Recent teacher professional development in California tends to focus on increasing teachers' mathematical knowledge. In Australia, pedagogically focused programs are preferred. The two approaches are contrasted by comparing a Californian professional development model based on improving mathematical knowledge in number and algebra with a New South…

Blended Learning, a learning facilitation that incorporates different modes of delivery, models of teaching, and learning styles, introduces multiple media to the dialog between the learner and the facilitator. This paper examines online communication as the link between established theory of learning and literature on e-learning in order to…

A study of methods to assess student learning in instructional technology courses was conducted using an IT learning model that consists of four dimensions. Static assessment and dynamic assessment methods were employed to assess student (a) attitudes toward technology, (b) learning and use of technology, (c) technology integration, and (d)…

The significance of information technology in education is usually assessed or evaluated on terms of some measures of effectiveness. In different school settings the effectiveness is operationalized in different ways, and in the literature various methods of determining the effectiveness have been discussed (e.g., Secretary's Conference on…

English language development classes focus on teaching students of other languages how to speak, read, and write English. They must also prepare students to meet the many standards and requirements that are prerequisites to content classes, such as geography, and high school graduation. This discussion focuses on the integration of literacy and…

This study examines the use of strategies and knowledge sources in L2 lexical inferencing and their relationship with inferential success. Data consist of introspective and retrospective think-aloud protocols of 21 intermediate ESL learners who attempted to infer new word meanings from context. Analysis reveals that (a) overall, the rate of…

Self-efficacy is essential to motivation and learning. Compared to students with weak self-efficacy for academics, students with strong self-efficacy have higher motivation, make greater effort, persist longer, and achieve more. Unfortunately, struggling learners with weak self-efficacy often avoid academic tasks or give up prematurely, reducing…

We compared a reading intervention that consisted of explicit, self-regulatory strategy instruction to a strategy intervention that was less explicit to determine the impact on the reading-specific self-efficacy, attributions, and affect of students with reading disabilities (RD). Participants included 20 students with RD who were entering grades…

The objective of this study was to examine the nature of preservice teachers' evaluations of elementary mathematics problems using the Mathematical Tasks Framework (MTF), a model designed to discriminate among tasks according to their cognitive complexity. We also tested the relationship between mathematics content knowledge and problem length on…

This article explores young readers' fascination with particular authors. It begins with a brief analysis of the contents of fifth graders' letters to their favorite authors. It then juxtaposes their range of responses with the varying perspectives that teachers typically adopt when designing an author study, advocating a model of author study…

In this article, the authors present an approach to developing creativity through meaningful learning relationships that involve art, literature, dialogue, and experience. They present a model of creative teaching, Person-to-Person Learning, that includes a 3-stage process: (a) constructing the creative space, (b) engaging the learning theme, and…

Students entering middle school are faced with many challenges and opportunities. School counselors can optimally assist them in their journey through academic development by providing skill building experiences. With study skills and the ability to self-advocate, students can build a solid foundation upon which confidence and academic performance…

Four dimensions of pedagogical quality focusing on children's opportunities for learning and development in preschool are suggested. This article explores how they are constituted and how they can be used for evaluation to discern pedagogical quality as a whole and part of a whole and to understand how quality is experienced and valued from…

Children's academic performance and social competence in school is positively associated with parent involvement. However, the researches about educational learning models often ignore the parent part. Moreover, Internet forms a new paradigm, education and communication approach is more complicated than ever. In this paper, we would like to…

Web-based distance education has become a "real" teaching alternative which has instigated more research particularly in the past decade. This research has commonly focused on four major perspectives: (1) information-technology; (2) course management systems (including course communication tools); (3) information design; and (4) online…