A comparison of three urban school systems suggests that district offices can influence teaching through professional development. District leaders can structure their programs to provide coherent and content-focused professional development. The district orientation (vision, emphasis on professional development, use of human resources) set by the…

Collecting weather data is a traditional part of a meteorology unit at the middle level. However, making connections between the data and weather conditions can be a challenge. One way to make these connections clearer is to enter the data into a database. This allows students to quickly compare different fields of data and recognize which…

Because soils provide water, minerals, and a medium to anchor the roots of plants, measuring the basic physical/chemical components of soils is important to maintaining healthy garden plants and agricultural crops. Historically, soil analysis has been practiced to determine fertilizer and lime applications, soil fertility, and soil improvement…

The summer of 2006 saw the eyes of the world, including those of Canadians, transfixed on Germany as 32 teams from across the globe competed for the World Cup of football--but due to the lack of capacity to support the development of world class Canadian players and teams, Canada perennially cannot mount a team able to qualify for World Cup…

As English progressively becomes the global language, many native English speakers move to foreign countries to work as English teachers. However a review of the literature reveals that there is little research on their actual performance compared to the non-native local English teachers. This comparative case study examines pedagogic practices of…

This research was conducted to determine the effects of traditional instruction versus Contract Activity Packaged (CAP) versus Programmed Sequenced Learning (PLS) versus Tactual Resources (TR) on the achievement and attitudes of 32 second-year undergraduate teacher education majors enrolled in two classes of a required child-study course at a…

No empirical studies exist comparing the effectiveness of the two prevalent foreign language methodologies, Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) and Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling (TPRS), at helping students achieve second language acquisition. In turn, the purpose of this quantitative, quasi-experimental study was to…

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of participation in Read 180, a teacher-mediated, computer-mediated reading instruction program, on the reading proficiency of 4th and 5th grade English Language Learners. The students who participated in the Read 180 program scored below the 25th percentile on the Florida Comprehensive…

This study compared the efficacy of 3 approaches to professional development in middle school Earth science organized around the principles of Understanding by Design (Wiggins & McTighe, 1998) in a sample of 53 teachers from a large urban district. Teachers were randomly assigned to a control group or to 1 of 3 conditions that varied with…

In this study, we compare the first and the last sessions from an online oral proficiency course aimed at doctoral students conducted in the virtual world Second Life. The study attempts to identify how supportive moves made by the teacher encourage learners to engage with language, and what type of linguistic behaviour in the learners leads to…

Questions about the suitability of cognitively-oriented instructional approaches for students of different academic levels are frequently raised by teachers and researchers. This study examined student participation in knowledge-building discourse in two implementations of a short inquiry unit focusing on environmental problems. Participants in…

This study compares overall laboratory averages and individual test scores along with a student survey to determine the effects of using virtual microscopy in place of optical microscopes in a large undergraduate human anatomy course. T-tests revealed that the first two laboratory examinations (of four) and the overall laboratory averages were…

Drawing on data associated with an investigation of classroom read alouds and discussions of children's literature, this article conceptualizes the reading aloud and discussions of picturebooks as an "interpretive space" for elementary grade students' exploration of visual images and written text. Analyzing the types of responses…

This study compares reading lessons given by two teachers in senior middle school classrooms on China's mainland. Classroom observation focused on lesson stages and activities as well as student responses. Follow-up interviews with the teachers aimed to discover the decision-making processes and choices made when teaching the lessons. Most notable…

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of Total Physical Response by Storytelling and the traditional teaching method on a foreign language in a selected high school. The sample consisted of 30 students who were randomly selected and randomly assigned to experimental and control group. The experimental group was taught using Total…