In this essay we discuss an iterative, reflective writing assignment (the "learning charter") as a way to understand how high-achieving students experienced an ungrading learning environment. Working with evidence from student written reflection and in-class conversations, we chronicle how students articulated their perspectives on this…

Using a sequential explanatory mixed methods design, this study was designed to acquire quantitative and qualitative data that expose community college student perceptions on multimodal compositions compared to traditional writing practices. As traditional writing continues to be privileged in college writing classrooms, a critical pedagogy…

Effective classroom management is critical in the creation of learning environments that foster academic success for all students. Preservice teachers must develop an awareness and understanding of all aspects of classroom management and their relation to the two main classroom management approaches: the discipline based approach and the…

Schools are often hostile and unwelcoming spaces for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, queer/questioning (LGBTQ), and gender-nonconforming students, teachers, and parents. This qualitative study sought to address that problem by examining the role that teacher education can play in preparing teacher candidates to transform those spaces. The…

This study presents the results of a pilot learning intervention for improving children's ideas about plant protection. The research was executed in two phases. The first phase aimed at exploring children's ideas about plant protection. These ideas were taken into account for the design and development of a digital learning environment. The second…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the challenges faced by first-year students as they negotiated the transition from the writing environment of high school to the writing environment of university. The research for the dissertation was undertaken using a mixed-method explanatory design. This yielded a description of students'…

This dissertation reports on a study investigating the identity of first-year university students as writers. The longitudinal project explored how students from educationally disadvantaged backgrounds construct their identities as undergraduates and as academic writers in their first year. The research was qualitative and interpretative, and used…

The aim of the study was to find out how dance students experienced learning in an international distance education program delivered in an e-learning format using a virtual learning environment platform. In order to organize the students' experiences with the various learning assignments, we focused on three broad categories of learning tasks:…

During their teaching program, pre-service teachers participated in a course concerning teaching in the heterogeneous classroom. As an introduction to the issue of "gifted children," the pre-service teachers were given an assignment: (1) to interview gifted children (identified as gifted by the Ministry of Education, according to IQ…

Discusses the different requirements of teaching drama students and directing professionals. Outlines a range of dramaturgical action between working to support the artistic interests of an established playwright and instructing a novice playwright in basic approaches. Examines how thinking in terms of a spectrum from neophyte to veteran guides…

During the past year the Center for Research on Developmental Education and Urban Literacy (CRDEUL) has moved from the former General College (GC), which after 74 years of service to a diverse student body closed its doors on June 30, 2006, to the University of Minnesota's new College of Education and Human Development (CEHD). The new mission…

This article enters an ongoing discussion about the usefulness of different theories and different research designs in the analysis of classroom writing. Starting with questions about how students interpret the norms of writing and their own selves in school writing, it demonstrates the relevance of an ecological theory of writing,…