A key principle in problem-based learning (PBL) is the student linking learning from different sources to enrich understanding. We have explored how medical students based in a clinical environment use clinical experience within PBL groups. We recorded the discussion of 12 third-year groups, which were meeting for the second time on a PBL case,…

Determining the direction in which to face another location on the globe is a problem with significant social and religious meaning, and one with a rich and interesting history in the Western world. Yet a fully satisfying geographic solution to this problem is hindered by our intuitive perception of the world as a flat surface-where a "straight"…

In this study, two samples of 4-year-old Chinese children were given two drawing tasks, one very familiar task and one novel and challenging task. The first sample was drawn from a nursery that taught art in a similar way to that widely used in the West, with an emphasis on individual expression. The second sample was from a nursery where drawing…

Performing inquiry should enhance the intellectual development of students on numerous levels. We evaluate whether inquiry-based activities elicit inquiry behaviors by comparing these activities with traditional review sessions. We find that both inquiry-learning and teaching behaviors increase during inquiry-based activities, but that teachers…

We compared the effects of guided lecture notes versus completed lecture notes on pre- to postlecture improvements in quiz performance across two sections of a college course. The results of a counterbalanced multielement design did not reveal consistent differences between the two note formats on students' mean quiz scores. However, fewer errors…

This article deals with a survey of technology skills levels, integration of instructional technology in high school classrooms, with both American and Chinese high school teachers. The purpose of the survey is to understand the integration and technology skills of these teachers. The similarity in the use of instructional technology between…

This paper reports the findings of a study that looked at the perceptions of self-competence in Head Start children of Caucasian and Hispanic background. The Joseph Pre-school and Primary Self-Concept Screening Test (JPPSST) was used to collect the needed data. Analyses of data indicate that there is a significant difference in the self-concept…

This article reports on a case study of the e-learning production unit at the University of Pretoria, South Africa. Phase 1 of the study, completed in 2003, was the design and development of a process-based quality management system for web-supported learning (WSL) using a basic ISO 9000 approach (University of Pretoria, 2003). The second phase,…

This article assesses the state of the literature on word-attack skills and phonological awareness (PA) in individuals with mental retardation, in light of progress towards the development of effective teaching procedures. The literature contains promising findings. Studies have shown PA to be correlated with word-attack skills in individuals with…

This study investigates how trainee teachers perceive their supervising teachers' supervisory competency. Through a questionnaire that was specifically developed for this study and which contained open-ended questions, student teacher candidates were asked to comment on their supervising teachers' competency in preparation for supervision,…

Current research describes the benefits of active learning approaches. Clickers, or student response systems, are a technology used to promoted active learning. Most research on the benefits of using clickers in the classroom has shown that students become engaged and enjoy using them. However, research on learning outcomes has only compared the…

Background: There is much support for using cooperative methods, since important instructional aspects, such as elaboration of new information, can easily be realized by methods like "jigsaw." However, the impact of providing students with additional help like a questioning training and potential limitations of the method concerning the (minimum)…

In the last quarter-century and especially the last decade, testing and accountability have come to dominate education policy at the state and national levels. The common concern about the effects of such testing is that it reshapes teaching in the classroom. But such claims do not look at the evidence of deeper classroom structures (the mix of…

This article provides a methodological illustration of how to conduct scientifically rigorous secondary interventions within the context of three-tiered models of support. Specifically, the authors demonstrate one approach for using schoolwide data to identify middle school students (N = 65) with both academic and behavioral concerns. Then, they…

Insights from corpus linguistics have come to be seen as having a significant impact in second language pedagogy. Learner corpora, or collections of texts spoken or written by non-native speakers (NNS) of a language, are now being used for the purposes of enhancing language teaching. Specifically, by comparing the corpus of NNS with native…