Over the past thirty years, there has been a growing body of research investigating the efficacy of pedagogical interventions to enhance the historical literacy skills of primary and secondary school students. However, there exists no systematic review or meta-analysis summarising the impact of such research or the efficacy of interventions…

The shifting emphases of new national curricula have placed more attention on knowledge generation approaches to learning. Such approaches are centered on the fundamental sense of generative learning where practices and tools for learning become the focus of the learning environment, rather than on the products of learning. This paper, building on…

In science disciplines, students need sufficient and well-designed support to successfully gain writing competence along the different stages of their writing development. This study examines effective inquiry-based writing pedagogies and the contextualization of scientific writing instruction for supporting student writers in the scientific…

Mathematics word-problems continue to be an insurmountable challenge for many middle school students. Educators have used pictorial and schematic illustrations within the classroom to help students visualize these problems. However, the data shows that pictorial representations can be more harmful than helpful in that they only display objects or…

In this review, we explore the notion of teaching science to English language learners (ELLs) as a balancing act between simultaneously focusing on language and content development, on the one hand, and between structuring instruction and focusing on student learning processes, on the other hand. This exploration is conducted through the lens of a…

Presents a theoretical analysis of constructivism in practice by building a framework of dilemmas that explicates the conceptual, pedagogical, cultural, and political places of the constructivist teaching experience. The framework serves as a heuristic for teachers, allowing them to interrogate their own beliefs, question institutional routines,…

Proposes that, if classroom teaching is defined as an aesthetic medium, a lesson can be evaluated alternatively as a kinetic performance, a message, or a work of art. Cites applications from research studies of athletics, film and television, and art. Suggests that such an approach could be used to examine the ability of low-achieving students.…

Reviews current conceptions of rhetorical theory and criticism. Proposes that the ultimate goal and justification of rhetorical theory and criticism be regarded as pedagogical: to teach students how to experience their rhetorical environments more richly. (PD)

Student problem-solving behaviors are analyzed using a four-dimensional framework with related detrimental factors identified for each dimension. General approaches and specific techniques developed to address negative factors are reviewed. Examined are means of developing the components of problem-solving teaching. (KR)

Summarizes research that contrasts the approaches and attitudes of successful and unsuccessful problem solvers. Supplies a categorized list of problem solver characteristics. (RT)

The theoretical and empirical work of J. Britton and his followers is reviewed. The uses of Britton's discourse system in writing research and studies of school writing are considered. Topics addressed include Britton's conceptualization of heuristics, written discourse, pedagogy, function system, learning processes, teaching methods, and text…

To help students develop a broadly generative approach to reading and writing about literature, teachers of literature should employ not only systematic procedures, but also the eclectic and utilitarian spirit of rhetorical invention. A semiotic perspective offers the most solid theoretical foundation for establishing a genuinely heuristic…

As evidenced by the increasing awareness of metaphorical thought (and other nonlinear and aesthetic thinking structures) in literature on the development of composing and comprehending skills, teaching metaphor as a mode of thinking is an important function of schooling, especially in the English classroom. It is important that the classroom…

Conventional schooling too often ignores the influence of school culture on what is learned in school. Knowledge is situated, being in part a product of the activity, context, and culture in which it is developed and used; this is known as cognitive apprenticeship. Implications for understanding learning and teaching are discussed. (Author/BJV)

Some personal reflections on instructional design and its relation to constructivism are explored. Instructional design in its present form is out of sync with the times in that its orientation, methods, and research base are behavioristic, or positivistic. However, a constructivist theory of instructional design is possible, particularly if…