The central place of the learning environment and the personal characteristics of the learner in influencing whether students adopt deep or surface approaches to learning is well evidenced in the literature (for example, Marton & Saljo, 1976; Biggs, 1987; Entwhistle, 2001; Ramsden, 2003). For this reason, tertiary educators are constantly…

Teacher read-alouds are planned oral readings of children's books. They are a vital part of literacy instruction in primary classrooms. Teachers can use read-alouds to develop children's background knowledge, stimulate their interest in high-quality literature, increase their comprehension skills, and foster critical thinking. While reading,…

This article provides portraits of two women on professional journeys to become bilingual teachers. Stacie Thao was born in Thailand. Nancy Aguilar was born in California, and spent some of her childhood in Mexico. Stacie's first language is Hmong, while Nancy's is Spanish. Each learned English in school, and each helped their immigrant parents…

In this work, we analyze the results obtained by a group of freshmen students in a test of prior knowledge on technical drawing carried out before and after attending an introductory course on this subject. The aim of this course was to help students to gain knowledge necessary to take full advantage of the CAD software that is regularly used to…

This article analyses the trajectories into teacher education of a group of child minders who are studying to become pre-school teachers. The specific focus is what impact their prior experiences and learning from pre-school have on their trajectories, and how these experiences and learning are recognised in the first year of teacher education. A…

This study examined whether cooperative learning and feedback facilitate situated, example-based e-learning in the field of statistics. The factors "social context" (individual vs. cooperative) and "feedback intervention" (available vs. not available) were varied; participants were 137 university students. Results showed that…

Diversity among university students plays a significant role in raising awareness of numerous issues surrounding cultural heritage, language differences, cross-cultural collaboration, and international education. The integration of technological tools can assist students in cooperating nationally and internationally both in their current…

The study aims to characterize contextual learning during class visits to science and natural history museums. Based on previous studies, we assumed that "outdoor" learning is different from classroom-based learning, and free choice learning in the museums enhances the expression of learning in personal context. We studied about 750 students…

The authors present a Bayesian framework for understanding how adults and children learn the meanings of words. The theory explains how learners can generalize meaningfully from just one or a few positive examples of a novel word's referents, by making rational inductive inferences that integrate prior knowledge about plausible word meanings with…

Community gardening provides many benefits for students like outdoor physical activity, an understanding of plant life cycles, food production and healthy eating (Blair, 2009; Whiren, 1995). Gardening also provides hands-on learning opportunities to draw parallels between what is needed for plants to grow and what students need to be healthy. When…

Suggests that seeing is much more than a passive intake of images by the brain. It involves great mental activity and is dependent upon prior experiences. Cites a variety of authors from a variety of disciplines who have written about seeing. Contains 19 references. (DDR)

Due to the role language and literature play in the construction of social, economic and cultural systems, reading comprehension has become a growing challenge. This study examined how the relationship between English as a foreign language reading comprehension and life experiences while using the "Sight Word Strategy" could prove…

The purpose of this study was to determine, through a survey of students registered in the first three cohorts (consisting of 40 students) of Athabasca University's Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) program, the perceived prospects and career and personal plans of students. As they began the program, but before any program interaction had occurred,…

The aim of this study is to compare the attitudes of freshman and senior pre-service teachers pursuing an undergraduate degree in an elementary mathematics education program toward teaching profession and to reveal the kind of relationship that exists between these attitudes. Case study method was used in the study. As a data collecting tool, A…

This paper deals with the features and design of explanations in public physics lectures. It presents the findings from a comparative study of three exemplary public physics lectures, given by practicing physicists who are acknowledged as excellent public lecturers. The study uses three different perspectives: the lecture, the lecturer, and the…