This thesis examines children's thinking, learning and metacognition when designing their own computer games. The study aims to understand more about what kind of learning takes place, and how it emerges whilst children are authoring their own computer games. The aim is to get an insight into the cognitive processes students exercise that…

Throughout this action research project report, the teacher-researchers explored the problem of test anxiety among students. The purpose of this project was to alleviate test anxiety among students with various interventions in grades five through seven in the subject areas of social studies, science, and language arts. There were 66 student…

This study aims to investigate the vocabulary problems in the academic writing of MA ELT Libyan students in Nottingham Trent University. For this purpose, two research questions were posed and the answers to these questions were provided and discussed. The data for the study were collected via two questionnaires (preliminary and main…

This dissertation questions the common assumption that e-learning requires a "learning management system" (LMS) such as Moodle or Blackboard. Based on an analysis of the current state of the art in LMSs, we come to the conclusion that the functionality of conventional e-learning platforms consists of basic content management and…

This study compares open education groups and traditional education groups with respect to student attitudes toward high school; creative thinking of students; collaborative behavior among students; and student preferences for intellectual activities, activities involving change or sameness, and activities involving autonomy or dependence. Groups…

Teachers at three separate public schools analyzed possible reasons behind low grades. All problems (late work, unprepared students, lax attitudes) related to students who were not organized for learning. Even though these teachers taught a variety of ages ranging from third thru twelve grades, they typically found evidence of a lack of…

A study was designed to measure changes in attitudes of 407 elementary school pupils through the use of a variety of instructional materials in the social studies. This research hypothesized that by exposing the pupils to a social studies curriculum enriched with reading materials and special activities that portrayed specific foreign countries or…

This action research project report summarizes the methods used to reduce boredom and frustration and increase students' academic motivation in three mixed-ability classrooms. This action research project included 21 third grade students, 23 fifth grade students, and 28 eighth grade students (n=72) during the dates of September 10, 2007, through…

The purpose of this study was to investigate what effect a pre-session given prior to a typical library instruction class had upon the affective experience of freshman composition students. Students in six paired classes were given pre-test and post-test questionnaires to determine if there was a difference in scores in four areas measured by the…

This report describes a program to improve the attitudes of fourth-grade students toward social studies. Surveys of fourth-graders, their parents, teachers, and community members were conducted to find out their attitudes toward social studies. Students and parents reported a lack of interest in social studies. Faculty reported they were…

The global education movement suggests that exposing students to information about different cultures reduces their provincial attitudes and facilitates world-mindedness. To test this possibility, 184 freshmen at the City College of the City University of New York, some enrolled in a World Civilization course and some not, answered a questionnaire…

Reciprocal teaching, a type of metacognitive strategy, has been found to be an effective method in improving comprehension in school-aged students; however, little research exists on using reciprocal teaching with adult high school students. This study investigated the efficacy of using the reciprocal teaching method to improve reading…

A sample of 132 college students was randomly assigned to lecture, lecture-discussion, independent-study, or control conditions in an investigation of the relationship of reading efficiency, personality factors, and study habits to instructional conditions. Analysis of results revealed that there were no significant differences in success rates of…

This report describes the development and implementation of an intervention for improving students' interest and academic achievement in social studies. The targeted population consisted of first and fourth grade students of different socioeconomic levels in northwestern Illinois. Problems were documented in student surveys, teacher observations,…

The purposes of this study were: to determine the degree to which student attitudes were changed by the use of minicourses and to produce a model which could be used by other academic departments interested in the use of minicourses. The study included 240 students in four sections of Earth Science at the University of Northern Colorado. Each…