This study investigates how peer assessment can help students to learn about photosynthesis in a "high attaining," year nine class in a UK 11-18 comprehensive school. There is limited research on how peer assessment can influence the learning of "high attaining students"; most existing research focuses on how formative…

The open-ended, informal, and socially negotiated nature of role-playing games creates a distinct learning challenge for newcomers to the hobby. The explicit rules of the game provide only an incomplete framework for structuring the actions of players, and the expectations and mores of a given group will add other, unspoken rules that discourage…

This article reports on an empirical study that tests a fourth-order factor model of strategic competence through the use of structural equation modeling (SEM). The study examines the hierarchical relationship of strategic competence to (a) strategic knowledge of cognitive and metacognitive strategy use in general (i.e., trait) and (b) strategic…

There is reliable evidence that new vocabulary is primarily acquired through wide independent reading. However, struggling readers tend to avoid reading, resulting in limited word encounters and inadequate vocabulary growth, and they often have difficulties inferring the meanings of new words from context. While there are no clear solutions to the…

Existing research identifies that students' approaches to assignments are related to their general approaches to study. It is suggested that students need to better understand the requirements of assignments and acquire new concepts such as "argument". This fine-grained study proposes four qualitatively distinct assignment pathways: gathering,…

Self-directed learning (SDL), is an essential concept in problem-based learning (PBL), and, in a broader sense, student-centred learning. Considering the complex nature of SDL, it has been taken for granted and given a shallow meaning, i.e. self-study. In order to develop a deeper understanding and make use of the potential in SDL, this paper…

By balancing the spacing effect against the effects of recency and frequency, this paper explains how practice may be scheduled to maximize learning and retention. In an experiment, an optimized condition using an algorithm determined with this method was compared with other conditions. The optimized condition showed significant benefits with…

Purpose: This paper aims to explore how teaching and assessing reflective learning skills can support postgraduate practitioners studying organisational change and explores the challenges for tutors in assessing these journals. Design/methodology/approach: Assessment criteria were developed from the literature on reflective practice and…

Professional learning communities (PLCs) have been held up as powerful structures for teachers' continuing professional development. In this work, the author has applied transformative learning theory to highlight the psychic risks of collaborative teacher learning, as well as the need for practical efforts to improve student learning--the means…

Purpose--The paper aims to provide a theoretically-based set of skills and practices that develop organizational members and leaders while building organizational capacity. Design/methodology/approach--The paper advances four arguments about learning and leading, drawing on classical and contemporary scholarship of organizational learning theory…

This research project explores the language practices that emerged as a teacher taught a lesson designed to promote science literacy development for traditionally underrepresented students. This ethnographic study of a Detroit, Michigan, school examined the teacher's use of science language and its influence on students' use of science language.…

This article is based on a case study of a white American graduate student, Mark, who achieved "Superior" oral proficiency in Arabic according to the ACTFIi Oral Proficiency Scale. Based on multiple data sources (e.g., interviews, observation, document analysis), the study highlights Mark's multiple identities as a language learner, language…

Teachers need to monitor students' self-efficacy judgments, as well as their mathematics learning, to provide optimal instruction. First, inaccuracies in self-judgments appear to be a major liability for elementary and middle school children. Classroom practice must cultivate the knowledge to succeed and should nurture the belief that one can…

Knowledge about self-regulation and motivation processes enables students to maximize their college career paths and allows universities to implement better intervention programs to encourage struggling students to persist and complete their educational studies. College administrators and instructors should focus on developing interventions to…

Previous research (Richardson, 1994) held to the myth that older or nontraditional students are at a disadvantage when returning to a university. However, Hoskins and Newstead, (1997) reported that non-traditional students have a slight advantage over traditional students and are reported to obtain better degrees on the average than younger…