Search results for "Cognitive"
showing 10 items of 10389 documents
Visual cues improve students’ understanding of divergence and curl: Evidence from eye movements during reading and problem solving
2019
The coordination of multiple external representations is important for learning, but yet a difficult task for students, requiring instructional support. The subject in this study covers a typical relation in physics between abstract mathematical equations (definitions of divergence and curl) and a visual representation (vector field plot). To support the connection across both representations, two instructions with written explanations, equations, and visual representations (differing only in the presence of visual cues) were designed and their impact on students’ performance was tested. We captured students’ eye movements while they processed the written instruction and solved subsequent c…
Pair interactions in online assessments of collaborative problem solving: case-based portraits
2018
This exploratory case study focuses on how pairs of students can build a shared understanding and acquire collaborative problem-solving (CPS) practices during an online assessment of CPS skills, which is seen in the context of the CPS construct, in a symmetrical and asymmetrical task type. Even though CPS is widely recognised as a core twenty-first-century competency, its nature is not yet well understood. Also, until recently, most of studies have focused on the individual’s solution to a problem or on the skills individuals bring into a problem-solving space. This study extends from an individual- to group-level focus in CPS, emphasising the role and quality of the social aspects in CPS p…
Assessing reading and online research comprehension: Do difficulties in attention and executive function matter?
2021
This study evaluated the relation between sixth graders' (N = 426) teacher-rated difficulties in attention and executive function (EF) and their comprehension skills. Reading comprehension was assessed with a multiple-choice task and online research and comprehension (ORC) with a problem-solving task. The analyses were controlled for gender, reading fluency and nonverbal reasoning. To investigate differences in students' performance between the tasks, comprehension skills in the multiple-choice task were also controlled for in the ORC task. Structural equation models showed that teacher-rated attention and EF difficulties were related to students' performance more in the problem-solving tas…
Insights into Finnish first-year pre-service teachers’ twenty-first century skills
2016
This study focuses on Finnish pre-service teachers’ perceptions of their twenty-first century skills, especially their learning strategies, collaboration and teamwork, as well as knowledge and attitudes related to ICT in education. The target group consist of 263 first-year pre-service teachers from three universities. The results outline how pre-service teachers perceive their twenty-first century skills, the relationships between different areas of these skills, and the differences among pre-service teachers in terms of perceived skills. The results indicate that the pre-service teachers perceive themselves as skilled learners in terms of learning strategies used as well as collaboration …
Early science learning with a virtual tutor through multimedia explanations and feedback on spoken questions
2018
The purpose of this pilot study with a within-subject design was to gain a deeper understanding about the promise and restrictions of a virtual tutoring system designed to teach science to first grade students in Finland. Participants were 61 students who received six tutoring science sessions of approximately 20 min each. Sessions consisted of a sequence of narrated multimedia science presentations during which a virtual tutor explained science phenomena displayed in pictures. Narrated science explanations were followed by one or more multiple choice questions with immediate feedback about students’ choices and a possible second attempt, during which students reached 97% accuracy. A pretes…
Disrupting neural activity related to awake-state sharp wave-ripple complexes prevents hippocampal learning
2012
Oscillations in hippocampal local-field potentials (LFPs) reflect the crucial involvement of the hippocampus in memory trace formation: theta (4–8 Hz) oscillations and ripples (~200 Hz) occurring during sharp waves are thought to mediate encoding and consolidation, respectively. During sharp wave-ripple complexes (SPW-Rs), hippocampal cell firing closely follows the pattern that took place during the initial experience, most likely reflecting replay of that event. Disrupting hippocampal ripples using electrical stimulation either during training in awake animals or during sleep after training retards spatial learning. Here, adult rabbits were trained in trace eyeblink conditioning, a hippoc…
Verbal counting skill predicts later math performance and difficulties in middle school
2019
This study examined the role of verbal counting skill as an early predictor of math performance and difficulties (at or below −1.5 standard deviation in basic math skills) in middle school. The role of fourth-grade level arithmetical skills (i.e., calculation fluency, multi-digit arithmetic i.e. procedural calculation, and word problem solving) as mediators was also investigated. The participants included 207 children in central Finland who were studied from kindergarten to the seventh grade. Path modeling showed that verbal counting in kindergarten is a strong predictor for basic math performance in seventh grade, explaining even 52% of the variance in these skills after controlling for th…
Investigating former pupils’ experiences and perceptions of CLIL in Finland: a retrospective analysis
2019
The educational approach known as Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL), in which content is taught partly through a foreign language, has gained great popularity in Europe in the past few decades. In Finland, CLIL has been in use since 1991 and, despite some fluctuations in its popularity, has gained a relatively stable place in the Finnish education system. CLIL has been extensively studied, but previous CLIL research has mostly focused on pupils currently enrolled in CLIL. This study takes a novel perspective by investigating CLIL retrospectively, through the eyes of former pupils. The data used are in-depth interviews with 24 former pupils who attended a CLIL class in Finland …
Individual Creativity and Career Choices of Pre-teens in the Context of a Math-Art Learning Event
2021
A sample of 392 students (aged 12-13 years, M± SD: 12. 52% girls) completed a learning module integrating informal hands-on mathematics and arts activity (extending STEM to STEAM). Within a 140 minute workshop period participants worked with commercially available ‘4Dframe’ Math and STEAM learning toolkits to design and create original, personal and individual geometrical structures. Two science pedagogues acted as tutors supervising the process and intervened only when needed. A pre-/post-test design monitored individual creativity, relative autonomy, and career choice preference. Path analysis elaborated the role of creativity (measured with two subscales: act and flow), and it showed tha…
Meaningful learning in teacher education
2018
This study explores meaningful learning in the context of teacher education. The study showed the importance of course design in generating meaningful learning. Opportunities to gain strong experience are crucial to meaningful learning. Meaningful learning provides space for both positive and uncomfortable emotions. peerReviewed