This paper attempted to illustrate how a coherence instruction could be accomplished by a teacher's discourse moves. The ultimate goal of this study was to provide mathematics teachers and educational researchers an insightful view of instructional coherence which needs more attention to achieve high quality of mathematics teaching. A Chinese…

This is the third paper published by The Centre for Literacy in its Working Papers in Literacy series, which presents fresh perspectives on literacy-related issues. The topics are relevant both to other researchers, to practitioners in the field, and to policy-makers. This paper examines the behaviours and beliefs of a group of volunteer tutors to…

The purpose of this study was to develop and validate an observation measure designed to capture teachers' use of interactive teaching skills within the delivery of the All Stars substance use prevention program. Coders counted the number of times teachers praised and encouraged students, accepted and used students' ideas, asked questions,…

This study examined the effects of five types of teacher directions (verbal, nonverbal, verbal with physical assistance, nonverbal with physical assistance, and physical assistance) on student responses. Seven elementary school teachers and their students participated. Although the most common type of direction was verbal, the most effective type…

This paper describes and analyzes teacher conceptions of the meaning of history. Previous research points to teacher conceptions as a crucial variable guiding curriculum decisions. Data for the study were collected through survey questionnaires and interviews. Data were analyzed by content analysis of fieldnotes, frequency analysis, and cross…

This paper presents the ARCS model, which is a research-based systematic design model that interfaces with typical instructional design and development models to improve the motivational appeal of instructional materials, of instructor behavior, and of the way in which lessons (or modules) and courses are designed. The description of the model,…

After describing his research interests and classroom perspectives, the author discusses the "social construction" frame in which he suggests that teaching and learning in the mathematics classroom be viewed. Along with the three constructs of activities, communication, and negotiation, social construction offers promise for research…

This study examined how readily teachers learn the components of the troubleshooting model of Tillman (1982) via a guided design approach, the consistency of the language of the model with the language of teachers, and the concerns teachers express about guided design as an instructional innovation. Forty-five teachers enrolled in a graduate level…

Reports on a study to determine the impact of feedback on academic achievement. Finds that students who received daily feedback scored significantly better on tests than students who received partial or no feedback. Maintains that the benefits to students outweigh any difficulties for teachers. (CFR)

This study attempted to determine which combinations of student, teacher, curricular, and task factors characterize effective life science instruction, where effectiveness is defined as the acquisition of scientific literacy. The framework of scientific literacy used includes five teacher behavior components: (1) explaining science content; (2)…

This study investigated which classroom variables are related to changes in students' (N=409) conceptions of the nature of scientific knowledge. Eighteen high school biology teachers/classrooms were compared with respect to students' conceptual changes on six aspects of the nature of science (amoral, creative, tentative, testable, parsimonious,…

Describes the Basic Practice Model of Instruction, a direct-instruction model that expresses the research findings on teacher effectiveness in a coherent pattern of teaching, and places these findings into a meaningful framework to guide instructional improvement and teacher training. (HOD)

This research was designed to elucidate the activity structures and routines of elementary mathematics teachers by describing what they are, analyzing their frequency and duration, analyzing the functions that routines serve for the cognitive processes of teachers, and beginning to model the chains of routines and their fit with planned or…

Three important elements needed for constructing expert mathematics lessons are described: rich agendas, consistent but flexible lesson structures, and clear, understandable explanations. Each is discussed in terms of its hypothetical characteristics and then tested by comparing two novice and four expert elementary mathematics teachers. (MNS)

Achieving national standards for science education for all students requires that the research agenda for inquiry-oriented instruction be well informed by current knowledge of successful and unsuccessful teaching practices in typical classrooms. Given the persistent lack of data about the nature of teacher behavior in inquiry-oriented teaching and…