The purpose of this article is to study how students allocate time to different university and extra-university activities and to identify factors that might explain variability both between and within fields of study. At the heart of this exercise is the question of the time students dedicate to academic activities in competition with a whole…

This study investigated the participation of children at the writing center in their classroom during free choice time. For this study, four and five year-old children in the classroom were observed during 20 free choice times, each one of which was one hour. I developed a coding system related to the activities that were intended to develop the…

Science education research has recommended cooperative inquiry based science in the primary science context for more than two decades but after more than 20 years, student achievement in science has not substantially improved. This study, through direct observation and analysis, investigated content-related student interactions in an authentic…

At a time when the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and partner countries are trying to figure out how to reduce burgeoning debt and make the most of shrinking public budgets, spending on education is an obvious target for scrutiny. Education officials, teachers, policy makers, parents and students struggle to determine…

Along with the amount of time spent learning (or time-on-task), the quality of learning time has a real influence on learning performance. Quality of time in online learning depends on students' time availability and their willingness to devote quality cognitive time to learning activities. However, the quantity and quality of the time spent by…

This paper describes the redesign of a faculty development program at a large public university that transitioned from weekly face-to-face meetings to a version that reduced seat time by half. Focus is on course development activities in which individual faculty began designing and developing their online courses. Survey data was collected and…

An instructional method is described that was used in a large, introductory organic chemistry course to ask online, post-class questions and to use the students' answers to design the lesson and learning activities for the following class. Additional goals of this method were to provide relevant, regular, and prompt feedback to students and the…

Based on a statewide survey of professional learning activities among 577 middle school mathematics teachers in Missouri, this study examined two questions: 1) What professional learning activities do middle school math teachers participate in and how much time do they spend in these activities?, and 2) How are teacher qualifications and…

Foremost in an effective curriculum for students with emotional and behavioral disorder (E/BD) is a high level of engaged time--time spent doing meaningful learning activities. Engaged time (time-on-task) is the portion of instructional time that students spend directly involved in learning activities. Walker and Severson (1992) defined the…

Reviews the findings of studies conducted on students' time on task in school, noting especially the factors influencing students' total time in school and their time engaged in learning. Draws implications for schools' use of instructional time. (JW)

The article reviews research on children's use of time with emphasis on maintaining "engagement" (developmentally and contextually appropriate behavior). Techniques for preschool teachers to use to promote high levels of engagement by children with or without disabilities are identified. (DB)

Discusses methodological problems regarding time-on-task in experiments in which effects of extra study aids are evaluated. Illustrations of different methods of studying learning aids and their effects on the outcome are based on six experiments into the influence of concrete analogies on learning. Seventeen references are provided. (EJS)

The study examined whether there were differences in the quality of classroom time spent by 79 mainstreamed learning disabled fifth grade students and 141 regular fifth grade students; and also whether differences in qualtiy of time related to student, instructional, and classroom variables. Trained observers coded learner moves, content area, and…

Observed six children of settled migrants on their first day in nursery school and again 12 weeks later, analyzing changes in their time-on-task. Found that the number of activities selected did not generally increase, but the time spent on sustained activities did, with this time period being significantly longer than those recorded in previous…

Summarizes research developed from a model of teacher effectiveness and student achievement which focuses on: (1) the amount of time allocated to particular curricular content, and (2) the level of students' active learning time during instruction on that curricular content. (Author/AMH)