When considering the variety of questions that can be used to measure students' learning, instructors may choose to use multiple-choice questions, which are easier to score than responses to open-ended questions. However, by design, analyses of multiple-choice responses cannot describe all of students' understanding. One method that can…

Although student production of arguments in group learning environments has been shown to promote scientific reasoning and understanding of science concepts, little previous work has examined the relationship of the structure of curricular materials to the production of argumentation. In this study, we examined this relationship for a collection…

Formative assessment has long been identified as a critical element to teaching for conceptual development in science. It is therefore important for university instructors to have an arsenal of formative assessment tools at their disposal which enable them to effectively uncover and diagnose all students' thinking, not just the most vocal or…

In the era of the Common Core, teachers in all subject areas and grade levels are seeking ways to help students engage with and reflect on the meaning of texts. In "Interpretive Discussion," Sophie Haroutunian-Gordon guides teachers through a carefully refined process for preparing, leading, and reflecting on these powerful conversations…

Background: Asking questions is an important scientific practice, and students around the world are expected to learn how to ask their own research questions while performing inquiry. In contrast to authentic scientific inquiry, in most simple inquiry tasks that are carried out in schools, the research questions are given to the students. Here, we…

Students' thinking and learning in inquiry-based science is contingent on them being able to participate in substantive conversations so they explore their ideas and develop reasons and explanations for the outcomes of their investigations. While teachers understand the importance of talk for student learning, they are often unaware of the impact…

There are many reasons to believe that open-ended (OE) and multiple-choice (MC) items elicit different cognitive demands of students. However, empirical evidence that supports this view is lacking. In this study, we investigated the reactions of test takers to an interactive assessment with immediate feedback and answer-revision opportunities for…

The aim of this paper is to identify the students' and faculty members' perspective on teaching communication aspects and dynamics, and also to predict pattern changes that may improve communication effectiveness at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Particularly, we were interested to find out to what extent the "fear of giving the wrong…

As states release draft Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) state plans for public comment, advocates and other stakeholders have an important opportunity to improve them. The Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) is offering a list of questions, which is included in this document, to consider when reviewing state plans. These…

There has been longstanding debate about whether the level of complexity of questions received at reference desks and via online chat services requires a librarian's expertise. Continued decreases in the number and complexity of reference questions have all but ended the debate; many academic libraries no longer staff service points with…

This article investigates the strategies web-writers develop when their audiences respond to them via textual participation. Focusing on three web-writers who want to "continue the conversation," this article identifies five major strategies to accomplish this aim: (a) editing after production, (b) quotation, (c) question posing, (d)…

This paper has reviewed the previous studies on metacognitive strategies based on planning, monitoring, and evaluating in order to develop reading comprehension. The main purpose of this review in metacognition, and reading domain is to help readers to enhance their capabilities and power reading through these strategies. The researchers reviewed…

We examined the language practices of five mother-child dyads during a structured play activity, particularly in relation to maternal question use. The study includes second-generation, 4-year-old children of Mexican immigrants who demonstrate either high vocabulary levels in English and Spanish or low levels of vocabulary in both languages.…

Faculty librarians who advise undecided students have found the experiences of novice researcher and advisee comparable: Both groups seek to solve a problem or answer a question by finding new information to add to their current understanding and knowledge base. As a result, librarians familiar with needs and stages of the research process may…

Guiding students to generate testable scientific questions is essential in the inquiry classroom, but it is not easy. The purpose of the BDC ("Big Idea, Divergent Thinking, and Convergent Thinking") instructional model is to to scaffold students' inquiry learning. We illustrate the use of this model with an example lesson, designed…