interaction effect between results on the learning tasks and the perceived difficulty questionnaire. Results are discussed in the context of the performance evaluation effect that can occur in more ecologically valid settings.

Learning environments commonly offer aids to address learners' lack of knowledge or skills. However, learners are not or sub-optimally using these aids when these are non-embedded or segregated (Aleven, Stahl, Schworm, Fischer, & Wallace, 2003; Clarebout & Elen, 2006). This lack of optimal usage has been related to variables as self-regulation and prior knowledge (e.g., Hill & Hannafin, 2001; Land, 2000). Given this relationship between learning aid usage and prior knowledge and self-regulation, we focused in this study upon the interaction between these two learner variables and the embeddedness of learning aids (embedded-segregated). Fifty-seven university students randomly assigned to two conditions participated. Results indicate that segregating learning aids is beneficial for learners with high prior knowledge and low self-regulation skills, as well as for learners with low prior knowledge and high self-regulation skills. This result reveals the compensatory relationship between domain-specific prior knowledge and domain-general regulation skills.

Interactive whiteboard offers a high-potential innovative tool in mathematical educational environments, in which teachers' modeling processes and students' exploring activities can easily be executed. Nevertheless, these affordances are not self-evident. There is a gap between the potential claims of the tool and its actual use in the classrooms. This study investigated, through two parallel case studies, the interactive whiteboard potential in view of optimizing the exploitation of the interactive whiteboard, improving conceptual understanding, and fostering interactivity in secondary mathematics classrooms. Two main patterns for a productive interactive whiteboard use emerged: (a) a "problem-solving" pattern consisting of interactive whiteboard supporting problem-solving activities and (b) an "organizer" pattern consisting of using interactive whiteboard as a kind of advanced organizer and stimulating students' reflection and mathematical contributions. The two patterns were used to design and teach lessons that were analyzed through the instrumental orchestration framework elaborated by Drijvers, Tacoma, Besamusca, Doorman, and Boon. Analysis showed how the interactive whiteboard acted as a useful instrument for students' discussion and collective construction of mathematical knowledge.

Fostering the development of students' critical thinking (CT) is regarded as an essential outcome of higher education. However, despite the large body of research on this topic, there has been little consensus on how educators best support the development of CT. In view of some of the controversies surrounding the teaching of CT skills in higher education, this study examined the effects of embedding CT instruction systematically in domain-specific courses ("Immersion" vs. "Infusion") on the acquisition of domain-specific and domain-general CT skills and course achievement. First-year university students (N = 143) enrolled in an introductory physics course were assigned to one of three instructional conditions: Immersion, Infusion, and control. The Immersion and Infusion conditions followed lessons designed systematically based on the First Principles of Instruction model, whereas the control condition followed a regular instruction. Results showed that participants in the Immersion and Infusion conditions significantly outperformed those in the control condition on domain-specific CT proficiency and course achievement. However, neither the Immersion nor the Infusion condition was helpful in fostering the acquisition of domain-general CT skills. The findings generally demonstrated that embedding CT instruction systematically in domain-specific courses requires greater clarity about what set of CT skills could be targeted in domain-specific instruction, how specific subject-matter instruction could be designed considering CT as an integral part of domain-specific instruction, and how best CT outcomes be assessed. Some considerations for the design of CT-supportive learning environments are discussed.

This research explored the stimulation of mathematics understanding and learning in an Interactive Whiteboard (IWB) environment. IWB affordances appear to be best used when mathematical tasks engage students in mathematical reasoning and when all students are involved in the discussion. The intent of this project was to design and implement, together with a small group of teachers, a series of lessons for the purpose of developing a useful framework for effective IWB use. In a first phase, the potential of the IWB in pursuing high-level mathematical tasks and promoting classroom interactivity was discussed in depth by the teachers and the researchers. Lessons were also planned in detail. In a second phase, the planned lessons were taught in the presence of the researchers, audiotaped and subsequently analysed by the researchers and teachers. The analyses highlighted the usefulness of the IWB in (a) improving high-level mathematical tasks and (b) creating a dialogic interactive discourse for better mathematical understanding and learning. Two main patterns in productive IWB use emerged from the study. The first pattern was that the IWB promoted problem-solving activities through intensive use of geometrical or other mathematical software. The second pattern was using the IWB as a notepad with links to external sources, geometrical and other mathematical constructions, problems and activities, which the teacher, in collaboration with the students, 'tailors' following a thread. For both patterns, developing a strong synergy between the IWB affordances and students' interaction with it seemed critical. The IWB appears to be a powerful tool that allows students and teachers to alternate between different points of view and different visualisations of the same topic.

In this study we focus on the integration of mathematical learning content (i.e., proportional reasoning) in game-based learning environments (GBLE). More specifically, two kinds of GBLEs are set up: an extrinsically integrated GBLE and an intrinsically integrated GBLE. In the former environment, the mathematical content is not part of the core mechanics and structure of the gaming world. In the latter environment, the mathematical content is delivered through the parts of the game that are the most fun to play and embodied within the structure of the gaming world and the players' interactions with it. Sixty-four vocational track students participated in the study, all of them working in either version of the self-developed GBLE "Zeldenrust". The results of this study suggest that the way the content is integrated in a GBLE (i.e., intrinsically or extrinsically) matters: contrary to our expectations, students who played the extrinsically integrated game showed higher learning gains, motivational gains and perceived usefulness than students who played the game in which the content was intrinsically integrated.

The aims of the present studies were to test the generalizability of the modality and dialogue effect to open learning environments, previously found by Moreno and Mayer (e.g., Moreno, Mayer & Lester, 2001) with an agent providing metacognitive support. As an extension, the agent's continuous presence effect on learning was also tested. Three studies were conducted. In all studies participants interacted with an open learning environment on an ecological problem. No confirmation was found for the modality or dialogue effect, nor did the agent's presence have any effect on students' performance. (Contains 1 table and 2 figures.)

Adjunct aids are instructional interventions inserted in textbooks in view of supporting learners to process the information. Different types of adjunct aids are assumed to support different cognitive processes. Research on adjunct aids has focussed on the learning effects of single types of adjunct aids. In this study, the learning effects of combinations of adjunct aids are studied. After completing a pre-test, 255 students studied a text presented on 21 separate computer screens in one of eight conditions. Their use of the adjunct aids was logged. After studying the text, a post-test was administered. Results show no impact of conditions on either knowledge or transfer items. However, when the use of the adjunct aids is considered, it is shown that this result can be explained by referring to the use of the aids at least for knowledge items. (Contains 5 tables and 4 figures.)

Especially in higher education – but true for any setting – what students do within a learning environment determines their learning outcomes. Given that they regulate their own learning, students do not always act in accordance with the instructions and intentions of the designed learning environment, which in turn has implications for their learning and achievement. To better understand this phenomenon, a variety of research examined factors that are presumed to influence students' learning behavior within learning environments. This paper aims to broaden this research by pointing attention to students' knowledge of micro-level education as a type of domain-independent prior knowledge. This so-called 'instructional knowledge' of students is also presumed to have important implications for learning in educational settings. An attempt was made to map this construct by thematically analyzing 91 drawings depicting Flemish higher education students' spontaneous and general knowledge of instruction. Findings confirm previous research by revealing that students' instructional knowledge is (a) very similar, and (b) rather 'classical' in nature. In extension to previous findings, it was also revealed that in addition to classical and common elements, many drawings portray new (especially digital) and individual elements. This study contributes to understanding instructional knowledge as a complex and personal set of shared and unique experiences susceptible to slow structural change. Moreover, it provides opportunities for further research and – in time – the enhancement of instructional design models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]