This study examined emotional climate in relation to the teaching and learning of grade 7 science. A multi-method and multi-theoretic approach used sociocultural frameworks as a foundation for interpretive research, conversation analysis, prosody analysis, and studies of nonverbal conduct. Emotional climate varied continuously throughout a lesson.…

Initially, the author began her teacher inquiry project by focusing on the superhero play she had been observing in her classroom and on her concerns about how it might be impacting the classroom community. Through an ongoing process of self-reflection and reading research, she was able to open herself up to interacting and engaging with the…

The interactions between teachers and students provide a venue for instructional delivery and ultimately student achievement in the school setting. However, not all students experience positive interactions with teachers in the typical classroom setting, especially those students exhibiting behavioral challenges. These students are observed with…

The purpose of this study was threefold: to (a) identify students' experiences of distributive, procedural, and interactional injustice; (b) to examine students' emotional responses to these unjust experiences; and (c) to investigate students' behavioral reactions to perceived injustice. Participants were 138 undergraduate students who provided…

This study explores configurations of laptop use in a one-to-one environment. Guided by methodologies of the Concerns-Based Adoption Model of change, an Innovation Configuration Map (description of the multiple ways an innovation is implemented) of a 1:1 laptop program at a middle school was developed and analyzed. Three distinct configurations…

Recently, a debate has begun over whether in-class laptops aid or hinder learning. While some research demonstrates that laptops can be an important learning tool, anecdotal evidence suggests more and more faculty are banning laptops from their classrooms because of perceptions that they distract students and detract from learning. The current…

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between teachers' classroom discipline techniques and students' individual and communal responsibility in Australian, Chinese, and Israeli classrooms. The sample comprised 5521 students in grades 7-12 and 748 teachers. The participating Australian, Chinese, and Israeli schools included both…

The teacher-student interactions of 39 students exhibiting high externalizing behavior problems and 59 students exhibiting average behavioral adjustment from urban elementary schools were directly observed. Comparisons between these students within four different instructional contexts indicated that levels of student engagement were significantly…

In an attempt to uncover differences in student behavior as a function of class size, the author observed a small class and a large class for 15 hours each and conducted interviews with eight students who were members of both classes. Two trends emerged from these qualitative data. First, a "diverge-converge" pattern was evident in the small class…

Students' degree of territoriality based on gender and seat preferences in different types of classroom arrangements was studied. The types of classroom arrangements included rows of tablet-arm chairs, U-shaped, clusters, and rows of tables with individual chairs. The study was carried out through a survey at a large public institution in the…

This paper describes a case study in which two teachers attempted to bring peace education to their classrooms. To date, the most prevalent approaches to peace education center on a curriculum or a program. The two teachers rejected such curricula and programs in favor of an approach that emphasized the importance of the environment in developing…

Focuses on student and teacher perceptions of psychosocial characteristics of the elementary school classroom environment. Profiles, comparing actual and preferred classroom environments, were assessed using the following five dimensions of the My Class Inventory (short form) (Fisher and Fraser): satisfaction, friction, competitiveness,…

The effects of cooperative and individualistic learning experiences on interpersonal attraction between handicapped and nonhandicapped fourth graders were compared. Students were assigned to conditions on a stratified random basis controlling for handicap, ability, and sex. Cooperative experiences promoted more cross-handicapped interaction and…

In this research report, classrooms are seen as affective learning environments in which human relationships expand or restrict the quality of learning. The two-part report discusses (a) fundamental differences in social structures among classrooms, as measured by the Centrality-Diffuseness Index (C-D Index); and (b) relationships between the…