Although Communicative Language Teaching is accepted by many English teachers in China as one of the most effective approach in English language teaching, there are still a number of misunderstandings about it. By comparing Johnstone; Sato and Kleinsasser and Thompson as well as Spada, this article focuses on four of the main misunderstandings,…

Background: Many popular educational programmes claim to be "brain-based", despite pleas from the neuroscience community that these neuromyths do not have a basis in scientific evidence about the brain. Purpose: The main aim of this paper is to examine several of the most popular neuromyths in the light of the relevant neuroscientific and…

This is a case of one novice White teacher whose strong commitment to becoming a culturally relevant teacher was hindered by her struggle to develop meaningful connections to the home community of her mostly African American students. Using a hybrid methodology of action research, discourse analysis, and critical interpretive analysis of…

Considers research that shows very poor student understanding after the teaching of electricity and draws two broad conclusions of central relevance to the teaching of electricity: (1) there is an absence of any systemic consensus as to what models are appropriate for students at different year levels and for different intended learning outcomes;…

Cellular respiration and metabolism are topics that are reportedly poorly understood by students and judged to be difficult by many teachers. Although these topics may not be required learning areas in some high school biology curricula, a grasp of fundamental concepts of cellular metabolic processes is advantageous for students undertaking (or…

Background: Neuroscience is unlikely to produce findings for immediate application in the classroom. The educational significance and practical implications of knowledge about mind and brain inevitably require some level of interpretation, yet the multiplying examples of unscientific "brain-based" educational concepts suggest this process of…

Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and gel electrophoresis have become common techniques used in undergraduate molecular and cell biology labs. Although students enjoy learning these techniques, they often cannot fully comprehend and analyze the outcomes of their experiments because of a disconnect between concepts taught in lecture and experiments…

We report on responses to a series of four questions designed to identify pre-existing abilities related to debugging and troubleshooting experiences of novice students before they begin programming instruction. The focus of these questions include general troubleshooting, bug location, exploring unfamiliar environments, and describing students'…

Geoscience educational publications are reviewed in seven areas to identify future directions for curriculum development, professional development and research. The review shows that: effective teaching methods encompassing broad geoscience study still need extensive research; whilst some valuable materials have been developed for the teaching of…

Student writing skills are an important concern for every teacher. This is especially true when using inquiry-based approaches in the science classroom. Writing promotes critical-thinking skills and construction of vital scientific concepts and challenges ingrained misconceptions. Yet, many teachers encounter practical problems when incorporating…

Demonstrations can be very effective at enhancing student learning and represent a mechanism for embedding laboratory experiences within a classroom setting. A key component to an effective demonstration is active student engagement throughout the entire process, leading to a guided laboratory experience in a lecture setting. Students are involved…

In this article we discuss nine common misconceptions about learning and teaching mathematics for young children that are widespread among prospective and practicing early childhood teachers in the United States. These misconceptions include: 1. Young children are not ready for mathematics education; 2. Mathematics is for some bright kids with…

Teaching ecological concepts in schools is important in promoting natural science and environmental education for young learners. Developing educational programs is difficult, however, because of complicated ecological processes operating on multiple levels, the unlimited nature of potential system interactions (given the openness of systems), and…

In order to think, to interpret and judge correctly, the humans have to comprehend what they have learned. Concepts are the abstract representatives of the classifications that are formed by objects, events, ideas and behaviors which have common specifications. (Fidan, N., 1985). Concepts reduce the complexity by simplifying the environment that…

Inequalities are considered among the most useful tools of investigation in pure and applied mathematics; yet their didactical aspects have not received much attention in mathematics education research until recently. An important aspect of teaching problem solving at the secondary level deals with the notion of equivalence of algebraic…