Analogies are ubiquitous during instruction in science classrooms, yet research about the effectiveness of using analogies has produced mixed results. An aspect seldom studied is a model of instruction when using analogies. The few existing models for instruction with analogies have not often been examined quantitatively. The Teaching With…

This resource is part of a series produced by the Center for Standards and Assessment Implementation (CSAI) to assist teachers and those who support teachers to plan teaching and learning from College and Career Ready Standards (CCRS) for all students, including students with disabilities, English learners, academically at-risk students, students…

The researchers wanted to continue in their university's previous study of nature awareness and science achievement, specifically examining the effects of nature in the achievement of seventh-grade students. This further study offered valuable insight to the inconclusive findings of previous researchers of nature awareness and science achievement.…

Today the U.S. higher education system is facing a crisis regarding its perceived quality. One model for improving quality is competency-based education, in which an institution clearly defines the specific competencies expected of its graduates. A key challenge is how to help more people, particularly adults, succeed at the post¬secondary level…

This study investigated an emerging language learning culture by examining the relationship between teachers' pedagogical beliefs and perceived efficacy in two cities in southern Texas. Drawing on Bandura's (1994) theory of self-efficacy and Ashton and Webb's (1986) notions about teacher efficacy, a multi-sited case study was conducted to explore…

The author studied a public junior high school identified as successfully implementing authentic instruction. Such instruction emphasizes higher order thinking, deep knowledge, substantive conversation, and value beyond school. To determine in what ways higher order thinking was fostered both for students with and without disabilities, the author…

This study explored (a) pre-service teachers' perceptions of using concept mapping (CM) in one of their pedagogical courses, (b) the predictive power of such implementation in course achievement, and (c) the role of prior experience with CM, type of mapping, and gender on their perceptions and performances in CM and achievement. The subjects were…

This study investigated the cognitive strategies used by Persian EFL (English as a foreign language) graduate students while reading a hypermedia text. Prior to the start of the study, the Nelson-Denny Reading Test was used in order to measure the reading ability of the students. Data was collected through think-aloud protocols, and the strategies…

The purpose of the study is to determine the impact of previous private, public, home, or international schooling experiences on a Quaker high school's graduating students' college entrance composite exam scores, parents' expectations, and college attendance outcomes. The study's results suggest that regardless of previous private, public, home,…

This brief distills the research on science learning to inform a common vision of science instruction and to describe the extent to which K-12 science education currently reflects this vision. A final section on implications for policy makers and science education practitioners describes actions that could integrate the findings from research into…

This two-part study examines the emerging understanding of the reading process among preservice teachers (PTs), enrolled in a teacher preparation course on diagnostic reading. The study focuses on the use of reading assessment tools to understand the process of reading, while using reading inventories for diagnostic as well as pedagogical…

This paper reports on the impact of a classroom-embedded professional learning (PL) program for mathematics teaching in two contrasting districts in Canada, and investigates the relationship between teacher efficacy and student achievement. Before the PL, District A had lower teacher efficacy and student achievement than District B, but after the…

This experimental study examined students' comprehension of challenging, ecologically valid, history text. We examined the benefits of the elaborative interrogation (EI) comprehension strategy and the main idea (MI) strategy when compared to an independent study (IS) control. This work extended previous research and explored the ecological…

Using a nonroutine problem can be an effective way to encourage students to draw on prior knowledge, work together, and reach important conclusions about the mathematics they are learning. This article discusses a problem on the mathematical preparation of chocolate milk which was adapted from an old book of puzzles (Linn 1969) and has been used…

I investigate how and whether a heterogeneous group of first-year university mathematics students in South Africa harness the potential power of a computer algebra system (CAS) when doing a specific mathematics task. In order to do this, I develop a framework for deconstructing a mathematics task requiring the use of CAS, into its primary…