Mathematics teachers face a myriad of instructional obstacles. Since the early 1990s, mathematics education researchers have proposed the use of constructivist practices to counteract these ever-prevalent obstacles. While we do give credit to the choices of instructional activities the constructivist paradigm promotes, there are problems with its…

Previous research on science education has described various factors influencing students' participation and produced categorizations of students based on e.g. cultural background. In this article it is argued, theoretically and empirically, that an understanding of students' participation in science education needs to begin with an analysis of…

This paper examines undergraduate student perceptions of the learning utility of video podcasts. The perceived and actual effectiveness of the technology was assessed by written questionnaire, focus groups and assessment results. The podcasts were perceived as effective in supporting learning, largely by offering a flexible and visual learning…

Much research in recent years has focused on the introduction of virtual learning environments (VLEs) to universities, documenting practice, and sharing experience ([2], [9], [45] and [58]). Attention has been directed towards the importance of online dialogue for learning as a defining feature of the VLE. Communicative tools are an important…

The author first learned about the Shared Journal approach as a doctoral student in the mid-1980s, and she implemented it in her own kindergarten class with great success. Two decades later, she was listening as her own graduate students introduced themselves and described their experiences with teaching writing. A young kindergarten teacher…

Maintaining reading proficiency throughout summer months is problematic for struggling readers. Conceptually framed by sociocultural constructivism, the purpose of this study was to determine parents' knowledge and understanding of effective research-based literacy instruction and to establish the participants' perceived effect of their…

When people read, they often make connections to their lives, the world, and other texts. Often, these connections are not overt, but are a thinking process invisible to observers. The purpose of this study was to explore the intertextual connections struggling middle school students made as they read multiple topically-related texts to build…

Educational theory has had a significant impact on general education programs over the last 25 years, but a lesser impact on student teachers' practice. A common complaint about student teaching is the long standing problem of theory informing practice. To remedy this disconnect, educational researchers have established the importance of…

This paper reports on a study that explored three Thai physics teachers' conceptions about teaching and their relation to the teachers' teaching practice. Naturalistic inquiry served as the research methodology in order to generate qualitative data through interviews with teachers, classroom observations and the collection of instructional…

The professional identity secondary agriculture teachers display can affect their receptiveness and interest in different professional development events, yet is often overlooked when designing professional development because it is not included in the consensus of proven methods of professional development design and delivery (Desimone, 2009).…

This study analyzes the reporting of the September 11th terrorist attacks in social studies textbooks from a Muslim perspective and reports on findings from a study of the responses of American Muslim children to the treatment of the events of September 11th in social studies textbooks. Constructivist grounded theory was used to centralize the…

In this article the author states from the outset that he considers scholarship to be pivotal in enhancing the quality of teaching and learning. However, what scholarship is could well be contested, so he offers his understanding of scholarship, how it might be developed, and why he thinks it is so crucial to quality practice. In so doing, he…

The development of meaningful partnerships with communities is a shared concern of many higher education institutions. However, the building of significant partnerships between universities and communities is still a complex task, which generates multiple tensions. Based on a qualitative study that examined the lived experiences of participants in…

This article describes the teaching and learning culture of a newly established women's college in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The academic culture at Effat College in 2002 included administrators and teachers from many nations, which created unique challenges in cross-cultural communication. These challenges, in turn, affected the development and…

Educators from all realms of education who engage in in-depth conversations and reflections about personal experiences and perspectives related to diversity are significantly important to the cultural understandings in Education. This paper is a narrative analysis of how teachers who were enrolled in a Master's Program from two university campuses…