Both researchers and teachers of statistics have made considerable efforts during the last decades to re-conceptualize statistics courses in accordance with the general reform movement in mathematics education. However, students still hold misconceptions about statistical inference even after following a reformed course. The study presented in…

A large body of research demonstrates the incredible power of initial conceptions, scripts, and stereotypes that result from our naive theories. Prior knowledge compatible with information introduced by instructors enhances encoding and retrieval, but hinders learning when in conflict with it. Theories and facts contradicting existing beliefs are…

With most gifted students being educated in a mainstream model of education, the prevailing myth that the regular classroom teacher can "go it alone" and the companion myth that the teacher can provide for the education of gifted students through differentiation are alive and well. In reality, the regular classroom teacher is too often concerned…

This paper reports on an investigation on the use of an analogy activity and seeks to provide evidence of whether the activity enables students to change alternative conceptions towards views more in accord with scientific views for aspects of solution chemistry. We were also interested in how robust any change was and whether these changes in…

Immigrants currently make up over 12% of the U.S. population, with children of immigrants comprising more than 20% of the population. Consequently, English learners are the fastest growing group in U.S. schools today, accounting for 10.5% of the total public school student population in Pre-K through Grade 12 in 2004-2005, a 56.2% increase over…

This study reports research findings on the use of animated cartoons in a multimedia application meant to evaluate their effectiveness in supporting teaching and learning in science. The researchers have developed a cartoon-style multimedia application whereas animated cartoons where designed from scratch using appropriate programs. The study was…

Have you ever had a teacher say, "I'd love to bring my classes to the library more often, but we just don't have enough time because we have to prepare for our state standardized tests?" This response stems from a misconception about the role of library media centers and library media specialists. In some school environments, the library media…

Teachers must clearly distinguish for students the educational technologies (the tools or means) used to investigate a subject from the subject (the task) itself. Without this distinction, students develop critical and fundamental misconceptions about their subjects of study, usually confusing the tool for the task. Digital educational…

One of the major goals of teacher education programs is to prepare globally competent teachers who hold inspiring dreams for the future and who contribute to the betterment of our world and planet (Cushner & Brennan, 2007). This study presents the emerging perceptions of national identity held by preservice teachers who completed their student…

Academic writing in U.S. higher education often involves textual borrowing, referred to as the integration and documentation of reading sources and carried out with summaries, quotes, and paraphrases. Second language (L2) English students are likely to use sources inappropriately and consequentially are accused of plagiarism based on university…

In this study, the author examined the relationship of probability misconceptions to algebra, geometry, and rational number misconceptions and investigated the potential of probability instruction as an intervention to address misconceptions in all 4 content areas. Through a review of literature, 5 fundamental concepts were identified that, if…

Pupils' classrooms are highly variable and teachers have a difficult time addressing the broad range of students' needs in diverse contexts. Additionally, teachers are often not taught how to learn from their own teaching and develop adaptive teaching expertise, a necessary ability for educators in a constantly changing social world. The…

In the United States, foreign language immersion programs are K-8 voluntary programs wherein children are instructed in the core subjects in a language other than English. While these programs are quite popular, many parents, having chosen immersion for their child's education, change their minds and transfer their child into a "regular"…

Western historians working in the first half of the twentieth century established a scheme for writing design history that continues to influence the global histories of today. The historians Douglas McMurtrie, Lucien Febvre, Henri-Jean Martin and Lawrence Wroth believed that the modern history of visual communication began with the advent and…

This paper introduces the background to the JISC work within the e-portfolio domain in the UK and presents an overview of past and current activities and the drivers for these developments. This is followed by a review of JISC's approach to drawing out the learning and implications for e-portfolio practice from this extensive collection of work…