In the beginning of the first decade of this century, some highly-publicized extremistic acts of terror occurred. A hostage tragedy in a school in Beslan (North Ossetia) was followed in the Netherlands by the brutal murder of the controversial Dutch filmmaker and newspaper columnist Theo van Gogh, bomb attacks in Bali and Madrid and other acts of…

The study explores students' and lecturers' experiences of group work assessment in a performing arts department that includes undergraduate studies in theatre, dance and film. Working from the perspective that assessment is a socially situated practice informed by, and mediated through, the socio-political context within which it occurs, this…

Despite their formal dissimilarity, problem behaviors (e.g., substance misuse, binge eating, self-harm) may share a common function. According to Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), this shared function is "Experiential Avoidance," the process of avoiding, escaping or otherwise altering unwanted private events (e.g., thoughts, feelings,…

We are currently at an exciting juncture in developing effective means for assessing so-called 21st-century skills in an innovative yet reliable fashion. One of these avenues leads through the world of "epistemic games" (Shaffer, 2006a), which are games designed to give learners the rich experience of professional practica within a discipline.…

Three- and 4-year-old children were asked to judge which of a set of 3 lines was the longest, both independently and in the face of an inaccurate consensus among adult informants. Children were invariably accurate when making independent judgments but sometimes deferred to the inaccurate consensus. Nevertheless, the deference displayed by both age…

Infants' auditory processing abilities have been shown to predict subsequent language development. In addition, poor auditory processing skills have been shown for some individuals with specific language impairment. Methods used in infant studies are not appropriate for use with young children, and neither are methods typically used to test…

Rough set theory (RST) is an emerging technique used to deal with problems in data mining and knowledge acquisition. However, the RST approach has not been widely explored in the field of academic achievement. This investigation developed an improved RST (IMRST) model, which employs linear discriminant analysis to determine a reduct of RST, and…

This study examined the overlap of dyslexia and specific language impairment (SLI) in Cantonese-Chinese-speaking children. Thirty children with a prior diagnosis of SLI and 9 normal controls, aged between 6;0 and 11;3, participated. The children with SLI were tested for language impairment and dyslexia. Seven retained a diagnosis of SLI but were…

Collaborative exams, with subsections in which students have an opportunity to work with each other, are not yet widely used in introductory geoscience courses. This type of exam structure, with other participatory teaching strategies, was employed in two different courses, and results were found to provide a sensitive and revealing tool for…

This study builds upon the framework of classroom norms (Cobb, Wood, & Yackel, 1993) and socio-mathematical norms (Cobb & Yackel, 1996) to understand how non-traditional socio-mathematical norms influence student reasoning and transitions to advanced mathematical thinking in undergraduate real analysis. The research involves a qualitative…

A longitudinal study was conducted to examine variations in caregiver input and infant attention in association with children's later lexical and syntactic skills. Fifteen infant-caregiver dyads were videotaped during naturalistic interactions when infants were 9 and 12 months old. Videotapes were coded for caregiver style and modality, and infant…

The Welcome Workbook is a practical resource for people working in local authorities who want to see an increase in the number of children fulfilling their right to mainstream education. By providing a clear self-review framework, The Welcome Workbook enables local authorities to audit their existing processes and map a route towards more…

The classroom assessment process can have encouraging results when it begins with "early assessment" that addresses student learning, as well as the social and emotional needs of student(s) in the classroom. This paper presents a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis for classroom assessment. It will review literature…

It's much faster and easier to implement Charlotte Danielson's renowned framework for teaching from "Enhancing Professional Practice" when you have this collection of tools, examples, and assessments. Teachers can use the tools, either on their own or with their students, to: (1) Analyze and assess teaching practice; (2) Integrate elements of…

There are many different conceptions of teacher effectiveness, and defining it is complex and sometimes generates controversy. Teacher effectiveness is often defined as the ability to produce gains in student achievement scores. This prevailing concept of teacher effectiveness is far too narrow, and this guide presents an expanded view of what…