Search

The use of augmented reality games (ARGs) in education has gained increased attention from curriculum developers, teachers, and researchers in the past decade. Research findings show that ARGs can promote meaningful learning environments that foster key competences for the 21st century. This paper presents the design process of "EcoAegean", an ARG for mobile devices, which was implemented in primary classroom environments to support the development of students' key competences in the context of sustainability. The game was created using an open augmented reality software platform and its design was based on contemporary theoretical underpinnings regarding the use of such games in educational contexts. In the first section of the paper, we describe the design procedures of the learning scenario as well as the game itself. In the last section of the paper, we offer a set of critical insights on the design and implementation of mobile augmented reality games for the purpose of supporting students' development of key 21st century competences.

In this position paper, we propose commognition for the study of proof teaching at university lectures through an integrative literature review. We critically examine studies that focused on proof teaching but did not use the commognitive framework. Through this examination, we gain an understanding of the pedagogical aspects of proof teaching and address gaps in the literature. After we introduce the key principles of the commognitive framework, we review a set of studies that used commognition for the investigation of lecture-type teaching in higher education. In reviewing these studies, we pay special attention to the added value of the use of commognition. We conclude by proposing an approach to the study of proof teaching by using the commognitive framework. This approach offers insights into opportunities provided by lecturers for the deritualization of proving routines.

The goal of this case study was to examine how a group of young children in a historically marginalized neighborhood in the northern part of the Netherlands perceived their engagement in an out-of-school, STEM community-based program aiming to enhance young children's interest and self-identification with science. We collected data through semi-structured interviews with eight purposefully selected children and analyzed those through a constant comparative approach and with the use of open coding strategies. The findings revealed specific aspects of the design of the program that were perceived as motivating and engaging: the integrated multidisciplinary approach to exploring scientific concepts and opportunities for active engagement and personally relevant science experimentation. The findings are offered alongside a set of recommendations for the design of out-of-school, community-based programs that aim to support young children's engagement with science.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of virtual reality on undergraduate students' self-efficacy, self-concept, interest, and laboratory anxiety in an introductory chemistry course. We used a mixed-methods approach to improve our understanding of how these factors mediate student learning. The findings showed that (i) the use of the virtual reality application had an overall positive impact on students' self-efficacy, self-concept, interest, and anxiety; and (ii) students who expressed some anxiety about doing the lab prior to the course reported the use of the virtual reality application decreased their levels of anxiety at the end of the lab. The implications of these findings speak to the potential value of the use of virtual reality applications in higher education and especially in situations when distance learning is the only option as well as in situations where the costs of real laboratories cannot be afforded.

Our purpose in this paper is to shed light on the intricacies of designing and enacting curricular innovations aiming to enhance students' interest in science and their understandings of STEM careers. We present the design and describe the implementation of a set of STEM career-oriented curriculum materials referred to as career-based scenarios. A review of the literature demonstrates that such curricular innovations create potentially useful mechanisms for broadening students' awareness of STEM careers and facilitating more informed decisions. We present the design process we followed to create career-based scenarios and we provide a rationale for each design decision. We also provide a description of the implementation of one representative scenario in three school classrooms. We conclude with a reflective section in which we identify reflections from our experiences and broader implications for curricular innovations targeting students' interests.

The purpose of this multiple case study was to examine the kinds of experiences that were critical to the physics trajectories of four purposefully selected undergraduate female physics students in central Europe. The data were collected through individual semi-structured interviews and were analyzed following an inductive approach and a combination of open and in-vivo coding. The findings showed that: (a) all participants experienced a lack of sense of belonging in physics because of stereotypes and biases about the role of women in physics, which were evident both in classroom discourses and lack of recognition by their instructors and their male peers; (b) the intersection of gender and physics identity served as a barrier to the participants' perceived recognition (by others) as competent physics persons as well as their sense of belonging in physics; and, (c) all participants pointed to the lack of role-models and specifically women of color in academia.

Using multiple representations (MR) such as graphs, symbols, diagrams, and text, is central to teaching and learning in physics classrooms. While different studies have provided evidence of the positive impact of the use of MR on physics learning, a comprehensive overview of existing literature on the use of MR in physics education, especially at the undergraduate level, is missing. This manuscript addresses this gap in the literature by reporting on the outcomes of a systematic review study that aimed to provide an overview of the existing knowledge base, to identify gaps in the knowledge base, and to propose future research about the use of MR in the context of undergraduate physics education. For the purpose of this study, we reviewed 24 empirical studies published between 2002 and 2019 in scientific, peer-reviewed journals in the context of undergraduate physics education. The outcomes of this review study are discussed under these themes (a) In what ways does the use of MR in instruction support student learning? (b) What kinds of representations do students use? (c) What difficulties do students face in using MR? (d) What is the relation between students' use of MR and students' problem-solving skills? and, (e) What is the added value of technology integration in teaching with MR? We identify gaps in the existing knowledge base, and we propose future research directions in these three areas: (a) Exploring the use of MR in university physics textbooks; (b) Blending of different kinds of MR; and, (c) The use of virtual reality applications.

[This paper is part of the Focused Collection on Qualitative Methods in PER: A Critical Examination.] This article details methodologies employed to enable sharing and coconstructing the stories of three women's lives in physics. The first case explores the usefulness of timeline interviewing, where participants narrate episodes that are coconstructed with the researcher as meaningful over time. We illustrate this method in the case of a mature student in Sweden from a working-class background who shared moments that added up to a life outside of physics and then a sharp turn into physics later in life. The second case explores life-history interviewing using a narrative-inquiry approach and deep relationship building which enabled the coconstruction of stories of experiences over time. These moments are coconstructed with the researcher and analyzed using an intersectionality lens to yield a story depicting the transnational experiences of a woman of color moving across various European contexts into the North American physics context. The final case is of a first-generation Canadian woman of color who shared her navigations of in and out of school physics via a method known as the "Rivers of Life." Using this method, the participant narrates their experiences with physics as a river, using metaphorical tools like rafts, rocks, rapids, tributaries to discuss various moments described as twists and turns over time that together amount to a life in physics. We discuss the value of different approaches to coconstructing narratives with participants and, in particular, the need for this kind of research in physics contexts.

The purpose of this qualitative case study study is to examine the ways in which mobile videogames can be used in non-formal educational environments, to support students to develop decision-making skills through negotiated play. In the context of this study, the health literacy mobile videogame, "PlayForward: Elm City Stories" developed at Yale University was implemented in an afterschool setting in southern Europe. In this study we explored how secondary school students negotiate meaning, make decisions, and interpret the consequences in a non-formal education context, through an interpretive symbolic-interactive framework. The data included individual interviews with students, field-notes, and video-based student-groups' interactions. These were analyzed with the use of open coding techniques. The analysis of the data resulted in the following three assertions: (a) The technical affordances of the game such as sound, usability, rating system, and visuals, are vital features that defined the quality of play and learning experience; (b) The narrative of the game guided the learning game-play experience of the students; and, (c) Students perceived that their engagement in the game facilitated their collaboration and decision-making. These are discussed alongside recommendations for game design for supporting negotiated play and decision-making.

This paper examines the merits of the proposition that outdoors environmental education can be used as a means to promote reconciliation, and in essence peace, among communities in Cyprus. It does so through an examination of an outdoors youth program called CAFE (Camping, Fitness, and Education) that aimed to promote the awareness of members of two conflicting communities, Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot, about local environmental issues. More specifically, the objectives of this program were to determine whether a specially-designed outdoors environmental program can assist in bringing the two communities together. In this paper we describe the nature of the program activities and provide some participant perspectives as anecdotal support for the program's success. The evidence suggests that the outdoors environmental activities provided the participants with opportunities to view socially constructed "realities" and "truths" from the other's point of view, while concurrently developing an understanding of local environmental issues.

In this paper we describe a model for a science fair, within the context of an elementary science methods course. We first describe the theoretical perspectives from which the idea of science fairs derives and we provide definitions as we sketch the characteristics of commonly used science fairs. We then describe the context and processes of a science fair that was organized by a team of university instructors, prospective elementary teachers, school teachers, parents, and friends. We argue that the main contribution of this paper is that it provides a concrete example of a personally meaningful and science-relevant learning experience that combines formal and informal learning activities. The implications of this work are associated with paving the path towards exploring the question, "How can we travel the road beyond the curriculum?" as it provides the basis for intellectual conversations for the place of science fairs in formal education.

The National Research Council emphasizes the centrality of discourse and practices associated with constructing, evaluating, and using scientific explanations. These expectations increase already daunting challenges for those who teach science at the elementary school level. This study followed a multiparticipant case study approach examining prospective elementary teachers' self-reports of teaching science as argument. Findings yield that the presence of opportunities for physical experimentation with firsthand data during science instruction helped participants increase their emphasis on evidence-based explanations. Participants also viewed science talks as essential and fundamental for engaging students in evidence-based explanations. Finally, participants demonstrated attention to scientific subject matter. These findings are discussed in terms of their implications for teacher education.

The main aim of this study was to examine how a group of elementary students perceived their engagement in a project-based science intervention investigating the water quality of a local lake. The students collaborated with a scientist to conduct various experiments and used handheld computers to collect and analyze data in order to examine the quality of the water. The unique aspects of this intervention were the nature of the task (i.e., study of a real-world, local, problem) and the use of handheld computers for data collection. An urban, fifth-grade, European elementary school classroom defined the context of this study. The research data consisted of classroom observations, videos of the students engaging in activities in the classroom and outdoors, interviews with the students and the teacher, students' presentations, various worksheets and assessment materials. Data analysis illustrated that students perceived certain aspects of the intervention as significant: the collaboration with the scientist, the nature and context of the activities, and the use of handheld computers. This finding has implications about the value of engaging students in project-based science activities and using mobile technologies to support these activities and enhance students' interest.

The need to reform science teacher preparation programs has been pointed out in research (Bryan and Abell in "J Res Sci Teach" 36:121-140, 1999; Bryan and Atwater in "Sci Educ" 8(6):821-839, 2002; Harrington and Hathaway in "J Teach Educ" 46(4):275-284, 1995). Science teachers are charged with the responsibility of incorporating both cognitive and non-cognitive parameters in their everyday teaching practices. This often results in their reluctance to teach science because they often lack disciplinary and/or pedagogical expertise required to promote science learning. The purpose of this study is to propose an alternative instructional approach in which Lego vehicles were used as a tool to promote pre-service elementary teachers' development and to examine whether there are non-cognitive parameters that promote or obstruct them from using Lego Technologies as a teaching tool. The context of the study was defined by a teacher preparation program of a private university in a small Mediterranean country. A sample of 28 pre-service elementary teachers, working in five 5-6-member groups were involved in scientific inquiries, during which they had to use vehicles in order to solve scientific problems related to concepts such as gear functioning, force, and motion. The nature of their cognitive engagement in the scientific inquiry process, non-cognitive parameters contributing to their cognitive engagement, and the impact of their involvement in the process on their development were examined through qualitative analysis of pre- and post-inquiry interviews, presentations of their solutions to the scientific problems and of their personal reflective journals.

During the past few years there have been great strides in the advancement of technology with the rise of mobile devices leading to an era characterized by the instant access to and mobility of information. Mobile technologies have more recently been used in a variety of educational settings for a variety of purposes and educational goals. Nevertheless, while the claims about the positive impact of the use of mobile technologies in different aspects of education are compelling, data on how these technologies support, for example, the understanding of complex concepts or the development of learning skills that enable students to think critically and problem-solve, are limited. This theoretical article contends that missing, remains a detailed characterization of the accounts and the processes through which mobile technologies mediate learning, and proposes that future research in science education is directed towards: (a) exemplifying the theoretical aspects and the characteristics of design frameworks associated with mobile learning; (b) characterizing rich and complex pedagogical practices that use mobile devices; and (c) sketching the details of the processes by which students come to know through engagement in activities that use mobile technologies. (Contains 1 note.)

This qualitative case study examined web-based portfolio development in the service of supporting reflective thinking and learning within the innovative context of Professional Development Schools. Specifically, this study investigated the nature of the evidence-based philosophies developed by prospective teachers as the central part of the web-based portfolio task and the ways in which the technology contributed to it. The findings of this study illuminated the participants' understandings about learning and teaching science emphasizing a student-centered approach, connecting physical engagement of children with conceptual aspects of learning, becoming attentive to what teachers can do to support children's learning and focusing on teaching science as inquiry. The way the task was organized and the fact that the web-based format provided the possibility to keep multiple versions of their philosophies gave prospective teachers the advantage to view how their philosophies were changing over time, which supported a continuous engagement in metacognition, self-reflection, and self-evaluation. Built on these findings we suggest that future research be directed in the area of teachers' knowledge and beliefs about science teaching and learning and the kinds of experiences that influence their development. The ways in which technology tools can contribute to supporting prospective teachers in developing personal theories consistent with current recommendations of reform focusing on supporting learning through inquiry should also be explored. (Contains 1 figure and 3 tables.)

Women have been underrepresented in STEM fields around the world (UNESCO, 2018). Prior research identified some of the reasons for this gender disparity such as systemic barriers, lack of confidence, lack of female role models, and cultural and gendered science stereotypes. These issues have been framed in contemporary literature within the construct of STEM identity. Building upon this literature, our project explored the role of the university classroom in supporting the development of a strong STEM identity and specifically the view of self as a competent science person. The project consisted of two parts. In the first part student-led desktop and empirical research focused on generating evidencebased recommendations for how an introductory Calculus course could be redesigned to be more gender-inclusive. The second pertained to the evaluation of the redesigned Calculus course centered around two main indicators of success: (i) students' confidence as mathematics learners, and (ii) their intention to continue with STEM education. The project has scientific and practical implications as it contributes evidence towards understanding the kinds of activities that might support university students' STEM identity development and provides a set of concrete, evidence-based, gender-inclusive instructional practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]