This study introduced developmental adolescent readers to literature circles to balance literacy instruction based on students' needs. Providing students with the option to choose accessible novels to read, discuss, and connect with helps them experience the world of literacy as well as explore their own world in a way that most developmental…

Previous research has shown that undergraduate science students learn from peer discussions of in-class clicker questions. However, the features that characterize such discussions are largely unknown, as are the instructional factors that may lead students into productive discussions. To explore these questions, we recorded and transcribed 83…

Unlike previous research on computer-mediated discussions that has focused analysis on the final conversation as a completed product, this study was focused on the process by which the conversation was created. Using screen-capturing software, the on-screen actions of the nine participants in an online classroom discussion were recorded and…

This essay draws on the voices of both literary critics and adolescent readers, resulting in a contextualization of critical theory exploring Marjane Satrapi's "Persepolis." Satrapi's graphic novel has been praised for its complex composition and story-telling ability. But although it is both a recommended and contested text for an…

Introduction: Education research has clearly verified that a student's perception of the system to evaluate the subject matter will play a fundamental role in his/her implication (deep approach vs. surface approach) in the teaching/learning process of the subject matter. The present work aims to examine the factorial validity and reliability of a…

Learning algebra is critical for students in the USA today, yet many students in the USA struggle in algebra classes. Researchers claim that one reason for these difficulties is that algebra classes often focus on symbol manipulation and procedures above, and many times at the expense of, a more conceptual understanding of the content. Teaching…

Since education became an important aspect of society, teachers have a prelove for highly talented students. Especially young talented people relish profound attention of universities, firms, music ensembles, sports societies and artist groups. In higher education, students are encouraged to develop their unique strong point, named as talents.…

Successful collaborative learning is often conceptualized in terms of convergence, a process through which participants' shared understanding increases. This conceptualization does not capture certain successful collaborative learning processes, especially in the humanities, where multiple perspectives are often celebrated. Such is the context of…

In a 2-year project, we developed and trialled a mode of lecturing professional development amongst staff in our department of mathematics. Theoretically grounded in Schoenfeld's resources, orientations, and goals (ROG) model of teacher action, a group met regularly to discuss both the video excerpts of themselves lecturing along with written pre-…

Addressing the underrepresentation of films by female directors in Spanish language and culture classes, this work proposes the inclusion of two films, Chus Gutiérrez's "Retorno a Hansala" (2008) and Icíar Bollaín's "También la lluvia" (2010), in the curriculum of advanced or upper-level Spanish courses. Both films expand…

With increasing class sizes, faculty have increasingly been using online homework software (OHS) and in-person discussion groups as the classroom evolves. We sought to determine the effect of online homework software and in-person discussion groups on student engagement. Specifically, we posited that expectations influence this relationship, and…

Michel de Montaigne's "L'art de Conférer" offers a moral groundwork for students' learning of "havruta," a traditional Jewish form of studying in pairs, based on collaborative critical text-based learning, that can be applied to students everywhere. The article attends to the nature of "havruta" learning and to…

Employers are struggling to fill jobs with qualified candidates because they find that the majority of college graduates lack "soft skills" such as oral and written communication, interpersonal skills, and professionalism (Carr & Stefaniak, 2012; Fischer, 2013; Tugend, 2013). Students are often more confident in their skill set and…

Teaching students to understand the importance of audience analysis can be challenging. In fact, many public-speaking texts suggest methods for engaging audience analysis that is not always practical or possible (e.g., polling audiences before you speak to them). One practical way of understanding audience analysis is to see it at work in the text…

The research reported here outlines how an emphasis on dialogic interaction and exploratory talk during post-teaching practice discussions can be beneficial to pre-service second language teacher education. The article examines the ways in which such an approach may help promote long-term reflective practice and how enquiry-based talk raises…