This study focuses on ways of organising literacy instruction to raise the skill levels of low-achieving, language minority students. The study involves two teachers and twenty-two students of their students from the Dominican Republic, most of whom had scored well below the 41st percentile in Spanish and English reading and writing tests (the…

With the advent of new technologies, more convenient and effective ways of learning are being adopted. However, despite the growing advancements there remains a lack of literature in applications of using these technology teaching approaches. This book offers in-depth analysis of new technologies in blended learning that promote creativity,…

This paper describes an experimental exploration of special procedures used in a game-like online expository writing experience that was designed to help preservice language arts teachers develop descriptive writing skills. Participants were asked to describe a target picture within a picture set to their cohorts in an online discussion in order…

The purpose of the research was to define online bullying, determine its incidence in higher education, and survey methods instructors used to respond to those students who use the online forum to intimidate or offend their classmates or instructors. The study extended Tattum and Tattum's (1992) definition of bullying to define the term…

The 21st Annual Conference on Undergraduate Teaching of Psychology was held on March 28-30, 2007 at Hudson Valley Resort and Day Spa in Kerhonkson, New York. The conference was sponsored by the Psychology Department of Farmingdale State College. The conference included twenty five presentations and ten of these are included in these proceedings.…

I created a newsgroup with Yahoo Groups and invited all male and female colleagues at the College of Languages and Translation to register. The aims of the newsgroup were to share college news, discuss academic issues and student and faculty problems, learn about each other's publications and academic activities. Although messages were sent to the…

Several studies examining computer-mediated communications (CMC) in online courses have found low levels of participation under both voluntary (ungraded) and mandatory (graded) conditions. This is troubling since student participation is widely considered to have a positive impact on performance. Program-level data were analyzed to explore the…

This study reports on exploratory research that investigated biology teachers' perceptions of their online information seeking practices and how these practices influenced their instructional planning activities. Quantitative and qualitative analyses of the results of an online survey and ten in-depth interviews measuring use of specific online…

Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are transforming the priorities of the International Reading Association (IRA) and the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) to focus on preparing for the "new literacies." According to the Partnership of 21st Century Skills, "new literacy" is the ability to use ICTs to develop 21st…

Covering everything from day-to-day learning activities to schoolwide goals, this engaging book reviews key topics in literacy instruction for grades 5-12 and provides research-based recommendations for practice. Leading scholars present culturally responsive strategies for motivating adolescents; using multiple texts and digital media;…

This volume offers practical suggestions to teachers on how to improve teaching methods at the higher education level. Suggestions span various types of teaching tasks and settings. Chapter 1 is on teaching in large groups and includes lecture preparation, what to do when things go wrong, evaluating a lecture, and related topics. Chapter 2…

In designing materials for use in a contructivist learning environment, instructional designers still have a role in selecting the situations that may provide a stimulus for knowledge construction and providing features that support students and teachers in using these materials. This paper describes the process of designing a series of case-based…

The identification of the characteristics of teaching experts can help beginning teachers to learn and provide a picture for both beginning science teachers and science educators on what has been accomplished and what has to be done in the future. This study, as part of an evaluation project, was intended to investigate the progress of a group of…

This study attempted to describe and interpret informal staff development among 23 first grade and kindergarten teachers, and a counselor working together to create a new language arts curriculum. This report of the research includes data from 11 participants. The paper begins with a review of relevant literature covering research on staff…

This instructional text is intended as an alternate motivational guide to teaching English composition. It consists of the use of the question-and-answer, open discussion approach--resembling to some extent, the Socratic method. None of the program's units contain techniques for teaching the grammatical aspects of writing, but every unit…