Daily practice tests over assigned reading followed immediately by class discussion can improve learning and grades.

This submission contains the Proceedings of the 2010 Annual Meeting of the Canadian Mathematics Education Study Group (CMESG), held at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, British Columbia. The CMESG is a group of mathematicians and mathematics educators who meet annually to discuss mathematics education issues at all levels of learning. The aims…

Basic English Writing (BEW) courses have been part of English learning curricula in many universities. Some research has been conducted to investigate various class designs for English language courses. However, class designs for English writing are not yet abundantly developed to provide more experimental results. The purpose of this study was to…

This report presents general criteria for authentic pedagogy, instructional activities rooted in a primary concern for high standards of intellectual quality, as well as more specific standards that can be used to judge the quality of assessment tasks, classroom lessons, and student performance. Examples are given of tasks, lessons, and student…

This paper describes what teachers need to know about performance assessment to do it well. First, they should know what performance assessment is and why anyone should care. One thing that has to be emphasized is that there are two parts to a performance assessment: the tasks and the criteria. Teachers tend to be better at developing rich and…

From the late 1950s through today, hands-on science has been promoted as a method of science instruction. Currently, recent national science reform efforts seek to temper its role. However, no consensus has been reached on the relationship of hands-on science to student achievement, though this has been researched since the turn of the 20th…

Summarizes results of a 3-year national study of performance assessments' effects on teaching and learning, based on visits to 16 schools implementing these assessments. Performance assessments marginally affected curriculum, but substantially influenced instruction and teacher role. Changing assignment and assessment format will not increase…

Comparative effectiveness of two instructional methods, one based on situated cognition and the other a traditional classroom-based presentation, were studied with 49 4th graders being instructed in map skills. Advantages of the situated cognition approach are demonstrated. (SLD)

Asserts that evaluating cooperative learning experiences is both traditional in the tools used and innovative in the way the results benefit students and teachers. Provides suggestions for encouraging interdependence, grading group projects, and evaluating both academic achievement and group process skills. (CFR)

Presents a study that compares an introductory high school biology curriculum, Biology: A Community Context (BACC), with traditional curricula. Discusses the differences between standards-based BACC and traditional instruction. Identifies the instructional method in BACC as investigative inquiry and the activities proceed from concrete to more…

Discusses online teaching and distance education and considers philosophical principles that offer a foundation for the online teaching and learning process. Topics include the teacher's role; creating a class syllabus; moderating online discussions; authentic assessment; and critical thinking. (Author/LRW)

Poster presentations are one way scientists present their latest research findings at professional meetings. This format also works well in the classroom and gives students the opportunity to communicate the results of their experiments (perhaps the most critical portion of their studies). In a performance-based task such as a poster session,…

This article reports on "Beyond the OPI: Integrated Performance Assessment (IPA) Design Project," a three-year (1997-2000) research initiative sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education International Research and Studies Program. The primary goal of the project was to develop an integrated skills assessment prototype that would measure…

The authors describe how a university research center partners with intermediary organizations and high schools to use research methods to support particular goals. These researcher-practitioner partnerships establish goals, articulate effective strategies, and co-construct new approaches to address the challenges of school reform. The article…

Engagement has been viewed as an important construct to understand students' learning performances in classroom settings. Taking an interactive perspective, the study investigates ninth graders' cognitive, emotional, and behavioral engagement in teacher-centered (TC) and student-centered (SC) technology-enhanced classrooms. 54 students from two…