The mission of Thompson Rivers University Open Learning (TRU-OL) can be understood in terms of three entities: the student, the faculty member and the curriculum content. Their conjuncture--when a TRU-OL student works with TRU-OL courseware and is supported by a TRU-OL faculty member--is where learning, assessment and, ultimately, credentialing…

Shades of Pink study describes how six preschoolers and their teacher engaged in a collaborative learning project through which they learned about the shades of a color--in this case, pink. As the children learned through experimenting and discussing their theories, they represented ideas using art as a tool for discovery and learning. The study…

While much of the growth in the popularity of virtual schooling has involved at-risk students, little research exists on the experiences of these students in this largely independent setting. This paper describes a case study of an at-risk student in a rural school in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador who was enrolled in an online course…

This study was conducted in a Reggio inspired child care classroom of 4-year olds where the fundamental principles of Reggio Emilia preschools are interpreted for a Canadian context. Qualitative case study methodology was employed to investigate how social interaction plays a role in young children's learning processes. Drawing on social…

This article investigates the intersection between the in-school information literacy practices and out-of-school (i.e. home and community) information literacy practices of a third grade student and examines how this intersection may be contributing to his overall literacy learning. Data collected from field notes; observations of in-school and…

There is a continuing need to investigate how contemporary students in schools are writing the word, and their world, beyond modernist parameters of the page. This article explores the online writing of a senior English world literature class, located in a Western Canadian city, as examined through a recent qualitative case study. Borrowing a 17th…

It is contended that Conceptual Systems Theory (CST) provides a useful theoretical and operational framework within which to investigate student-environment interactions in the classroom. (Author/GK)

The hypothesis that males will perform better on items containing masculine content and girls will score higher on feminine content items was tested with data from a training study intended to improve the ability of 11-year olds to design a controlled experiment. The findings provide weak support for the hypothesis. (Author/YP)

The effects of formal and informal instructional processes upon adult college students' cognitive and affective states, as well as their classroom behaviors, were studied. Findings reaffirmed the previously reported significance of instructor role, classroom interaction, and course structure. (Author/GDC)

The extant literature suggests that the high rates of educational failure for aboriginal schoolchildren result from differences in the home and school interaction patterns. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the micro structures of classroom discursive interactions, and to examine those within and against the macro structures of…

Since research on the effect of questions adjunct to written materials has usually ignored learner aptitudes, this study was designed to explore the interaction of a verbal aptitude measure (vocabulary ability) with two types of questions following a prose selection on logical implications. Two hundred fifty-two tenth-grade students were randomly…

This is a qualitative study of science teaching for non-academic students in secondary school. Evidence from earlier studies suggested that few variations in teaching strategies are being used for non-academic students. This investigator categorizes certain pertinent teaching features which, if emphasized, have the potential to enhance the…

Discussion of correspondence instruction and the role of the tutor focuses on a study at the University of Manitoba that investigated the relationship between correspondence students' attitudes toward the importance of telephone contact with their course tutors and the effects of providing such contact. (29 references) (LRW)

This article reports observations of teachers' collaboration within an inner city elementary school located in western Canada. The study traces the school's development as a learning organization, focusing on the interplay between individual--the level at which learning and action actually occur--and social learning--a conceptual tool for…