Background: Over the two last decades, the interest in personal and psychosocial youth development has been growing due to its engagement in sport activities. Furthermore, participation in sport has been referenced as a favourable mechanism and context for positive youth development (PYD). However, some studies and researchers continue to question…

This report analyzes recent learning sciences research and provides nine recommendations to address a critical need: how can education policy support and align with the science of learning and development? Research on how students learn and develop is providing teachers, practitioners, and policymakers with insights on how to help students learn…

Building relationships between teachers, school administrators, parents, and students is an ongoing process, and the core component of such relationships is teaching and learning. There is much to learn about developing supportive relationships that encourage today's diverse students and their parents in the U.S. However, there is an ongoing…

Scholars and practitioners alike often assume that discomfort is a necessary and productive aspect of the college experience. We used a range of theories grounded in the concept of dissonance to question these assumptions and critically analyze the role of discomfort in collegiate learning and development for today's diverse college student…

Traditional education, employing lectures or telecommunicative instruction methods, has been very effective in providing topical facts. However, the development of student skills and thinking ability require higher levels of instruction and more opportunity to practice and apply acquired knowledge. As students progress through a particular…

A discussion of the structure of the social sciences doctorate in the United Kingdom looks at the debate over whether the doctoral degree process should be viewed as education or training, the situation in other countries, graduate student learning and development processes, collegiality, the graduate student-advisor relationship, and student…

Examines Piaget's theory of disequilibration as the tension and subsequent growth caused when new information must be assimilated or accommodated to fit one's view of reality. Indicates ways Christian religious educators can use the concept of disequilibration to understand adolescents' emotional and cognitive growth. Suggests implications for…

Designed for teachers of kindergarten through grade 6, this book contains practical and innovative ideas on fostering literacy generated from discussions with teachers from the United States and Canada, visits to their classrooms, and observations of their interactions with students. The book addresses all levels of learner-centered literacy…

This module (part of a series of 24 modules) is on human development, student characteristics, and learning styles. The genesis of these materials is in the 10 "clusters of capabilities," outlined in the paper, "A Common Body of Practice for Teachers: The Challenge of Public Law 94-142 to Teacher Education." These clusters form…

Recent research on how college students learn and what constitutes an effective educational experience is reviewed, and implications for bringing about desired changes in the undergraduate experience are discussed. Topics examined include students' ability to reason with abstractions, development of moral values, extent to which the curriculum and…

This book calls for a radical reappraisal of the phenomenon of literacy, and hence for a profound shift in educational practice. Through close attention to the multitude of objects which children constantly produce (drawings, cuttings-out, writings, collages), the book suggests a set of principles that reveal the underlying coherence of children's…

This paper suggests that vocabulary knowledge is closely related to the background knowledge required for reading a text. It suggests ways in which the reading teacher can select objectives for pupils to achieve in the area of vocabulary development, emphasizing what is relevant and functional. The paper makes the following recommendations:…

Intended for teachers, this book highlights 30 popular classroom teaching strategies that can be adapted for students from elementary school through high school and which are appropriate for helping students learn in all content areas. The appeal of these teaching strategies is grounded in their effectiveness in developing students who are active,…

This paper reports on two studies, one quantitative and the other qualitative, on the effectiveness and influence of Freshman Interest Groups (FIGs) at the University of Washington. A quantitative panel study compared 442 freshmen participating in 21 FIGs with 1818 non-participating freshmen. Findings indicated that the FIG program provided a…

This paper identifies the bases and rationale for the concept of cooperative learning; describes the dynamics of the cooperative learning approach; and proposes methods that college faculty can use to enhance student motivation and learning. Cooperative learning is defined and is reported to have positive effects on student achievement, human…