Enabling distant individuals to assemble in one virtual environment, synchronous distance learning appeals to researchers and practitioners alike because of its unique educational opportunities. One of the vital components of successful synchronous distance learning is interactivity. In virtual environments, interactivity is limited by the…

Indiana's declining SAT scores prompted the publisher of a statewide magazine covering the literary, performing, and visual arts to take action and create a program to use the magazine as a supplemental resource for students. It was believed that such a supplemental resource could enhance critical thinking and writing skills and help raise SAT…

In recent years, teachers have noticed a drop in student effort on complex problems in math and science. The purpose of this study was to determine if incorporating cooperative learning and self-recording strategies had an impact upon student effort on complex problems. A total of 38 9th through 11th grade math and science students at two…

A study explored the effectiveness of adding a daily, structured practice session of weekly spelling words to the traditional pattern of pretesting on Monday, posttesting on Friday. Subjects, 28 second graders from the Grapeland Independent School District (Texas), were divided into control and experimental groups. The experimental group paired up…

Two group-comparison experiments indicate that it may be more cost efficient not to include a remediation procedure in a course, even though it may be to the students' advantage to remediate concepts they did not master in an undergraduate university course. In the first experiment, students in the remedial group received minimal course credit for…

This action research project examined the impact of foreign language teaching techniques on the language acquisition and retention of 19 secondary level French I students, focusing on student perceptions of the effectiveness and ease of four teaching techniques: total physical response, total physical response storytelling, literature approach,…

This paper describes a program for instilling spelling strategies to increase spelling transfer across the curriculum. The targeted population consisted of first and second grade students in two middle-class communities located in the western suburbs of a large metropolitan area. The problems of students lacking spelling strategies and their…

A study was conducted to determine whether primary school children who were taught reading with an experimental modality prescriptive-diagnostic reading program achieved higher reading comprehension scores in the intermediate grades than did children who were taught reading with a traditional reading approach. The experimental group was composed…

To investigate whether certain sections of the newspaper could be used effectively in teaching critical reading and thinking skills to educationally disadvantaged adults, 29 students enrolled in a developmental reading class were instructed for eight weeks using specific newspaper articles to develop critical and analytical skills. A control group…

This action research project was designed to implement a language arts program using multiple intelligences to develop more positive attitudes toward grammar instruction and to help promote the transfer of grammar skills to daily writing and speaking tasks. The targeted population consisted of second, fourth, and eighth grade students in four…

The late 1980s witnessed the deregulation and decentralization of education in Belgium. To examine some of the effects of this reform, four dimensions of general secondary education in the Flemish community following reforms are provided here. Each dimension is explored in a chapter. The first dimension, the structure of Flemish education,…

This action research project describes a program for improving reading fluency in order to increase reading rate and raise comprehension. The targeted population consisted of second and third graders in a middle class community, located in a suburb of a large metropolitan area. The problems of lack of reading fluency and low comprehension were…

This study examined the impact of keyboarding instruction on the acquisition of word processing skills. Over a 6-week period, 6 third grade students were studied as they used the "Type to Learn" keyboarding program. Each student spent an average of 45 minutes on the computer each week. Data collection consisted of observations, questionnaires, and…

This report depicts a program for increasing students' career awareness through a variety of strategies that include multiple intelligences, career counseling, field trips and cross-curricular activities. The targeted population consisted of fourth, fifth, and sixth grade students in a Midwest, urban community. Analyses of probable cause data…

This field study report recounts an action research project undertaken by an elementary school teacher to reflect on her practice as a teacher. After a review of the literature on using reflection for personal and professional growth, the ethnographic methodology employed in the study is discussed. The teacher action-researcher took 117 pages of…