This research shares findings from a year-long observational study to determine if there were significant differences in the identified behaviors of teachers and students in fourth and seventh grade classrooms in schools with an achievement gap versus those with no achievement gap. Specific research questions addressed types of instructional…

This paper examines the feasibility of using historical case studies to contextualise the learning of the nature of science and technology in a biology lesson. Through exploring the historical development of vaccine technology, students were expected to understand the complexity of the relationships between technology and science beyond the…

This work addresses the use of tablets and smartphones to enhance both student learning and engagement. Tablets were tested as potential substitutes for digital whiteboards, while smartphones were tested as potential survey media in the classroom using a question and answer method. Two teaching strategies were evaluated and compared: (1)…

In this article the authors share how social media, paired with gaming and in-class supports, can facilitate the practice of scientific argumentation and report data that show how students can learn and practice argumentation through these highly interactive and engaging mediums. Social media will continue to evolve and fluctuate in popularity,…

Deficits in question-asking are common in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Furthermore, their opportunities to self-initiate questions are often hindered by directive behavior of their conversation partners. This study assessed the effectiveness of staff training in pivotal response treatment (PRT) on staff member-created…

This study investigated the factors underlying the estimation of learner self-confidence during explanations with a conversational agent in an online explanation task. Based on reviews of previous studies, we focused on how factors such as the learner's task activities and personal characteristics can be predictors. To examine these points, we…

This article explores the multiple educational uses of the question, "what do you mean by_____?" as an interlocutor's conversational gesture during classroom discussion, as a text-based prompt for both encoding/writing and decoding/reading, and as a rhetorical device for an effective oral presentation. Kaitlin Briggs explains that the…

During their education, students are presented with information across a variety of academic domains. How students ask questions as they learn has implications for understanding, retention, and problem solving. The current research investigates the influence of age and prior knowledge on the ways students approach questioning across history and…

Students today are facing a global society which is interconnected. This necessitates competencies in digital and cultural integration skills to become successful global citizens. This study reviews the benefits and challenges of global education and intercultural interaction amongst students participating in eTwinning projects between various…

Purpose: This study aims to design and measure the effects of the culturally inclusive science teaching (CIST) model on 30 teacher candidates to teach science to culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) students. Design/methodology/approach: The CIST model for culturally inclusive science lessons included six sessions: inquiring, questioning,…

This study examines classroom task instructions--phases traditionally associated with noninteractional objectives and operations--and reveals their composition as interactionally complex and cocrafted. Analyses of video sequences of task instructional activity from three different secondary school lessons show that student questions routinely…

This study examined various ways of asking questions about target vocabulary words during shared storybook reading with young Hispanic dual language learners enrolled in Head Start. The study examined the demand level and placement of adults' questions during shared storybook reading. The research design incorporated five conditions; namely,…

School science practical activities have been criticised for exposing learners to a series of phenomena disconnected from the conceptual frameworks needed to understand them. Such activities are successful in the "domain of observables" but not the "domain of ideas". Few resources exist for classroom teachers wishing to improve…

Fathers' child-directed speech across two contexts was examined. Father-child dyads from sixty-nine low-income families were videotaped interacting during book reading and toy play when children were 2;0. Fathers used more diverse vocabulary and asked more questions during book reading while their mean length of utterance was longer during toy…

Prior research indicates that the frequency with which students participate in classroom discussion is positively related to learning. This study examines students' perceptions of the relationship between their class discussion participation and learning and between preparation and both comfort with participating and actual discussion…