Previous research from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) presents student reports of time spent on homework and teacher reports of amount of homework assigned. However, no research using recent, nationally representative data has investigated the amount of homework expected of and completed by a cohort of students as they…

This study assessed the influence of using mind maps as a learning tool on eighth graders' science achievement, whether such influence was mediated by students' prior scholastic achievement, and the relationship between students' mind maps and their conceptual understandings. Sixty-two students enrolled in four intact sections of a grade 8 science…

Research has shown a positive correlation between time spent on homework and learning. However, students often engage in off-task behaviors to escape the demands of homework. Youth with emotional or behavioral disorders (EBD) are especially likely to engage in off-task behaviors. Effective interventions to increase on-task behavior during homework…

Many professors who have ventured into online education are finding that shorter, modular clips are a more successful teaching approach than traditional 50-minute lectures. The author cites educators from several institutions who have adapted smaller, 15-20 minute instructional units originally developed for online courses, to their face-to-face…

This paper encourages readers to experiment with inquiry-based learning (IBL) in their courses in the interest of identifying more diverse styles of instruction, and developing a wider understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of the methodology. The aims of the paper are to unpack the meanings of IBL, describe some uses of IBL in…

Secondary vocational-technical education programs in Mississippi are faced with many challenges resulting from sweeping educational reforms at the national and state levels. Schools and teachers are increasingly being held accountable for providing true learning activities to every student in the classroom. This accountability is measured through…

In line with the cognitive theory of multimedia learning by Moreno and Mayer (2007), an interactive, multimodal learning environment was designed for the pretraining of science concepts in the joint area of physics, chemistry, biology, applied mathematics, and computer sciences. In the experimental set up, a pretest was embedded in order to…

What turns a good school into a great school? With today's schools under enormous pressure to make adequate yearly progress (AYP), the answers are more important than ever--and this essential guidebook gives K-12 administrators and educators scores of proven, concrete strategies to help their school succeed. Authors Martin Ratcliffe and Melissa…

The purpose of this descriptive, post hoc single case study was to understand how the five components of Teddlie and Stringfield's (1993) school effectiveness model manifested themselves in school improvements efforts. This study used Teddlie and Stringfield (1993) five component school effectiveness conceptual model (focus on academics, orderly…

This study investigated the effectiveness of delayed, directive praise on the on-task behavior of children identified as having a low level of attention. Utilizing an A-B-A-B single subject design, each child received delayed praise, employed as a directive for future behavior, from his or her classroom teacher during the treatment phases. The…

This study examined the effects of task difficulty on on-task behavior for four students exhibiting low levels of math performance and on-task behavior. Curriculum-based assessments were conducted with each student to define the difficulty level of math tasks for each student based on the individual's rate of accurate performance on computational…

Achievement, engagement, and students' quality of experience were compared by racial and ethnic group in a sample of students (N = 586) drawn from 13 high schools with diverse ethnic and socioeconomic student populations. Using the Experience Sampling Method (ESM), 3,529 samples of classroom experiences were analyzed along with self-reported…

Foremost in an effective curriculum for students with emotional and behavioral disorder (E/BD) is a high level of engaged time--time spent doing meaningful learning activities. Engaged time (time-on-task) is the portion of instructional time that students spend directly involved in learning activities. Walker and Severson (1992) defined the…

The pedagogical assumptions and teaching practices of learning community models reflect exemplary conditions for learning, so using these models with unprepared students seems desirable and worthy of investigation. This chapter describes the key role of faculty in creating active, integrative learning experiences for students in basic skills…

This study examines the cognitive costs of navigation aids in a hypermedia learning task. In a 2(navigable vs. non-navigable) x 2(map vs. content list) experimental design cognitive requirements were measured by users' eye movement data. Additionally, data from users' navigation operations, knowledge acquisition, and subjective evaluation of the…