This study aims to gain a better understanding of the practices of first-year university teachers by considering the distinction between direct instruction and active learning. It is based on the responses of 356 teachers to questions relating to three areas of teaching practice: preparation, implementation and use of digital technology. Principal…

What constitutes effective teaching of arithmetical skills in early school years is still uncertain. Finger use could play a crucial role in this acquisition, but some children do not use them spontaneously and studies would be necessary to know if it is possible to teach them. This research assesses the impact of a teacher-implemented…

Media and digital literacy are being increasingly recognized as a fundamental competence for teachers of 21st century, but teachers' professional development is still far from coping with this emerging need. This paper aims at providing some recommendations for integrating media literacy into in-service teacher training programs. To this purpose,…

A first time attender at the annual conference of the "National Institute on the Teaching of Psychology" (NITOP, 2014), Castro was impressed with how throughout, discussions were vivid and innovative; talks were warm and interactive, handouts and other resources were diverse and abundant, with all materials very well adjusted to various…

This paper presents the "Multi-Role Project" method (MRP), a broadly applicable project-based learning method, and describes its implementation and evaluation in the context of a Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) course. The MRP method is designed around a meta-principle that considers the project learning activity…

This qualitative study investigates the relationship between learning opportunities and teacher cognition in the context of a videoconferencing (VC) project for foreign languages (FL) in French primary schools. Six generalist primary teachers were followed throughout the initial six-month stage of the initiative, and data were collected from…

Distance education and information and communication technologies (ICTs) have been marketed as cost-effective ways to rescue struggling educational institutions in developing countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). This study uses classroom video analysis and follow-up interviews with teachers, students, and local tutors to analyse…

Although language specialists do not always agree about the best age at which to introduce English language instruction, policy changes are increasingly mandating earlier introduction of English in foreign language (EFL) settings worldwide. In this volume, language educators and program implementers from various countries describe programs and…

France is one of the most modern countries in the world and is a leading force in Europe. A highly literate and well-educated society, France's education statistics for 2003 show 12.1 million French children in primary and secondary education and 2.2 million students in tertiary education. The concept of education as a market commodity--long since…