How can history teachers structure learning pathways through historical content in ways that engage and challenge all pupils, that enable them to work at an appropriate pace and that also encourage pupils to self-assess and monitor their own progress? Stainer reports and reflects on classroom experiments in "Mastery Learning" that aimed…

Against the backdrop of half a century of research in mathematics problem solving, Polya's last stage is especially conspicuous--by the scarcity of research on it! Much of the research focused on the first three stages (J.M. Francisco and C.A. Maher, "Conditions for promoting reasoning in problem solving: Insights from a longitudinal…

In this article, the author presents one instructional strategy--scribing--tailored to the Tablet PC. He illustrates the role of the scribe during discussion through two classroom examples: (1) generalizing the polygon sum theorem; and (2) proving the third angle theorem. Then he analyzes scribing as an instructional strategy as well as students'…

Teaching new biology concepts to ninth graders can be tough, and teaching students with disabilities even tougher--but we are accountable for "all" students. These authors used a cooperative learning strategy called "Collaborative Strategic Reading" in an inclusive ninth-grade biology class to see whether they could "hook" students and, at the…

This article examines some of the various judgmental errors and rationales that high school students make when attempting to solve basic probability exercises. Many of these errors allow the students to arrive at a correct answer and, thus, need to be examined more closely. (Contains 4 tables.)

The history of strategies research during the past quarter century has been a story of significant conceptualizations and reconceptualizations regarding the nature, development, and teaching of cognitive and metacognitive strategies. Theoretical models, empirical research, and discussions contributed by Michael Pressley have been central to…

When designed properly, concept mapping activities can engage students in meaningful learning. In the process of creating concept maps, students relate new information to more general concepts already held, develop fuller understandings of those general concepts, and recognize new relationships between concepts. Students engage in these activities…

"Authenticity," "intrinsic motivation," "confidence," and "student choice." More than just jargon, these ideas are essential for student achievement. Facing the pressures of mandated standards and assessments, teachers often replace activities that allow for student choice and multiple outcomes with…

In this article, the author describes how he tried to improve the mathematical learning behavior of his ninth grade pupils. He relates that in order to promote mathematical thinking and asserting behavior, it was necessary for him to instigate a change in milieu, with a corresponding change to the didactic contract that had previously been…

This project describes the trialling of a new form of cooperative learning strategy, in the form of a game known as "EcoRangers". "EcoRangers" is a multi-player game designed to run on mobile phones, written specifically for education. "EcoRangers" is one of the first, if not the world's first, instances of this…

Students who successfully complete grade nine are substantially more likely to graduate from high school than are students who fail the freshman year. However, many middle grades students are not academically prepared for ninth grade. This report addresses five questions that can help school leaders ensure that middle grades students know the…

According to Kilpatrick (1987), in the mathematics classrooms problem posing can be applied as a "goal" or as a means of instruction. Using problem posing as a goal of instruction involves asking students to respond to a range of problem-posing prompts. The main goal of this article is a classification of mathematics questions created by Years 8…