Part of a larger line of inquiry on the socially constructed experience of the mediated classroom and student socialization in the university community, a study reports on the development of an instrument for tapping student experience in televised instruction classrooms. A theoretical framework underlies the instrument to illuminate reasons for…

Although mathematics can be described as a formalized language, the signs and symbols of mathematical representation are subject to individual interpretation, which, if inaccurate, can lead to inhibitions about and interferences with the mathematical learning process. The purpose of this study was to explore communication in an intermediate-level…

As part of a larger study of teacher-student conferences, a study examined naturally occurring one-to-one writing conference conversations between a ninth-grade English teacher (recommended as an excellent writing teacher) and three markedly different students. The study examined students' grapplings with the structure as well as the content of…

This list of 19 films and videotape recordings was developed in response to teacher requests for practical methods and materials for teaching about cultural similarities and differences. An introductory section briefly discusses classroom teaching about cross-cultural issues and the potential uses of the films included in the list. Indexes list…

This paper discusses seven ways in which college faculty can become actively engaged in scholarship about teaching. The seven principle components of teaching are as follows: (1) subject matter expertise; (2) organized presentation of subject matter; (3) concern for curricular relevance and coherence; (4) informing the curricular change process;…

The conventional nature of school-sponsored writing, in which writing becomes a formal operant within the closed space of classroom signifying practices, is one in which the feminine mode of expression often announces it cannot play. While the masculine style of peer-response to student writing is largely aggressive, the feminine is conceptually…

This paper proposes a reorientation of classroom practices in the teaching of literature, a reorientation proceeding from new understandings of literary reading. The first section of the paper reviews convergences in current theory and research on literary reading that teachers ought to consider when rethinking classroom practice. The second…

A study was undertaken to explore how elementary school children employ help seeking as a means of problem solving in the classroom. High-, average-, and low-ability students at the first-, third-, and fifth-grade levels were targeted for in-depth observation. A "focal-child" observational procedure was used to gather data on naturally…

Research on classroom reading practices reveals a heavy emphasis on teacher monitoring and management of materials. Little evidence exists of teacher explanation in reading, and little is known about the qualitative dimensions of such instruction. With this in mind, a study was designed to provide descriptions of explanations used by effective…

The purposes of this study are to describe teacher-student interaction in a seventh-grade mathematics class and to examine the relationships between teacher-student interaction and achievement by race and sex. Sixteen students taught by a black male were studied. For 10 days near the middle of 45 classroom days, quantitative teacher-student…

Intended for middle school teachers interested in helping students (especially those with no experience attending theater) learn how to read and see a play by themselves, this paper provides a lesson plan based on W. W. Jacobs's dramatic play, "The Monkey's Paw." After furnishing a rationale for reading this particular play, the paper…

A study was conducted to observe four elementary school teachers in an effort to determine the influence that their teaching styles and teaching approaches had on their students' ability to think more critically. After the teachers completed a questionnaire about their classroom situation and had a brief interview with the observer, each teacher…

A study explored (1) the types of teacher oral feedback statements student speakers identify as helpful in improving their speeches, and (2) the types of oral feedback they identify as making them feel either good or bad about their speaking abilities. The student speakers--two female graduate students and a female graduate teaching…

To develop a more accurate and functional definition of "real communication" in the second language classroom, research into the language of teachers and students in their interactions was undertaken through classroom observation. The results show that the assumption that second language classroom language can be described as focusing either on…

This study explores aspects of the hypothesis that communication in cooperative learning groups mediates effects of cooperative learning. The study develops a taxonomy of the cooperative communications of groups of predominantly Anglo and Hispanic elementary school students attending a public school where teachers were being trained to implement…