The report card for the 2008-2009 school year for a northeastern US state indicated that 29% of students performed at or below basic levels on the literacy measure. Previous studies indicated that a cross-curricular instructional design that reinforced fundamental learning skill sets throughout content-area classes encouraged independent learners…

In two experiments, we investigated predictions of the "collaborative theory of language use" (Clark, 1996) as applied to instant messaging (IM). This theory describes how the presence and absence of different grounding constraints causes people to interact differently across different communicative media (Clark & Brennan, 1991). In Study 1, we…

This article describes the use of an observation system to measure middle school staff practices, environment characteristics, and student behavior in the school common areas. Data were collected at baseline from 18 middle schools participating in a randomized controlled trial of school-wide Positive Behavior Support. The observations were…

This exploratory case study sought to analyze data from Collaborative Learning Modalities (Brantmeier, Aragon & Folkestad, 2011) on-line threaded discussions in a teacher education course where pre-service teachers examined the nature of a Facebook event revealing unethical and racist notions against Native Americans. In 2010 a university…

A firefly learning module for the sustainable development was developed for Thai secondary school students in the study province. A deeper connection between environment, social and economic dimensions, which lies at the core of sustainability, became the key issue for this learning module. Also an important dimension of the module was the…

The educational success of Native American students continues to be lower than both the general population and all other minorities, creating a learning gap that contributes to poverty. The use of mainstream pedagogies has not improved success rates, and there is limited research on how cultural practices impact learning. The purpose of this study…

This paper addresses the affective human experiences in terms of the emotions of South African teacher-students while attaining computer competencies for teaching and learning, and for ODL. The full mixed method study investigated how computers contribute towards affective experiences of disadvantaged teacher-students. The purposive sample related…

The Commission on Accreditation of Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE) requires that graduates of physical therapist assistant programs demonstrate a commitment to social responsibility. Service-learning, a method of instruction in which students apply knowledge and skills learned in the classroom to a community need, can assist in the development…

The aim of this study was to examine the factor structure and psychometric properties of an observer-rated youth alliance measure, the Therapy Process Observational Coding System for Child Psychotherapy-Alliance scale (TPOCS-A). The sample was 52 youth diagnosed with anxiety disorders ("M" age = 12.43, "SD" = 2.23, range = 15;…

Facilitating students' critical thinking in asynchronous discussions is important in online learning environments. Since students need to be self-regulated in online learning, the instructors are expected to scaffold students by providing structure and guidance. This paper discusses critical inquiry in two groups of students' online discussions.…

Background: Children growing up in poor versus affluent neighborhoods are more likely to spend time in prison, develop health problems and die at an early age. The question of how neighborhood conditions influence our behavior and health has attracted the attention of public health officials and scholars for generations. Online tools are now…

A major task involved in the management, analysis, and integration of qualitative data is the development of a coding schema to facilitate the analytic process. Described in this paper is the evolution of a coding schema that was used in the analysis of qualitative data generated from online forums of middle-aged women with chronic conditions who…

To determine whether teaching an introductory physics course with a traditional lecture style or with Just-in-Time teaching (a student-centered, interactive-engagement style) will help students to better understand Newtonian concepts, such as Newton's Third Law, 222 students in introductory physics courses taught by traditional lecture styles and…

The MA Entrance Examinations (MAEE) held in Iran since 1990 are frequently criticized as being invalid, unstandardized exams with lots of problem in terms of principles of testing in general and test construction in particular (for instance, Jafarpur, 1996). To make sound judgments about such objections, the present study dealt with a content…

This study describes the effect of grades on second language writing performance. Do students write better when their essays are graded, and what implications might this have for foreign language instruction? This study compares three different types of student writing: graded compositions; for-credit online discussion boards; and ungraded,…