In this article, we analyse how and if participation affects the learning experiences of pupils. Our research questions are: (1) What constituted positive learning experiences for pupils in a multidisciplinary learning module? (2) How do the methods used in this study give pupils an opportunity to express negative emotions and participate in…

Student-led discussion modules are the bread and butter of the language arts classroom; however, teachers are currently limited to very few techniques to choose from, such as large class Socratic Seminars and fish bowls, or small group literature circles. In order to determine which of these discussions are more successful for students, each…

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation invested in the Literacy Design Collaborative (LDC) as one strategy to support teachers' and students' transition to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in English language arts. This report provides an early look at the implementation of LDC in sixth-grade Advanced Reading classes in a large Florida…

In order to improve academic language competence, students in two academic literacy modules at the University of Johannesburg were given opportunities to resubmit continuous assessment tasks utilising tutor feedback to improve performance. Despite the potential benefits to the students, not all of them were taking advantage of this opportunity.…

The field of education is faced with various new challenges in meeting the demands of teaching and learning for the 21st century. One of the new challenges is the call for the integration of ICT (Information and communication technologies) in teaching and learning as an alternative mode of instruction delivery. Multimedia technology for instance,…

In the quest to improve public schools, an education in basic technological concepts and systems, or "technological literacy," has been viewed as an important part of a school curriculum (Dugger & Yung, 1995, pp. 7-8). Proponents of technology education have claimed that technological knowledge may be critical to the future needs of…

In the summer of 1989, Summer Home Learning Packets in mathematics and language arts were distributed to seventh and eighth graders at Calverton Middle School (Maryland). The packets contained review exercises for students to complete with the help of their parents. In the first of the two studies reported in this document, "Reactions of…