This study demonstrated an e-learning system, MyEVA, based on a mixed-modality vocabulary strategy in assisting learners of English as a second language (L2 learners) to improve their vocabulary. To explore the learning effectiveness of MyEVA, the study compared four vocabulary-learning techniques, MyEVA in preference mode, MyEVA in basic mode, an…

Numerous second language acquisition (SLA) researchers have tried to define grammatical difficulty in second and foreign language acquisition--often as part of an attempt to relate the efficacy of different types of instruction to the degree of difficulty of grammatical structures. The resulting proliferation of definitions and the lack of a…

Los Angeles has an educational ecosystem that is rich with partners committed to providing equitable access to learning opportunities for students. Throughout the 2014-2015 school year, the "Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University" (AISR) spent time meeting with a range of partners, including the Los Angeles Unified…

How do teachers and schools create meaningful learning experiences for students with diverse skills, abilities, and cultures? How can teachers authentically assess the learning of their students and build on their strengths and interests in ways that enrich the larger community? How can schools become places where everyone is learning from each…

This study examines the relations among the classroom literacy environment, children's interest and engagement in literacy activities, and children's early reading skills in a sample of 167 children aged 4 and 5 years enrolled in 31 Head Start classrooms. Researchers rated the classroom literacy environment. Teachers reported on children's…

The purpose of this mixed methods study was to examine and explore the institutional policy levers that facilitate successful educational outcomes in a TRiO funded Student Success Program at a large, urban research university in the Mid-South. Three research questions guided the study: (1) how do the educational outcomes of the university's TRiO…

A survey study was conducted to better understand how gameplay enjoyment relates to players' personality traits and video game preferences. This study demonstrated that the core design elements of games that lead to enjoyment can be empirically identified. Similarly, it showed that considering personality, an individual characteristic, can produce…

This article introduces and explains the concept of the "paradox of education" for capturing the polarity between autonomy and heteronomy in education. The paradox of education is an essential part of the curriculum and, if not under control, manifests itself in the discrepancy between the teaching process, its objectives and evaluation…

Support for arts education is a favorite issue in the education media. Policymakers of all stripes routinely declare their devotion to the arts and its importance in students' lives. They often cite findings that students who have arts education outperform their peers on most indicators of academic achievement. Many will relate their own…

To develop children's understanding and ability to enquire, teachers need to create the conditions that promote thinking and the expression of ideas. Opportunities to wonder aloud, speculate, and form hypotheses are essential. These can be offered through the use of visual stimuli--objects and demonstrations, pictures and dramatic scenarios,…

This dissertation proposes a place-based theoretical and methodological framework, informed by concepts of ecology, multimodality, and activity systems. I apply this framework of ecoliteracy as it is defined within the interdisciplinary contexts of rhetoric and composition, linguistics, and Chicana/o studies. Ecoliteracy refers to individuals'…

While the benefits of the using the Learning Cycle have been well researched, one area that has received surprisingly little investigation is the effect that student cognizance of the learning cycle has on student performance in chemistry. The Learning Cycle, with its strong theoretical roots in scientific practice and learning theory, offers a…

Increases in population, climatic changes, and other environmental issues are current challenges affecting the U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) decision to examine land-use trends and emphasize efficient use and reuse of limited resources. Because of global concerns involving limited natural resources, researchers recognize land-use decision…

Through an ecological systems perspective, this study explores factors that influence successful academic achievement for at-risk African American males. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine factors that contribute to the successful achievement and advancement to higher education for African American males from at-risk populations.…

New approaches to emergent learner-directed learning design can be strengthened with a theoretical framework that considers learning as a dynamic process. We propose an approach that models a learning process using a set of spatial concepts: learning space, position of a learner, niche, perspective, step, path, direction of a step and step…