The present study integrates service learning into English as a Foreign Language (EFL) speaking class using Web 2.0 tools--YouTube and Facebook--as platforms. Fourteen undergraduate students participated in the study. The purpose of the service-learning project was to link service learning with oral communication training in an EFL speaking class…

The article investigates the interplay between the meaning given to certain key expressions and pupils' understanding of science subject matter, in a qualitative study of learning.The intentional-expressive approach to the epistemological role of language use served as a theoretical frame, within the wider context of phenomenographic research on…

Although university students are key participants in knowledge-making processes, their insights about learning are sparsely documented, and too rarely considered in contemporary conversations in higher education. In centering the insights and experiences of students enrolled in two women's studies courses at the University of Maryland, this…

Background: Grounded in sociocultural theories of language development and use, this paper explores the concept of dialogic voice. Building on the term "dialogue", dialogic voice points to the fundamentally social nature of language-in-use. From this perspective, language emerges from specific histories and thus carries the multiple voices of…

Drawing on recent developments in dialogic approaches to learning and teaching, I examine the roots of dialogic meaning-making as a concept in classroom practices. Developments in the field of dialogic pedagogy are reviewed and the case for dialogic engagement as an approach to classroom interaction is considered. The implications of dialogic…

In this interview, Kolb, developer of the experiential learning cycle model, explores learning motivation, aspects of conversation (as experiential learning and as evaluation), and standardization versus diversity in education. (SK)

Elaborates some of Freire's ideas that support radical adult education: critical, dialectical perception of reality; conception of teaching and learning as related processes within each person; dialog; and confrontation of the oppressor within. (SK)

We investigated the impact of dialogue and deep-level-reasoning questions on vicarious learning in 2 studies with undergraduates. In Experiment 1, participants learned material by interacting with AutoTutor or by viewing 1 of 4 vicarious learning conditions: a noninteractive recorded version of the AutoTutor dialogues, a dialogue with a…

Responders to a journal may include peers, instructors, and oneself. Responders must balance direction and freedom in assisting the writer. Methods include descriptive personal response, holistic assessment, and partial assessment of passages selected by the writer. (SK)

Discusses how students learn to model in scientific contexts. Highlights include current research in science education; a computer-based simulation of a student learning to model; an example of a physics task; collaboration with another student; a dialog mechanism; and external representations. (LRW)

Discussion of evaluation of learning focuses on a constructivist approach to evaluation based on a constructivist learning model. Topics addressed include comparing traditionalist and constructivist views; traditional evaluation of learning; and constructivist evaluation strategies that include one-sentence summaries, concept maps, annotated…

In the wake of new educational initiatives for professional development, interest in how, when, and what teachers learn is growing. Traditionally, most research into teacher learning has been located in pre-service and in-service interventions and in studies of classroom practice. Few studies investigate how teachers learn in informal settings,…

Although role playing is a well-established and useful method of second language instruction, its success is often undermined by assignment of roles alien to the students' needs and experience. Redefinition of role playing to include the roles an individual assumes in everyday life will help the teacher plan more appropriate activities. (MSE)

Assesses the hazards of models of cognitive development and the positivist views of language that support them. Considers how alternative views of language and learning can help develop a method of teaching that views reading and writing as interpretation and the making of meaning. (RBW)

Describes a model for negotiation based on an analysis of teaching-learning dialogues. Topics discussed include the concept of negotiation in research; the relevance of dialogue analysis and modeling for artificial intelligence research; multidisciplinary perspectives; negotiation processes; communicative acts in negotiations; and theoretical…