Abstracts - Earli

students (15 male, 22 female) aged 14-19 years. Survey data on participants’ stress experiences(life, neighborhood, acculturation, and racialization stress) was collected. During a quasiexperimentaltask subjects’ self-regulation and momentary affect during an ecological problemsolving task was assessed. Findings support the hypothesis as participants with high context stressselected significantly less adaptive high-effort, and more maladaptive low-effort strategies, whileparticipants with more social support selected more adaptive high-effort, and less maladaptivelow-effort, strategies during the task. Secondly, regression analysis yielded that social context(social resources and social support) act together with momentary affect as predictors of theselection of adaptive or maladaptive self-regulation strategies.Researching the use of the ‘double number line’ as a mathematical model: The role of collectiveargumentation.Christina Misailidou, University of Stirling, United KingdomThe aim of the study reported here is to examine the effectiveness of the ‘double number line’ as amodel for facilitating mathematical problem solving. The use of the double number line isinvestigated within the context of a collective argumentation approach informed by socioculturaltheories of learning. The paper reports results on the development of arguments from a group ofpupils working collaboratively on an item called ‘Printing Press’. A double number line was usedas a tool for facilitating discussion. The paper focuses on the discourse of one particular pupil thatprovided an erroneous answer to the item in previous testing. The evolution of her argumentationis represented by using Toulmin’s terminology in what is labelled as a ‘discursive path’. Both ofthe stages of this pupil’s discursive path are provided and two factors that provoked the change inher discourse are traced: a. The introduction of the model of the double number line in the groupdiscussion and b. The discursive interactions between the pupil and her peers which were mediatedby the model. The paper concludes by proposing a new, to the relevant literature, methodology onthe use of complicated models such as the double number line. It is proposed that an effective useof such a model could be supported by a carefully designed approach that involves methodicallyorchestrated discursive interactions between the pupils, mediated by the model.Fostering conceptual understanding of simple electricity by combining simulation and laboratoryactivitiesTomi Jaakkola, University of Turku, FinlandSami Nurmi, University of Turku, FinlandPrevious research has shown that gaining understanding on electricity seems to be verychallenging and difficult for students in all school levels, and earlier attempts to address thesedifficulties have proven only partially effective. The aim of this paper was to study theeffectiveness of online simulation, laboratory exercise and simulation-laboratory combination tofoster conceptual change in learning simple electricity at K-12 level. Results of this experimentalstudy showed that the simulation-laboratory combination was the most effective learningcondition. Although most students in each condition learned the correct circular model concerningthe conception of closed circuit, the combination condition was superior in fostering thedevelopment of students’ understanding on series and parallel circuits when compared to the twoother conditions. Results of the research provide encouraging evidence for using simulationtogether with hands-on laboratory exercise. Simulation can help students to first understand thetheoretical principles of electricity by revealing the behaviour of electric circuit and visualizing thecurrent flow in the circuit. Understanding the basics of electricity on a theoretical level makes iteasier to transfer acquired knowledge into the laboratory exercise and, as a consequence, developmore coherent and holistic comprehension of the topic. Thus the combination of laboratory andsimulation can bridge the gap between theory and reality.– 362 –