Networks and partnerships between higher education institutions and industry have been identified as a primary means of addressing higher education's role in economic development, globally and in South Africa. This article draws on one component of a Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) study to provide an empirically based overview of the…

This article presents an activity for early-in-the-year parents' night. The beginning of a new school year is an exciting time. The authors, as teachers, like to capture that excitement by engaging their 10th-grade biology students in an inquiry project demonstrating the nature of science and scientific inquiry. They developed the Next Step…

The desire to observe and understand the natural world is strong in young children, but high school students often consider science irrelevant to their daily lives. Therefore, as teachers of older age groups, the authors constantly struggle to engage students in scientific exploration so they can master concepts and appreciate the nature of…

Theme-based tests provide an assessment tool that instructs as well as provides a single general context for a broad set of biochemical concepts. A single story line connects the questions on the tests and models applications of scientific principles and biochemical knowledge in an extended scenario. Theme-based tests are based on a set of…

Medical advances and lifestyle changes have resulted in older adults living longer and healthier lives. Nevertheless, older adulthood, as other life stages, requires change in work, family, and health. Self-directed learning (SDL) is one way of negotiating these transitions. The purpose of this study was to understand this process of learning.…

Daily practice tests over assigned reading followed immediately by class discussion can improve learning and grades.

Findings from a universitywide values research project connects students' attitudes and behaviors about institutional mission and values to their perceived impact. (Contains 3 figures.)

High school teacher and instructional coach Tony Winger laments how traditional classroom grading practices lead to grades becoming a distraction from learning--a commodity students feel they work the system to attain--rather than a clear message to students and parents. Teachers' passion for their subjects is too often met with students'…

During the spring of 2004, we conducted research exploring the emotions of struggling readers. Specifically we were interested in finding out how school contexts, curriculum, and relationships influence students' experiences of struggle. Students in this study were 14 first, second, and third graders identified for reading intervention at their…

Teacher collaboration and support given from one teacher to another, focused on improving teaching and learning in the classroom, are notable by their absence in secondary schools in Bangladesh. This article identifies a number of constraints to developing a collaborative culture including the difficulty of the curriculum, the perceived low…

The role of gender in shaping achievement motivation has a long history in psychological and educational research. In this review, gender differences in motivation are examined using four contemporary theories of achievement motivation, including attribution, expectancy-value, self-efficacy, and achievement goal perspectives. Across all theories,…

The influences of course effort and outside (family, job, social) activities on grades earned in a college course were examined for 230 urban college students. Multiple measurements of hours of work, social and family activities, and course effort were collected over a semester. Path modeling revealed that cumulative GPA and course effort had…

Despite the broad appeal of Tinto's (1993) theory, it is not well supported by empirical research, especially when applied to minority students. While prior critiques of the theory indicate the need to modify Tinto's concept of "breaking away" when applying the theory to diverse students, research suggests a need for additional refinements. In…

Persistent low numbers of African Americans in the foreign language teacher certification program at the University of Texas at Austin motivated the study reported here. Two groups of students responded to a questionnaire that sought information on foreign language experience at elementary and high school, as well as family experiences in foreign…

This study compares the instructional practices in honors and nonhonors French and Spanish classes at a Midwestern high school, as well as factors influencing those practices. The researcher observed 54 class sessions and used questionnaires and interviews to obtain teachers' perspectives on instruction. Analysis revealed a statistically…