Flavio Azevedo, Peggy Martalock and Tugba Keser have initiated an important conversation in science education as they use sociocultural theory to introduce design based scenarios into the science classroom. This response seeks to expand Azevedo, Martalock and Keser's article "The discourse of design-based science classroom activities" by…

Flavio Azevedo, Peggy Martalock and Tugba Keser challenge the "argumentation focus of science lessons" and propose that through a 'design-based approach' emergent conversations with the teacher offer possibilities for different types of discussions to enhance pedagogical discourse in science classrooms. This important paper offers a…

This paper is divided into three parts. It begins by making an argument for the ongoing importance of critical literacy at a moment when there are mutterings about its being passe. The second part of the paper formulates the argument with the use of illustrative texts. It concludes with examples of critical literacy activities that I argue, are…

Blended learning is increasingly introduced in classrooms worldwide. Nonetheless, studies are not unanimous as to its impact on student performance and its benefits to enhancing the learning experience. In this article, it is argued that a focused approach, taking into account the particular requirements of the course and the students'…

Pre-service teachers and education students in three different classes (N = 53) were directed to read a short story by Mark Twain titled "Heaven or Hell?" written within a compilation of short stories late in his career. The story, "Heaven or Hell?" illustrates a koan, or an unanswerable moral or ethical dilemma. The students,…

A series of French language classroom exercises to be used over four class sessions applies principles of semiotics to literary textual analysis. The session themes include decoding and interpreting, reconstructing meaning, sociocultural connotations in the text, and sense of time and space. (MSE)

Compulsory Greek education has long shown its need for revision. The Greek Pedagogical Institute (GPI) has presented the cross-thematic approach as a panacea, yet further changes are necessary in terms of experiential learning, school subject demarcation, teaching time management, teaching material, and the student/educator role. This article…

Few empirical studies have focused on how composition students draw on classroom interactions to develop as writers. For instance, when students disagree fundamentally in their interpretations of what they have read, how are the range of voices reflected in their subsequent writing? The student-led format for discussions proves conducive to…

Describes three class activities devised to teach Thoreau's "Walden" at the college level, focusing on the dialogic quality of all language. The approach is based on the idea that every utterance functions in some way as a response to others, and that readers supply meaning in discourse. (MSE)

The pyramid, or hierarchical diagram, is used in teaching writing English as a second language (ESL) as a visual representation of the way English speakers and writers organize ideas, for comparison with discourse organization in other cultures. A common problem of ESL students is an inability to organize ideas hierarchically. One class activity…

Explores perspectives and methodologies that sociolinguistics brings to ethnographic research in schools. The article identifies the methodological contributions arising from linguistics that interactional sociolinguistics and microethnograpy share, such as the use of naturally occurring language data, the consultation of native intuition, and…

Describes two contrasting classroom contexts for eliciting personal narratives. Follows a second-language learner through second and third grade. Draws attention to the margins of classroom activity. Takes a step toward a discourse-based solution to what has been recognized as a discourse-based problem in schools: differential access to oral…

Quantitative analyses using CLASS 3.0 software and qualitative discourse analyses were conducted of the instructional and institutional effects of tracking in high-and low-track American literature classes taught by the same teacher, a participant in a national study of the effects of dialogic classroom discourse patterns on student achievement.…

A classroom observation technique that describes classroom events at the level of activity and analyzes the communicative features of verbal exchanges between students and teachers within each activity is described. Activity characteristics indentified include type, participant organization, content, student modality or skills used, and materials;…