Educators are continuously exploring ways to enhance the academic potential of students while fostering a positive social atmosphere within classrooms. To meet these various curricular and interpersonal objectives, teachers are increasingly utilising educational storification in order to engage students and positively support their social…

A variety of research studies reveal the advantages of actively engaging students in the learning process through collaborative work in the classroom. However, the complex nature of the learning environment in large college general chemistry courses makes it challenging to identify the different factors that affect students' cognitive and social…

The traditional lecture-oriented teaching is still the norm in English as a foreign language education courses, but an innovative teaching model, expedited by recent advances in technology, becomes often popular across non-English-speaking subjects. The new model flips the usual classroom paradigm, in which students learn primary concepts outside…

Traditional designs for most mid-sized college classrooms discourage 1) face-to-face interaction among students, 2) instructor movement in the classroom, and 3) efficient transitions between different kinds of learning activities. An experimental classroom piloted during Spring Semester 2011 at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill uses…

Outlines a study of two teachers' image of "the classroom as home" illustrating how personal and professional experiences are expressed in their classroom practices. Offers a theoretical concept of "image" as knowledge incorporating theoretical, practical, objective, and subjective experience. (MD)

Studied the symbolic play that occurs in activity corners set up around toy-objects in Greek kindergartens. Found notable differences in levels of symbolism and complexity of the play. Concluded that the most favored groups were those in which: (1) classroom space was polyvalent, permitting its informal re-organization; and (2) the teacher was an…

Investigated whether early childhood classroom activities and areas differed between mainstreamed and nonmainstreamed classrooms, and assessed difficulty of adapting them for disabled children. Respondents reported wide range of activities and areas that were moderately easy to adapt for disabled children. Findings suggest mainstreaming does not…

Provides basic, descriptive information about informational text experiences offered to children in 20 first-grade classrooms selected from very low and very high socio-economic-status school districts. Finds a scarcity of informational texts in these classroom print environments (particularly the low socio-economic status schools)--there were…

Using two university classroom groups taught by the same instructor, this study investigated the relationship of seating choice to number of verbal classroom responses, cumulative grade point average (GPA), and grade in class for both rows and "action zones" to identify classroom areas. Class 1 (where students chose seats) showed a significant…

A review of research indicates that a relationship may exist between student seating arrangement, student personality characteristics, and student/teacher verbal interaction. To test hypotheses about the functional relationship among these concepts, researchers collected personality data from 285 students in two sections of a college introductory…

Describes the Teaching Decisions Simulation, a program that allows participants to make decisions regarding lesson plan activities and student and teacher spatial arrangement or interactions. Postlesson feedback includes variables such as completion time and performance measures. Experienced teachers exhibited more deliberation in completing the…

A field experiment was conducted to determine whether descriptive-correlational results from classroom management research could be implemented by junior high school teachers, and whether such implementation would result in improved classroom management. An experimental group (18 teachers) received management manuals developed by researchers, and…

This paper argues that progressive pedagogy is a viable alternative to more limited basic skill approaches to school reform. Drawing on qualitative and quantitative data collected during the fourth year of a 7-year multi-site school reform initiative in a besieged urban district, the paper documents ways in which teachers have dramatically altered…

Compares case studies of early childhood education in schools in Germany and Ireland. Both schools emphasize the importance of children's emotional-spiritual development, but while Irish children are already in formal education, German schooling defers beginning of formal learning. Concludes that more teacher interaction with children in German…

A study was conducted at a new elementary school in central Virginia to investigate influences on teachers' choices of seating arrangements and to determine the best seating arrangement to use. Four classroom teachers, each with an average class size of 20 students, volunteered to be observed and interviewed. The teachers taught at different grade…