More and more teachers create video explanations for their instruction. Whether or not they are effective for learning depends on the videos' instructional quality. Reliable measures to assess the quality of video explanations, however, are still rare, especially for videos created by (preservice) teachers. We developed such a measure in a…

From 2006 the British government strongly favoured synthetic phonics as the principal approach for the teaching of initial literacy in state-funded primary schools in England, and since 2010 has made it mandatory. In 2007-2013 just over 100 commercially published phonics schemes were available, and in that same period the government maintained a…

In peer observation of teaching, an experienced colleague in the educational environment of a faculty member observes the educational performance of that faculty member and provides appropriate feedback. The use of peer review as an alternative source of evidence of teaching effectiveness is increasing. However, no research has been done in the…

This research aimed to explore the upper-secondary school chemistry teachers' and students' conceptual structures of atomic structure by using multidimensional scaling. Atomic structure is considered to be one of the most difficult concepts in upper-secondary school chemistry course so that the conceptual structure regarding atomic structure held…

In discussions of work-based learning in anglophone countries, a relatively new question concerns different learning opportunities for differentially positioned novices in the workplace. Basil Bernstein relates learners' positioning with respect to knowledge and within a community of knowers to variations in a discourse underlying and regulating…

Despite abundant research substantiating the value of teaching with films, there is a dearth of accessible resources that can help educators select films for positive modeling of character strengths. This scarcity exists in spite of the evidence that supports the efficacy of films' influence on young people. Young people today are receiving…

The transformation of coursebook publishing into an industrial giant has brought about variety, choice, and difficulty of decision making. As coursebook selection profoundly influences the quality of foreign language instruction in Turkey, it is essential to investigate what kind of instruments are used, which method is followed, what criteria are…

The correct grading of free text answers to exam questions during an assessment process is time consuming and subject to fluctuations in the application of evaluation criteria, particularly when the number of answers is high (in the hundreds). In consequence of these fluctuations, inherent to human nature, and largely determined by emotional…

Following publications emphasizing the need of a taxonomy for instructional methods, this article presents a literature review on classifications for learning and teaching in order to identify possible classifications for instructional methods. Data was collected for 37 classifications capturing the origins, theoretical underpinnings, purposes and…

This article examines whether questions embedded in geography textbooks address three components of spatial thinking: concepts of space, tools of representation, and processes of reasoning. A three-dimensional taxonomy of spatial thinking was developed and used to evaluate questions in four high school level geography textbooks. The results…

Criteria for the design and selection of literacy and thinking tools that allow educators to justify what they do are described within a wider framework of learning theory and research into best practice. Based on a meta-analysis of best practice, results from a three year project designed to evaluate the effectiveness of a secondary school…

Technical writing instructors lack a framework for evaluating pedagogical materials. One framework for classification divides the pedagogical materials into three groups: those locating their heuristics in form, context, and method. Formal pedagogies (the modes, sentence generation) can produce generic writing, separated from audience, purpose,…

Examines the many possible methods used by instructors who work with dramatic action: in educational drama, drama therapy, social drama, and theater. Discusses an emergent taxonomy whereby instructors choose either spontaneous/formal, overt/covert/, or intrinsic/extrinsic methods. (JC)

In the design and implementation of the Council on Postsecondary Accreditation's (COPA) Project to Develop Evaluative Criteria and Procedures for the Accreditation of Nontraditional Education, a taxonomy for the classification and determination of the nature of nontraditional institutions has been developed. The objective of the study was to…

THIS PAPER EXAMINES SOME OF THE MEASUREMENT AND EVALUATION PROBLEMS ENCOUNTERED IN RESEARCH ON STUDENT-LED SMALL GROUP DISCUSSION TEACHING PROCEDURES. IT FOCUSES UPON PROBLEMS OF CRITERION EXAMINATION, USE OF RATING FORMS TO ASSESS THE EFFECTIVENESS OF VARIOUS METHODS OF INSTRUCTION, AND METHODS FOR CHARACTERIZING CLASSROOM PROCEDURE. THIS PAPER…