This research-based thesis project explains the governmental acts and policies, investors, and other stakeholders who have worked to promote, question, and explore the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) in the classroom. Research suggests that best-practice ICT integration requires using ICT alongside constructivist pedagogy.…

This action research project implemented and evaluated a method to improve student motivation and academic achievement. The targeted population consisted of seventh and eighth graders from a middle school in a small midwestern community. Motivational problems were documented by means of academic grades, homework contract referrals to the…

This project involved an approach that allowed students to take on greater responsibility for learning by using collaborative skills and habits of mind which resulted in better awareness of their own thinking. The targeted population consisted of students in growing upper-middle class suburban communities, located west of Chicago, Illinois. The…

Designed to be integrated into a regular language arts curriculum in grades 1-3, the program begins with a review of the recent history of elementary second language programs in the United States and a discussion of the direction the movement might take in the 1980s. Research done on nonintensive, nonbilingual second language programs in the past…

Many organizations and experts in the field of mathematics education have recommended the inclusion of technology and, more specifically, computer programing within the course of study for the teaching of school mathematics. The incorporation of these recommendations with respect to the teaching of remedial mathematics poses a problem, since…

Bicycling is a valuable medium for outdoor experiential learning. Bicycling shares with other outdoor learning activities some common elements such as environmental contrast, physical activity, a small group context, and a self-reliant form of transportation. However, bicycling has several unique characteristics that set it apart from other common…

An action research project implemented a program for improving the conversational skills of language impaired high school students. The students attended high school in a northwest suburb of Chicago, Illinois. Poor conversational skills in the language impaired students were documented through teacher observation, teacher assessment, and…

An action research study described and evaluated a program for motivating students to read and to take more responsibility for their learning. The targeted population consisted of second- and fourth-grade students in rural-suburban communities west of Chicago, Illinois. Students' lack of motivation related to reading and failure to become…

This project involved a program for improving student behavior. The targeted population consisted of second and third grade students in a rural community located west of Chicago, Illinois. Data indicated that behavior problems were disrupting instructional time and students' involvement in learning. The evidence for the existence of the problem…

The development and implementation of a high school program bringing together 8 limited-English-proficient Hispanic students and 20 students of Spanish as a foreign language is described. The program's objective was to improve relations and decrease linguistic and cultural separation between the two groups. The approach used was multicultural,…