Integrative learning is an important outcome for graduates of higher education. Therefore, it should be well-defined and assessed reliably. The American Association of Colleges & Universities has developed a rubric to define and assess integrative learning, but it has low reliability. This pilot study examines whether this rubric's reliability…

A medium-scale quantitative study (n = 90) found that 10-11-year-old pupils dealt with theory and evidence in notably different ways, depending on how the same science practical task was delivered. Under the auspices of a 2×2 part-randomised and part-quasi experimental design, pupils were asked to complete a brief, apparently simple task involving…

The quality of life is determined with objective factors and also with subjective perception of factors which influence human life. Leisure activities play a very important role in subjective well-being because they provide opportunities to meet life values and needs. Through participation in leisure activities people build social relationships,…

A large-scale, multi-year, randomized study compared learning activities and outcomes for hands-on, remotely-operated, and simulation-based educational laboratories in an undergraduate engineering course. Students (N = 458) worked in small-group lab teams to perform two experiments involving stress on a cantilever beam. Each team conducted the…

Classroom simulations can make a significant contribution to learning outcomes in political science courses, provided that they are firmly linked to course content and learning objectives. This article offers a step-by-step decision framework for instructors seeking to use simulations as a core component of their courses, including selection of an…

This study examines three questions about the impact of collaboration during scientific argumentation. First, do groups craft better arguments than individuals? Second, to what degree do individuals adopt and internalize the arguments crafted by their group? Third, do individuals who work in groups learn more from their experiences than…

Griffiths and Tenenbaum (2006) asked individuals to make predictions about the duration or extent of everyday events (e.g., cake baking times), and reported that predictions were optimal, employing Bayesian inference based on veridical prior distributions. Although the predictions conformed strikingly to statistics of the world, they reflect…

In this article, the author compares how her pupils responded to the same task when working individually and in small groups. She wants to look at communication and the effect that increasing the opportunities for collaborative group work has had on the quality of her pupils' understanding. She became concerned that the 23 "Level D" children (age…

Compared leisure behavior patterns after retirement with those of preretirement. Examined data within the context of the spillover and compensatory hypotheses, with retirement representing a nonwork sphere. Findings revealed a spillover effect, characterized by a high degree of passive, solitary leisure behavior both before and after retirement.…

As a part of the teacher licensure program at the graduate level at The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC), the M.Ed. Licensure candidate is required to complete an action research project during a 3-semester-hour course that coincides with the 9-semester-hour student teaching experience or with school employment. This course, Education…

Productive engagement is a potential pathway to health for older adults, but this relationship varies by race. This study examines the relationship of productive engagement to the health and observed health disparities of older African American and white adults. Productive activities include formal and irregular paid employment, caregiving,…

Examines two tournaments for "individual events," sponsored by national associations. Provides information to help students and coaches decide which tournament will best meet the needs of their forensics programs. ("Individual events" include public speaking--persuasive, expository, after-dinner--interpretation, rhetorical…

Evaluates the expressive performances of ensembles and individuals in order to address the relationship between individual and ensemble expressive performance achievement. Questions the validity of using ensemble expressiveness as an indicator of individual expressive achievement. Suggests that efforts to separate technical and expressive aspects…

Strategies to develop creativity were given to high school teachers in a graduate course, Developing Creativity in Teaching. Higher degrees of creativity emerged when the groups used the instructor's clues to write a story and when group brainstorming and writing, as opposed to individual writing, were done. (Author/SJL)

Examined the relations between school-relevant activities of preschoolers and teachers' subsequent perception of the children's competence once they had entered school. Found that middle-class preschoolers engaged in more school-relevant activities than working-class preschoolers. Elementary students who had initiated and engaged in more…