Examines student experience of criterion-referenced assessment and, in particular, a criteria assessment grid developed for the Business School at Oxford Brookes University (UK). Findings revealed that students desired more reliable marking processes and clearer guidelines on assessment requirements and criteria. The criterion-referenced grid,…

Presents students' responses when the author asked whether or not it was worthwhile to study King Lear. Recognizes that she could not sell Shakespeare to her students and that most of them will never read another of his plays. (SG)

Describes how students respond when in transition from traditional to innovative language arts instruction. Offers a three-stage grounded theory of change: Comfortable Dependence, Anxiety, and Comfortable Independence. Suggests findings were consistent with other change research that indicates that change is a process implemented over time, is…

Explores the effectiveness of using short video clips from feature films to highlight theoretical concepts when teaching social psychology. Reveals that short video clips have many of the same advantages as showing full-length films and demonstrates that students saw the use of these clips as an effective tool. (CMK)

Describes outcomes of a six-year study of students' participatory research on literacy motivations and schooling. Suggests the need for a fundamental shift of the dominant epistemology in society and schools to one based on trusting, listening to, and respecting the integrity of the minds of all participants in schooling. (NH)

Presents a genealogy/migration assignment that encourages students to recognize how their individual histories fit into the global world. Expounds that the students traced the migration of their ancestors from the Eastern Hemisphere to the United States and then within the United States to the Appalachian region. (CMK)

Provides suggestions for how faculty can encourage students to take faculty evaluations seriously and to provide thoughtful and constructive criticism. (EV)

The reauthorization of IDEA (the Individuals With Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004) includes potential use of a response to intervention (RTI) model for the identification of learning disabilities. Using this model, a variety of academic interventions may be implemented with a low-achieving student, with the results monitored to…

While we often assume media are highly effective tools for learning, research shows an unpredictable relationship between text and audience response, with variable interpretation being the norm. This can be especially problematic in anthropology, whose central goal is to understand different cultures; some studies suggest that films may reinforce…

Several years ago, Gloria Brinkman developed an assessment tool for use in her art classes that is simple, efficient, and has proven to increase both student learning and student appreciation of the creative process. The format is based on a ten-point handwritten response to three specific prompts entered weekly in a journal. The journals can be…

Persuasion is an interactive process through which a given message alters individuals' perspectives by changing the knowledge, beliefs, or interests that underlie those perspectives. Although persuasion is seen as central to effective teaching and learning, there is still much to understand about the characteristics of learners, texts, and tasks…

Although U.S. schools typically express commitment to preparing students for the responsibilities of democratic citizenship, most American youth are socialized for adult civic life by an institution that defines them as passive and subordinate and treats them in ways that are anything but democratic. In contrast to such counterproductive…

Technology in the university classroom has made great strides in the area of presentation of materials. Ceiling-mounted projectors and media carts with projection capabilities have made the multimedia classroom presentation a routine event for much of the world of higher education. Now there is technology that permits the instructor to solicit…

We report on an investigation of students' ideas about gravity after a semester of instruction in physics at university. There are two aspects to the study which was concerned with students' answers to a carefully designed qualitative examination question on gravity. The first aspect is a classification of the answers and a comparative study of…

In this article, the author discusses a project involving the observation of 12 teachers in different schools, teaching pupils at Key Stage 3 of differing ages and abilities, noting both questioning techniques used and pupils' responses. The teachers involved were volunteers, chosen to give a range of experience, styles, and school, and included a…