Collaborative case studies and computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) play an important role in the modern education environment. A number of researchers have given significant attention to learning design in order to improve the satisfaction of collaborative learning. Although collaboration engineering (CE) is a mature method widely…

The need to "raise aspirations" among young people from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds has been prominent in UK policy debates over the last decade. This paper examines how this discourse is negotiated and contested by teachers and pupils in a Scottish secondary school. Interviews, group discussions and observations were…

In the mathematics classroom, making sense of story problems can be a challenge for all students. Strategies that promote student discourse offer teachers one way to support their students' sense-making processes. In this article, the authors present a mathematical discourse strategy that was introduced to elementary school teachers during Project…

The group work test is an assessment strategy that promotes higher-order thinking skills for solving context-rich problems. With this format, teachers are able to pose challenging, nuanced questions on a test, while providing the support weaker students need to get started and show their understanding. The test begins with a group discussion…

While many empirical studies demonstrate the effects of instruction on enhancing second language (L2) learners' pragmatic competence (Rose, 2005), few have attempted to gain an understanding of the quality of classroom life in addition to instructional efficacy. Drawing on the framework of Exploratory Practice (Allwright, 2005), the present study…

Purpose: In this study, online in-service training for people employed in the food production industry is scrutinized. The purpose of this study is to analyse how the participants adapt to such online environments in terms of the kind of discussions they establish. The more specific interest relates to how the participants discuss current work…

Although human beings communicate mainly through talking and listening, schools tend to spend little classroom instruction time helping ELLs develop their English oral language skills, writes Wayne E. Wright. In reviewing the research on ELLs' oral language development, Wright concludes that bilingual programs give ELLs the best opportunities to…

This article presents research exploring the knowledge pupils bring to texts introduced to them for literary study, how they share knowledge through talk, and how it is elicited by the teacher in the course of an English lesson. It sets classroom discussion in a context where new examination requirements diminish the relevance of social, cultural…

One of the tensions in conducting participatory literacy research with young children is finding the balance between protection and voice. In this paper, we describe how we sought to create participant-centred research techniques within the evolving design of a yearlong action research study with kindergarten students. Through weekly classroom…

This study aims to describe a novel teaching mode that allows for direct instructor-student and student-student discussions of material balance concepts by means of active learning. The instructor explains the concepts during class time while using a remotely controlled laboratory system that is projected on a screen with real-time access to the…

This study investigates how students who are peripherally positioned in computer science-based, collaborative group work meaningfully engage with the group activity in order to learn. Our research took place in the context of a one-day, all-girl robotics workshop, in which the participants were learning to program robotic devices. A total of 17…

How can history museums incorporate Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) activities while preserving their missions and identities? How do interdisciplinary experiences lead to learning? A cross-institutional exhibit development and evaluation team wrestled with these ideas as they developed "Create.Connect," an National…

This article presents a study aiming at assessing the efficacy of reading newspaper articles with scientific content in order to incorporate nature of science (NOS) aspects in initial primary teacher education. To this aim, a short teaching intervention based on newspaper articles was planned and performed under regular class conditions. First,…

Political oscillations in Myanmar and Thailand, between militarisation and democratic reform, have prompted a rapid renegotiation of the alignments, goals and priorities of non-state education providers, both international and community-based, along the two countries' border. This paper explores the responses to shifts in political environment…

This paper presents different angles on the subject of digital play as a means to develop children's literacy and power, using an online ethnographical study of Swedish preschool teachers' discussions in informal online forums. Question posts (n = 239) were analysed using the Technological Pedagogical Knowledge framework and the Caring, Nurturing…