Literacy skills acquired during the first years of schooling have been recognised as the key to students' learning success. However, despite the continuing efforts by the New Zealand government and teachers there is still a large proportion of students who struggle to become literate. To address this issue the Ministry of Education funded selected…

In this paper we report on a study of the implementation of handheld game consoles (HGCs) in 10 Year four/five classrooms to develop student automaticity of mathematical calculations. The automaticity of mathematical calculations was compared for those students using the HGC and those being taught using traditional teaching methods. Over a school…

Using the cognitive theory of multimedia learning, this study aimed to evaluate the design of one multimedia courseware used for teaching English as a foreign language (EFL) in China and to compare the attitudinal differences in the teachers' and students' evaluation of the courseware. A questionnaire was developed and validated. Results indicated…

Based on a modern motivation theory of learning, self-determination theory (SDT), this study aimed to investigate the relationships between English as a foreign language (EFL) learners' motivation to speak, autonomous regulation, autonomy support from teachers, and classroom engagement, with both quantitative and qualitative approaches. The…

The authors report on a study aimed at exploring the role of a teacher education program (TEP) rested upon the tenets of critical pedagogy in influencing teachers' cognitions and practices concerning first-language (L1) use in second-language (L2) classrooms. Participants were 10 Iranian English as a foreign language teachers, whose cognitions…

The results of a large-scale randomized controlled trial of Conjoint Behavioral Consultation (CBC) on student outcomes and teacher-parent relationships in rural schools are presented. CBC is an indirect service delivery model that addresses concerns shared by teachers and parents about students. In the present study, the intervention was aimed at…

As the higher education environment changes, there are calls for university teachers to change and enhance their teaching practices to match. Networking practices are known to be deeply implicated in studies of change and diffusion of innovation, yet academics' networking activities in relation to teaching have been little studied. This paper…

This study examined children's drawings to explain children's conceptual understanding of plant structure and function. The study explored whether the children's drawings accurately reflect their conceptual understanding about plants in a manner that can be interpreted by others. Drawing, survey, interview, and observational data were collected…

The purpose of this qualitative case study is to investigate the common issues and factors associated with organizational identity from the viewpoint of faculty members employed during the 2011-2012 academic year in the Faculty of Education at Mersin University in Mersin, Turkey. The sample of this study consisted of 14 faculty members, including…

This study aims at determining the difficulties experienced by bilingual teacher candidates in education. The study has a qualitative design, semi-structured interview is used and data are obtained with content analysis method. The study group of the research includes 117 students studying at different classes in Agri Ibrahim Cecen University,…

This study involves the development of a three-tier diagnostic test to measure high school students' understanding of states of matter concepts. The States of Matter Diagnostic Test (SMDT) is a 19-item three-tier diagnostic test consisting of three-tier items for assessing students' understanding of states of matter concepts. The SMDT was…

Following social-constructivist approaches in education, there has been a growing interest in employing Web 2.0 technologies in language classes. While the effectiveness of these digital teaching crafts has been corroborated in many studies (see Crook et al., 2008, for a survey), there is always doubt if they have reached a normalized state in L2…

While many studies focus on why teachers leave the classroom, there remains a need to study why teachers persist in teaching. One area to study is the beliefs of teachers, which may impact persistence in the field. This 5-year mixed-methods study explored whether 35 beginning secondary science teachers' beliefs were related to their persistence in…

This study employed the survey design on a purposive sample of 100 English Second Language (ESL) teachers from Swaziland and South Africa's Eastern Cape Province, to investigate the extent to which they accessed, utilised and conducted research to better their practice. A survey questionnaire and follow-up structured interviews generated…

"Entre Familia: Reflejos de Salud" was a successful family-based randomized controlled trial designed to improve dietary behaviors and intake among U.S. Latino families, specifically fruit and vegetable intake. The novel intervention design merged a community health worker ("promotora") model with an entertainment-education…