The aim of this study is to investigate and compare level of understanding of eighth-grade students and student teachers in their final year in the science education department related to concepts of solution, gas, and chemical change. A qualitative and quantitative methodology was used for this investigation. Open-ended questions and group…

Case studies are frequently used to prepare preservice teachers through reflection and analysis of classroom situations. Previous research suggests asynchronous online discussions provide more opportunity for reflection and analysis than face to face environments. Online case study discussions of two groups of preservice teacher education…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of small group discussion on students' conceptual understanding of chemical equilibrium. Students' understanding of chemical equilibrium concepts was measured using the Misconception Identification Test. The test consisted of 30 items and administered as pre-posttests to a total of 81…

This case study investigated 12 graduate students' online collaborative experiences and attitudes in an instructional design course. The instructor divided students into 4 groups based on their academic backgrounds. Content analysis of asynchronous group discussion board messages was used to measure degrees of collaboration of each group in terms…

This paper considers the value of reflexive pedagogical approaches in the teaching of academic communication and writing. We focus on a course developed for pre-degree foundation students at a London higher education institution. Drawing on the students' learning journals, we examine their reflections of the approaches practised on the course.…

The purpose of this paper is to introduce a practical, effective method of teaching short-term study abroad courses to increase students' global awareness and lay the foundation for the development of a sophisticated global mindset in future managers. The global mindsets discussed in the literature coincide with the levels of cognitive complexity…

Postmodernism has influenced family therapy in significant ways, from clinical work to family therapy research. Little has been written, however, on how to conduct postmodern research in a manner reflecting marriage and family therapy inquiries. The present study seeks to investigate doctoral students understanding of postmodern family therapy…

The purpose of this study was to explore undergraduate students' perceptions of online discussion used as a complement to a traditional classroom setting during the fall 2004 and spring 2005 semesters. Sixty-nine undergraduate students volunteered to participate in this study and completed a questionnaire after this experience. These participants…

The Talkback Project used blog software to involve eighth-grade language arts students, preservice teachers, and parents in online discussion of young adult novels and their personal connections with them. The author shares the challenges associated with the project--including the implications of Internet safety and legal concerns associated with…

Peer-mediated instructional strategies such as cooperative learning are commonly used in general education classrooms in secondary schools; however, students with disabilities often lack the group interaction and discussion skills necessary to fully benefit from evidence-based interventions. The present study used a multiple baseline across…

The concept of communities of practice (CoP) was first introduced by Lave and Wenger in their short monograph, "Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation." Since then, the concept has become immensely popular in a variety of disciplines. This dissertation traces the concept of CoP back to its inception and early transformation at the…

School violence is a complex cultural problem that affects most schools. This study used a participatory action research model involving mapmaking, photography and intercultural grouping to understand how one school's physical environment and social geography contributed to interethnic tensions on campus. The study found that mapmaking allowed…

Online learning is an important and rapidly growing area, and asynchronous discussions are a vital component of online courses. This doctoral study examined the influence of discussion moderator messages, specifically messages with direct instruction content, had on those discussions. This study obtained data from content analysis of course…

The influence of asynchronous discussion in a virtual learning environment, Blackboard, on subsequent coursework grades was examined with 166 psychology students to determine whether asking questions of the tutor online, and/or reading the questions and the given advice, influenced the grades on the report they were writing. A repeated-measures…

Response to intervention (RTI) is advocated in elementary school as a system-wide, multitiered model of academic and behavioral interventions. Middle schools have begun adopting RTI models based on these existing elementary models. This investigation into current middle school RTI practices describes technical aspects as well as some of cultural…