This article presents an activity that combines this popular website, Postsecret.com, with college students' love for the internet, and course content on privacy boundaries and theory, disclosure, communicative control, and privacy rule development. By taking part in this activity, students practice privacy disclosure and are able to examine their…

Argues that teacher use of competition in the classroom may lead to anxiety, aggression, or a decrease in self-concept among students and that learning to compete is not so important in a postindustrial society. Advocates cooperative classroom activities. (SJL)

Finds that the strongest predictor of motivation was the literacy task: during open tasks, children used more reading strategies, persisted longer, and controlled their attention better regardless of instructional condition (whole language or basal). Suggests that researchers examine how students actually interact with literacy contexts. (RS)

Contemporary communication research suggests that students are non-communicative in the classroom because they perceive communication response/initiative channels to be blocked and many students lack basic speech skills that enhance effective, satisfying verbal response. Demonstrates how to circumvent these barriers and encourage instructors in…

Examines students' motivations for participating in literacy tasks. Finds that grade five students responded positively when the context was perceived as autonomy supportive, and grade three students reported more intrinsic motivations when they perceived the context to be socially supportive than nonsocial contexts. (CR)

Reports on a study of 138 college sociology professors on their attitudes about and techniques for learning students' names. Finds that the number of tactics used for learning names declines as class size increases. Includes 18 techniques for name-learning. (CFR)

This paper discusses how faculty can and do develop a spirit in the classes they teach and thus become more effective teachers. This paper focuses on classes at a community college and at a university. Faculty and students from all types of college and university classes were interviewed. The classes studied were imbued with a breath of life, a…

This book examines the expectancy effect (or self-fulfilling prophecy) on student achievement. One of its main purposes is to take a broader look at for whom, where, when, and how expectancy effects take place and what consequences they have for children in school. Chapter 1 presents a case study of educational expectancy of a learning-disabled…

Theoretical traditions concerning school environments and student achievement are described, and their insights are linked with analyses of school and classroom interactions to develop a simple conceptual model of environmental influences on student achievement. The literature regarding environmental influences is then reviewed, and the last…

The productive involvement of students in curriculum development can lead to greater student interest in and satisfaction with learning. The dominant view in education today is that students are disruptive agents in the learning process, liable to interrupt teaching for their own purposes. This view results in a learning environment where the…