This article investigates forms of strategic interaction between siblings during childhood. The authors argue that these interactions, characterized by notions of reciprocity, equivalence and constructions of fairness, are worked out in relation to responsibility, power, knowledge and sibling status. Birth order and age are not experienced as…

Background: People with severe intellectual disability have limited communication skills, small social networks, and may experience isolation. Little is known about how interactions occur with social network members and the role of social support. Method: An adult with a severe intellectual disability was observed in her daily environments. Her…

In this study, face-to-face (FTF) and online students' (N = 198) feelings of and desire for sense of community (SOC) in their courses were compared. In support of previous research, FTF students felt more SOC than online students. However, overall, relatively few students (FTF or online) expressed desire for SOC. Additionally, regression analyses…

Research in home-school communication has incorporated little, to date, about participation by English as a second language (ESL) parents. This article examines the communication processes between recent Chinese immigrant parents and Canadian teachers at secondary school Parents' Nights. Drawing from observations of three annual Parents' Nights,…

In CSCL contexts ("Computer Supported Collaborative Learning") collaborative activities with different levels of structuredeness are often used to foster discussion and exchange among students and enhance collaboration. In this field the debate around whether and to what extent it is useful to structure the activities proposed to students, is…

This article explores the construction of parent-teacher conferences in the Swedish preschool and focuses on processes that construct and maintain these meetings. The analysis draws upon an ethnographic study in two preschools and the empirical material consists of 11 audiotaped parent-teacher conferences and observations of everyday activities…

Studies of the processes by which parents encourage early numerical development in the context of parent-child interactions during routine, culturally relevant activities at home are scarce. The present study was designed to investigate spontaneous exchanges related to numeracy during parent-child interactions in reading and play activities at…

Drama in Education (DIE), as an artistic and educational experience, is sufficiently evidenced in the literature as a dialogical, liberating practice of education. This article discusses a practitioner research project in a second chance adult education school in Greece, where the use of a DIE teaching and learning approach was explored in an…

This study aims to replicate and extend a previous study which was conducted on primary school students' asynchronous online project-based learning. In this study, 276 high school students' participation and interaction in a project-based learning environment was mediated by an asynchronous computer-mediated communication (CMC) tool. The students'…

A risk associated with the use of games in training and education is that players "game the game," instead of focusing on their learning goals. The term "gamer mode" is proposed to describe this attitude. A player with a gamer-mode attitude strives to achieve goals that are optimal for winning the game, but suboptimal with…

The Developing Families Project-South Africa (DFP-SA) is a community-based model of education and training for the care, support and education of vulnerable children birth-to-three and their caregivers, guardians and families in rural and peri-urban townships. The approach fosters interactive learning among community members about early care and…

Fall term of 2006, a web-assisted undergraduate mathematics course was taught at the University of Idaho: Math 235 Mathematics for Elementary Teachers I. The course goals were: To foster a deep understanding of critical mathematical content; and to promote the development of mathematical communication and collaboration concepts, skills, and…

It is acknowledged that perceptions of self and others play a fundamental role in the effectiveness of social interactions (Rose-Krasnor, 1997). This is particularly true in elementary schools where teachers interact six hours a day with students. What accounts for poor teacher-student relationships and the breakdown of teaching and learning is a…

This paper reviews the literature concerning differences in the linguistic style of girls/boys in everyday interactions, and presents empirical data from a study with Greek school children. Two age groups were studied, 6.5 years (N=100) and 9.5 years (N=100), respectively. Everyday life situations were presented, asking children to express what…

Given the increasing import of asynchronous discussions to achieving learning objectives, this analysis proposes an exploratory assessment model that involves three levels of analysis, i.e., argument structure, disagreement, and interaction. The model promotes objective, systematic assessment; streamlines the assessment process; and clearly…