While correlated data methods (like random effect models and generalized estimating equations) are commonly applied in practice, students may struggle with understanding the reasons that standard regression techniques fail if applied to correlated outcomes. To this end, this article presents an in-class activity using results from Monte Carlo…

Ten years ago, after 20 years as a university professor, I was asked to direct the teaching and learning support center at my university. I quickly realized I had almost no knowledge of the published scholarship on this subject. From my reading of this literature, I found the research on the predictors of student learning particularly informative.…

An estimated 2.5 million people worldwide are living with multiple sclerosis (MS), and this disease may be increasing in prevalence. MS is a disease of the central nervous system that is associated with heterogeneous symptoms and functional consequences, and the current first-line disease-modifying therapies often become ineffective later in the…

While observing the bounce heights of various kinds of sports balls dropped from different heights onto a variety of surfaces, we thought of the following question: Could measurements of drop and bounce heights of balls of different diameters, but of the same material, falling from different heights, but on the same surface, be expressed by a…

Participating in general physical activity during childhood may not be the strongest predictor of lifetime physical activity. Children must develop motivation to participate in physically active endeavors and become excited about being active. These feelings toward physical activity may be best obtained by teaching with a more deliberate emphasis…

Understanding and conducting research is a complex, integral skill that needs to be mastered by both undergraduate and graduate students. Yet many students are reluctant and often somewhat apprehensive about undertaking research and understanding the underlying statistical methods used to evaluate research (Dauphinee, Schau, & Stevens, 1997).…

Every day, students collect, organize, and analyze data to make decisions. In this data-driven world, people need to assess how much trust they can place in summary statistics. The results of every survey and the safety of every drug that undergoes a clinical trial depend on the correct application of appropriate statistics. Recognizing the…

Students need to have a basic understanding of research methods before obtaining a communication degree in order to become an intelligent consumer of research--someone who is able to read, understand, explain, and critically evaluate communication and other research reported in scholarly journals as well as in the popular press. These skills are…

This paper developed a Democratic Classroom Survey to measure students' perceived democratic environment of the classroom. Perceived democratic environment is one of the most important variables for understanding classroom activity and indeed any type of group activity, but actually measuring perceptions in an objective manner has been…

It has been widely recognised that fathers can play a key role in the development and well-being of young children. In many cases, however, fathers still have limited involvement in the early years education of their children and their voices are as yet unheard. This study examined the beliefs and practices of Jordanian fathers of kindergarten…

The number of aging American continues to grow, which makes it essential for us to understand the unique gerontological health risks and concerns that exist for the aging population. In view of the staggering and increasing costs of Medicare and Medicaid--much of which is directed toward seniors--older adults would do well to look for ways to curb…

By thinking about the concept of density and taking into account the research on children's ideas about this concept, the authors were able to unpack the typical sink or float activity and realize that it has students unscientifically making comparisons between objects by changing two independent variables (mass and volume) at one time. With this…

In arguing for more comprehensive practice, policy and research considerations of assessment in physical education (PE), this paper outlines and discusses four integrated conditions of assessment efficacy for the development and promotion of productive assessment in PE. These conditions are prefaced by the proposition that quality PE requires the…

The work described in this paper explores the feasibility of using of a wireless handheld system (WHS) that supports the individual and co-operative reading activities of students and helps teachers implement reading strategy instruction in Chinese language classes. The experimental findings demonstrate that the WHS benefits students applying…

Generalization refers to the extension of learned behaviours to novel conditions, and it is one of the criteria by which the effectiveness and efficiency of a remediation programme may be judged. This article extracts principles of generalization from the treatment literature, and provides examples of how this information may be used to help guide…