The Federal Writers' Project was an arm of the Works Progress Administration (WPA), Franklin Delano Roosevelt's massive program to put the unemployed back to work. The Writers' Project was charged with producing an extensive guidebook for each of the 48 states; and more than 6,000 local newspaper writers, novelists, poets, college professors, and…

Research has pointed out that an over reliance on textbooks and lecturing in the social studies often devolves instruction into narrow perspectives and uninspiring activities. Thus, teachers allowed their students to use something they were interested in, technology, to access a wide range of resources for a class project. This assignment, the…

Due to a rapid development and expansion of technology and, as a result, Web 2.0 technologies are providing both teachers and learners with new solutions to the limitations of traditional method in the field of language teaching and learning. The research compared students' writing ability before and after they were taught through blog, a new…

This study reports on science student perceptions of their skills (scientific knowledge, oral communication, scientific writing, quantitative skills, teamwork and ethical thinking) as they approach graduation. The focus is on which teaching activities and assessment tasks over the whole programme of study students thought utilised each of the six…

Library resources are expensive and it is the library media specialist's responsibility to ensure that use of the library's resources is maximized to support the School Strategic Plan (SSP). This library usage study examined data on the scheduling of high school classes for research-based assignments, related to content area curriculum standards,…

Synthesizing the best current thinking about learning, course design, and promoting student achievement, this is a guide to developing college instruction that has clear purpose, is well integrated into the curriculum, and improves student learning in predictable and measurable ways. The process involves developing a transparent course blueprint,…

A successful lecture that includes meaningful class discussions requires students to be familiar with the topics covered in the assigned reading. However, because college students frequently do not complete such reading prior to class, instructors are faced with the challenge of finding methods that would encourage students to do so. The purpose…

Utilizing a feminist autoethnographic stance and method, this article is based upon the dialogues produced by a student completing an assignment for a social work instructor. Various tensions are explored, including the role of autoethnography in both qualitative and feminist research and the role of fear in a woman's life. A critique of the role…

This article examines the role of self-regulation of learning on assigned homework. The findings reveal positive relationships between homework activities and self-efficacy, responsibility for learning, and delay of gratification. This review shows a positive relationship between homework and a range of self-regulation skills that facilitates…

Student consulting is a form of problem-based learning through which students work on strategic issues for organizations. To explore how students perceive their research-related tasks, 15 student consultants were asked to evaluate their comfort levels with seven tasks--adapted from the Association of College and Research Libraries' Information…

Given students' preconceptions of history as fixed information, cultivating students' interpretive and evidence-based thinking is foundational to advancing their disciplinary understanding. This study examines the ways in which preservice history teachers construct tasks that demand students' interpretive and evidence-based thinking and attend to…

With the rapid advances in civilization, technological breakthroughs, and a globally growing workforce, there is a strong need for engineers capable of working in the 21st century environment (Galloway, "The 21st century engineer: A proposal for engineering education reform." ASCE, Washington DC 2008). To help increase the quality and quantity of…

The use of Web 2.0 communication practices in assessment may offer a new approach to assessment "as" learning, a goal for assessment that is more highly valued than assessment "of" and even "for" learning in the literature. This paper describes a case study of a wiki-writing assignment that aimed to achieve this goal. The stakes were high, in that…

The discovery of lead paint on nearly one million toys prompted the world's largest toy company, Mattel, Inc. ("Mattel") to initiate a massive recall in August 2007. The recalled toys fell into two categories: those with impermissible levels of lead paint and those with risks associated with small high-powered magnets. Mattel's…

This article is a qualitative evaluation of the role of reflexive pedagogy; a pedagogic approach used in a first year, academic literacy compulsory module for all first year Bachelor of Education (B. Ed) students offered by the School of Language, Literacies, Media and Drama Education at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. The module is called…