Co-operative group learning is known to be an effective instructional practice, especially for mathematics. While group work can be incorporated into the classroom in multiple ways, not every group is a co-operative learning community. In the current study, class observations and preservice teacher interviews were used to compare experiences…

Model-based instruction offers numerous benefits to students, including increased content knowledge and critical thinking. This study explored the differences in the knowledge outcomes and reasoning processes employed by undergraduate students in an introductory biology lab as they constructed, revised, and simulated a computational model of a…

"Shluvim" is a professional social network (hereinafter: PSN) in Israel. It serves as a space for educational professionals to collaborate and share knowledge, empower their professional development and receive emotional support. The authors aimed to characterize the groups operating in this network and the role played by the groups'…

The cannon boring experiment of Count Rumford, where eight kilograms of water were boiled by metal on metal friction, is investigated. Consideration of this dramatic demonstration can enrich classroom discussions of calorimetry, units of measure, elements, and thermodynamics. A section pertaining to use of the article in the classroom appears…

This paper reports an action research that aimed to examine how the author's weekly use of reflection and questioning instructional methods affected learners' learning in an online graduate class at a midwestern public university in the USA. The author employed the asynchronous online discussion on the discussion board in Blackboard for learners…

This forum article discusses using disciplinary literacy approaches for reading literary text targeting interpretation as a goal. Disciplinary literacy approaches make the assumption that literacy tasks and processes differ based upon the demands, goals, and epistemology of each discipline and that identifying these differences is key toward…

Whereas science is fundamentally a result of a dialogic debate, the authoritative approach has been conceived of as a fundamental part of school science. Dialogic interactions encompass the mutual appreciation of different ideas manifested in teacher supportiveness toward students and, in authoritative interactions, the focus is more on the…

This article reviews scholarship of incorporating institutional objectives in academic courses and proposes a method to embed mission-critical competencies in a library instruction course. Few academic institutions focus their mission or core competencies on digital communication. LaGuardia Community College delineates three competencies in its…

When teaching through problem solving, effective mathematics teachers need to lead discussions that assist students in making connections between different solution strategies. However, while teaching a methods course for preservice teachers (PSTs), we noticed that after solving a problem and presenting various solution strategies, many PSTs…

This article introduces Peer Review Circles (PRC), a classroom task that fully engages learners in the peer review process. The authors had observed their undergraduate students were reluctant to do peer review and even more reluctant to use the comments received. To improve the peer review process, the authors decided to change it into a…

This article explores pedagogic practices, in particular, material artefacts, which support participation and structure the interaction of international students in seminar discussions. Using both a fine-grained analysis of the artefact in interaction as well as student perspectives on its affordances, the findings reveal how material artefacts in…

This paper describes a method for using instructional analytics to support changes in teaching practice. The study took place in a discourse-focused undergraduate mathematics classroom taught by an experienced instructor. Using the classroom observation tool EQUIP and social network surveys, we generated quantitative data on patterns of student…

Each year students spend thousands of hours participating in discussion forums. Yet there has not been sufficient scholarship on the observable effects of discussion forums on learning outcomes, and there is not a clear understanding of the role discussion forums play in transmitting knowledge of course concepts to students. This study…

In this study, the use of the mobile instant messaging (MIM) tool "GroupMe" was explored in the higher education context. The tool was used to facilitate online course discussions, small group work, and other course communications in face-to-face and online sections of two graduate educational technology courses. Over 900 postings were…

"Why are people marching?" Given today's level of activism, this is a plausible question many students may have. Although only some students voice the questions, it is very likely that many more have pondered why people are protesting after seeing reports of events such as the Women's March (equality for women), March for Our Lives…