Skip to main content

Research Repository

Advanced Search

Professor SHAARON AINSWORTH's Outputs (33)

Teacher Practices and Student Understandings in 2D Drawings of 3D Shapes (2025)
Journal Article
Saralar-Aras, İ., & Ainsworth, S. (2025). Teacher Practices and Student Understandings in 2D Drawings of 3D Shapes. Bartın University Journal of Faculty of Education, 14(1), 130-150

Geometry holds a pivotal position within the realm of mathematics, yet many students struggle to grasp its concepts, posing challenges for their teachers. In the Republic of Türkiye, the Ministry of National Education has recently recommended the ado... Read More about Teacher Practices and Student Understandings in 2D Drawings of 3D Shapes.

Optimising learning from interactive visualisations with drawing prompts (2024)
Journal Article
Stieff, M., Scheiter, K., & Ainsworth, S. (2024). Optimising learning from interactive visualisations with drawing prompts. International Journal of Science Education, 1-30. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500693.2024.2430803

Interactive visualisations (IVs) have demonstrated success for improving learning in science classrooms. However, for this success to be realised, it is important that learners adopt an effective learning strategy. In three studies, we explored if dr... Read More about Optimising learning from interactive visualisations with drawing prompts.

Can teaching assistants improve attainment and attitudes of low performing pupils in numeracy? Evidence from a large-scale randomised controlled trial (2022)
Journal Article
Hodgen, J., Adkins, M., & Ainsworth, S. E. (2023). Can teaching assistants improve attainment and attitudes of low performing pupils in numeracy? Evidence from a large-scale randomised controlled trial. Cambridge Journal of Education, 53(2), 215-235. https://doi.org/10.1080/0305764X.2022.2093838

The use of teaching assistants (TAs) is widespread in many education systems, but the ways that TAs can support learning effectively are poorly understood. Much evidence indicates that most TA support has no, or negative, effects on pupil attainment.... Read More about Can teaching assistants improve attainment and attitudes of low performing pupils in numeracy? Evidence from a large-scale randomised controlled trial.

Learning About Viruses: Representing Covid-19 (2022)
Journal Article
Manches, A., & Ainsworth, S. (2022). Learning About Viruses: Representing Covid-19. Frontiers in Education, 6, Article 736744. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2021.736744

Covid-19 has significantly impacted children’s lives, requiring them to process multiple messages with significant emotional, social, and behavioural implications. Yet, the vast majority of these messages solely focus on behaviour. This is an oversig... Read More about Learning About Viruses: Representing Covid-19.

Using dialogic interventions to decrease children’s use of inappropriate teleological explanations (2021)
Journal Article
Halls, J. G., Ainsworth, S. E., & Oliver, M. C. (2021). Using dialogic interventions to decrease children’s use of inappropriate teleological explanations. International Journal of Science Education, 43(11), 1817-1836. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500693.2021.1936271

A belief in teleology is often suggested to be a barrier in children’s science education. Many studies have catalogued children’s use of teleological explanations, but fewer have developed approaches to tackle children’s use in scientific contexts. T... Read More about Using dialogic interventions to decrease children’s use of inappropriate teleological explanations.

Learning by Drawing Visual Representations: Potential, Purposes, and Practical Implications (2021)
Journal Article
Ainsworth, S. E., & Scheiter, K. (2021). Learning by Drawing Visual Representations: Potential, Purposes, and Practical Implications. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 30(1), 61-67. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721420979582

The technique of drawing to learn has received increasing attention in recent years. In this article, we will present distinct purposes for using drawing that are based on active, constructive, and interactive forms of engagement. In doing so, we hop... Read More about Learning by Drawing Visual Representations: Potential, Purposes, and Practical Implications.

Sketching to support visual learning with interactive tutorials (2020)
Journal Article
Kohnle, A., Ainsworth, S. E., & Passante, G. (2020). Sketching to support visual learning with interactive tutorials. Physical Review Physics Education Research, 16(2), Article 020139. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.16.020139

[This paper is part of the Focused Collection on Curriculum Development: Theory into Design.] This manuscript discusses how learning theories have been applied to shape multiple aspects of the design of curricular activities combining interactive com... Read More about Sketching to support visual learning with interactive tutorials.

Designing Multimodal Composition Activities for Integrated K-5 Programming and Storytelling (2020)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
Whyte, R., Ainsworth, S. E., & Medwell, J. (2020, June). Designing Multimodal Composition Activities for Integrated K-5 Programming and Storytelling. Presented at ICLS 2020: The 14th International Conference of the Learning Sciences, Nashville, Tennessee (online)

A broad interest in embedding computing into K-5 settings has resulted in a proliferation of research on integrated approaches to programming. Although much of these efforts focus on supporting learning in science, engineering, and mathematics (or ST... Read More about Designing Multimodal Composition Activities for Integrated K-5 Programming and Storytelling.

“Now move like that fish”: Can enactment help learners come to understand dynamic motion presented in photographs and videos? (2020)
Journal Article
Scheiter, K., Brucker, B., & Ainsworth, S. (2020). “Now move like that fish”: Can enactment help learners come to understand dynamic motion presented in photographs and videos?. Computers and Education, 155, Article 103934. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2020.103934

Technological advancements offer new possibilities of interacting with learning materials, including the use of gestures and body movements. The present study addressed the question of how using one’s body to enact movements whilst learning about the... Read More about “Now move like that fish”: Can enactment help learners come to understand dynamic motion presented in photographs and videos?.

Designing drawing activities to support simulation-based learning in quantum mechanics (2020)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
Ainsworth, S., Kohnle, A., & Passante, G. (2020, June). Designing drawing activities to support simulation-based learning in quantum mechanics. Presented at Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning Conference, CSCL, Tenesse

In recent years, the argument that drawing can play a fundamental role in learning in the STEM disciplines has received much support. One area that is receiving growing attention is whether drawing is of value when students work with multi-representa... Read More about Designing drawing activities to support simulation-based learning in quantum mechanics.

Designing for Integrated K-5 Computing and Literacy through Story-making Activities (2019)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
Whyte, R., Ainsworth, S., & Medwell, J. (2019, August). Designing for Integrated K-5 Computing and Literacy through Story-making Activities. Presented at ICER '19: International Computing Education Research Conference, Toronto ON Canada

Proponents of computing education have long stressed the value of computing for learning in other disciplines. Much of the research towards this end has focused on supporting learning in science, engineering, and mathematics (or STEM). However, a tre... Read More about Designing for Integrated K-5 Computing and Literacy through Story-making Activities.

Professional vision in fashion design: practices and views of teachers and learners (2018)
Journal Article
Caruso, V., Cattaneo, A., Gurtner, J.-L., & Ainsworth, S. (2019). Professional vision in fashion design: practices and views of teachers and learners. Vocations and Learning, 12(1), 47–65. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12186-018-09216-7

Professional vision is a key skill in visually-oriented professions, but its relevance to vocational education and training has only drawn limited attention from researchers. When educating fashion designers, professional vision is vital because prec... Read More about Professional vision in fashion design: practices and views of teachers and learners.

Drawing for learning from dynamic visualizations in science (2018)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
Stieff, M., Scheiter, K., Ainsworth, S., Bohrmann-Linde, C., & Schall, M. (2018, June). Drawing for learning from dynamic visualizations in science. Presented at 13th International Conference of the Learning Sciences (ICLS), London

This paper examines the efficacy of drawing for supporting learning from digital media, such as dynamic visualizations. Extant research on the efficacy of drawing for promoting learning from dynamic visualizations is contradictory. The discrepancy in... Read More about Drawing for learning from dynamic visualizations in science.

Learning with multi-representational texts in a second language: An eye-tracking investigation (2018)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
Jaafar, N. M., Ainsworth, S. E., & van Heuven, W. J. (2018, June). Learning with multi-representational texts in a second language: An eye-tracking investigation. Presented at International Conference of the Learning Sciences, London, UK

© ISLS. Integrating verbal and pictorial information is fundamental in learning multi-representational materials and is reported to correlate with various positive outcomes of learning. To investigate how non-native English readers engage with multi-... Read More about Learning with multi-representational texts in a second language: An eye-tracking investigation.

Proceedings of the Day Conference (2018)
Presentation / Conference Contribution
Baldry, F., Barclay, N., Gripton, C., Clapham, A., Woodford, M., Saralar, İ., Ainsworth, S., Wake, G., & Sayah, K. (2018, March). Proceedings of the Day Conference. Presented at Research in Mathematics Education, Nottingham, UK

Young children’s impressionable use of teleology: the influence of question wording and questioned topic on teleological explanations for natural phenomena (2018)
Journal Article
Halls, J., Ainsworth, S. E., & Oliver, M. (2018). Young children’s impressionable use of teleology: the influence of question wording and questioned topic on teleological explanations for natural phenomena. International Journal of Science Education, 40(7), 808-826. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500693.2018.1451008

There is a significant body of research on children's preconceptions concerning scientific concepts and the impact this has upon their science education. One active issue concerns the extent to which young children's explanations for the existence of... Read More about Young children’s impressionable use of teleology: the influence of question wording and questioned topic on teleological explanations for natural phenomena.

Multi-modal, multi-source reading: a multi-representational reader’s perspective (2018)
Journal Article
Ainsworth, S. E. (2018). Multi-modal, multi-source reading: a multi-representational reader’s perspective. Learning and Instruction, 57, 71-75. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2018.01.014

In this commentary, I review the five articles that comprise the Special Issue titled ‘Towards a model of multi-source, multi-modal processing”. The papers are discussed in terms of how they help us understand the “second generational” issues of read... Read More about Multi-modal, multi-source reading: a multi-representational reader’s perspective.

Why Sketching May Aid Learning From Science Texts: Contrasting Sketching With Written Explanations (2017)
Journal Article
Scheiter, K., Schleinschok, K., & Ainsworth, S. E. (2017). Why Sketching May Aid Learning From Science Texts: Contrasting Sketching With Written Explanations. Topics in Cognitive Science, 9(4), 866-882. https://doi.org/10.1111/tops.12261

Copyright © 2017 Cognitive Science Society, Inc. The goal of this study was to explore two accounts for why sketching during learning from text is helpful: (1) sketching acts like other constructive strategies such as self-explanation because it help... Read More about Why Sketching May Aid Learning From Science Texts: Contrasting Sketching With Written Explanations.

Personal inquiry: orchestrating science investigations within and beyond the classroom (2014)
Journal Article
Sharples, M., Scanlon, E., Ainsworth, S. E., Anastopoulou, S., Collins, T., Crook, C., Jones, A., Kerawalla, L., Littleton, K., Mulholland, P., & O’Malley, C. (2015). Personal inquiry: orchestrating science investigations within and beyond the classroom. Journal of the Learning Sciences, 24(2), 308-341. https://doi.org/10.1080/10508406.2014.944642

A central challenge for science educators is to enable young people to act as scientists by gathering and assessing evidence, conducting experiments, and engaging in informed debate. We report the design of the nQuire toolkit, a system to support scr... Read More about Personal inquiry: orchestrating science investigations within and beyond the classroom.