Describes ten common technical mistakes most graduate teaching assistants make while teaching, such as projecting a weak presence, relying too heavily on their notes, posing vague questions, and not reinforcing student participation. Offers suggestions for correcting the mistakes. States that faculty might want to monitor their own teaching…

Examines users' accounts of asking reference questions in Canadian public or academic libraries. Discusses problems, including failure to conduct a reference interview, unmonitored referral, and failure to ask follow-up questions; and considers how the availability of electronic resources, including the Web, has changed reference transactions and…

Considers the emerging global economy. Discusses the meaning of wealth, not in terms of materials, but in relation to the knowledge and ethical behavior that are forces for economic growth. Suggests ways to help students connect character content to social studies, including lists of discussion questions. (CMK)

Provides strategies, designed to achieve a high aural and artistic level, to help students who hear without really listening. Stresses the importance of addressing Standards 6 and 7 of the National Standards for Music Education (CMK)

Describes an exercise designed to allow for student introductions at the beginning of a new semester while simultaneously revealing ways in which research questions can be constructed to collect data. (WRM)

This article describes an intervention program designed at a small rural school in Western Maryland to help word callers (students who can decode words easily but seem unable to comprehend). The ultimate goal of this program was to teach these children to become reflective readers with the confidence to participate in literature discussion groups…

The type of staff development necessary to improve student achievement is not the type of in-service where elementary teachers just attend a workshop to learn a specific activity to be used when teaching a particular concept. Rather, a comprehensive instructional strategy is the one designed to enhance student comprehension and mastery for…

The authors examined the use of the elaborative interrogation (EI) strategy with a lengthy text in a technology-enhanced environment. As commonly found in traditional and online text materials, questions appeared in the right margins of the text. Seventy-five randomly assigned volunteers in 2 conditions read instructional materials delivered by…

"Real" science is about formulating and trying to solve practical and conceptual problems on the basis of shared beliefs about the world. Scientists build theories and test hypotheses by observation and experiment. They try their best to eliminate personal bias, and are "extremely canny in their acceptance of the claims of others" (Ziman, 2000).…

We present a conceptual framework for scaffolding ill-structured problem-solving processes using question prompts and peer interactions. We first examine the characteristics and processes of ill-structured problem solving, namely, problem representation, generating solutions, making justifications, and monitoring and evaluation. Then, we analyze…

The use of short assessment tasks can provide valuable information about undergraduates' knowledge and understanding. However, it is known that there are gender-related differences in performance on certain types of objective tests, both among school pupils and university undergraduates. This article focuses on undergraduate learning, using a…

Multiple interpretations of art also yield multiple versions of art education, and what looks like learning in one context may not be the same learning in another. How is it then that art educators can come together to do more than read another article and apply what is relevant to their particular, isolated situation? What might happen if a group…

College admission professionals use the interview process as a tool for evaluating prospective students. Academic credentials and standardized test scores may attest to a student's academic ability, but they do not provide reliable insight into a student's motivation, character, intellect or basic values. To assist in this evaluation process,…

While testing children for readiness to enter Kindergarten using the Peabody Individual Achievement Test-R and interview probes, a pattern of responses developed indicating that some of the children were continuing to process answers to questions and to formulate elaborations to statements long after the testing had moved to other questions and…

A group of middle school science teachers and a university researcher recount some of their experiences as they individually and collectively worked toward improving their everyday assessment practices to better support student learning.