Peer-Assisted Tutorials (PATs), a form of Peer-Assisted Learning (PAL), were introduced to a conventional 4-year honours degree programme in Chemical Engineering. PATs were designed to support students in becoming more self-directed in their learning, to develop student confidence in tackling Chemical Engineering problems and to promote effective…

The use of computers to deliver course-related materials is rapidly expanding in most universities. Yet the effects of computer vs. printed delivery modes on students' performance and motivation are not yet fully known. We compared the impacts of Web vs. paper to deliver practice quizzes that require information search in lecture notes. Hundred…

Conducted for the Bringing Theory to Practice project, this literature review examines the theoretical and research bases for linking engaged learning, student mental health and well-being, and civic development. The findings of this review are discussed briefly in this article. Current prevention literature recommends a shift from targeted…

The purposes of this study were to (a) assess the measurement of school engagement in prior research that used the National Educational Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS:88), (b) systematically develop an improved measurement model for school engagement, and (c) examine the measurement invariance of this model across racial and ethnic groups.…

Engagement is a core component of effective educational programs for children with autism. Analysis of 711 naturalistic goal-directed classroom behaviors of four school-age children with autism and four comparable children with Down syndrome (DS) was conducted. The definition of engagement was expanded to include child compliance and congruence. A…

Student self-report data from 933 Black middle school students and standardized mathematics test scores (SAT-10) were used to examine the relationship among student perceptions of teacher expectations and reform instructional practices, aspects of student motivation, and three student mathematics performance outcomes--time spent studying, expected…

The main aim of this study is to integrate cooperative learning strategies, mastery learning and interactive multimedia to improve students' performance in Mathematics, specifically in the topic of matrices. It involved a quasi-experimental design with gain scores and time-on-task as dependent variables. The independent variables were three…

Group contingencies have the advantages of encouraging individual students to collectively feel responsible for appropriate and inappropriate classroom behaviors and have shown effectiveness in improving students' behavior. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of a random dependent group contingency on the on-task behaviors of…

The authors of this action research project report were teacher researchers who found student disengagement during classroom activities to have a negative effect on their classroom environments and on their students' achievement. The purpose of this action research project was to increase student engagement in classroom activities by implementing…

Teaching students to self-monitor their attention or on-task behavior has a robust history of success in school and has been an effective strategy for students of all ages, including those with and without disabilities. However, this strategy has not made use of advances in technology in order to collect and record performance data. In this study,…

Learning disabled and nondisabled (N=22) children were individually observed in their classroom. Results indicated that normal youngsters spent about 80 percent of observed time on-task regardless of task demands. Learning disabled youngsters varied in their on-task behavior as a function of task demands. (Author/CL)

Considers the need of factory workers for support in rapidly changing tasks and suggests that electronic performance support systems can reduce training time, can be updated many times as procedures change, and can allow those with relevant manufacturing expertise to create electronic procedures that support shop floor workers more effectively.…

The purpose of this study was to examine the use of percentile schedules as a method of quantifying the shaping procedure in an educational setting. We compared duration of task engagement during baseline measurements for 4 students to duration of task engagement during a percentile schedule. As a secondary purpose, we examined the influence on…

The purpose of this action research project report was to decrease off-task behavior through a dot/point reward system and portfolio reflections. Students involved in this research were in second, fifth, and sixth grade. There were a total of 85 student participants and 35 teacher participants. The dates of this research began on September 4, 2007…

Time on task, with its twin elements of purposeful use of "time" and rededication to ensuring the quality of the "task," presents educators at all levels with the opportunity to effect change through relatively straightforward means. The purpose of this article is to highlight several aspects of using time effectively through a series of…