This study investigated the effects of two instructional components, literature logs and instructional conversations, on the story comprehension and thematic understanding of English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) learners. Subjects were 5 teachers and 116 fourth- and fifth-grade students; slightly over half were ESL learners in their first or second…

This booklet promotes the use of focus groups as part of a strategy for understanding and improving minority participation throughout independent higher education. A focus group is a small discussion group designed to elicit perspectives about a particular topic, with discussion generally intended to identify hypotheses, issues, and an overall…

As background for its fifth meeting, Ocotillo, the faculty-driven think tank for instructional technology issues of the Maricopa Community Colleges (Arizona), presents reports from its working groups for 1991-92. The groups explore the uses and development of educational technology, particularly in the community college setting. The reports are:…

This document is part of a series that seeks to help people think constructively about foreign policy issues, to improve citizen involvement, and to encourage debate on public issues. "Europe in Turmoil: 1914-1945"; "The Search for Security: 1945-1985"; and "Revolutionary Changes in Europe: 1985-1993" are the issues…

Four student and two faculty focus groups met to discuss interdisciplinary education at the Minnesota Center for Arts Education. The focus groups perceptions about interdisciplinary education resulted in several primary conclusions: (1) interdisciplinary education is not extensive in public education systems; (2) most students feel a primary…

A study examined a resistant student's interactive discursive practices within a participant framework. Data were taken from observations, audiotapes, and transcripts of teacher-led small group discussions in two sixth-grade classrooms at a public urban middle school. Seven visiting teachers from a university and 56 students in the two classes…

A 12-week program was developed and implemented with the purpose of utilizing classical literature to encourage prosocial skills in eight students, with aggressive and violent behaviors, residing in a private residential treatment center. The program was initiated in response to the increasingly high numbers of student attacks on mental health…

This series of discussion sessions and suggestions for further reading, was designed to serve as a guide for discussion groups made up of parents of preschool children. The first chapter discusses the organization of groups, leaders' qualifications, the general format of sessions, recordkeeping, and suggestions for the first and final sessions.…

This paper examines the teacher educator's role in assisting prospective teachers to grasp what it means to transform knowledge so that content and pedagogy intersect. Knowledge is not certain nor is its authority held in the text or the teacher's lesson plans. If students perceive knowledge to be open-ended, requiring vital curiosity, they will…

Calls for the unification of mathematics education research have been made from many pedagogic perspectives, particularly with respect to the need for raising dynamic models that bridge the learning-teaching gap and that portray the ways that the meanings of specific mathematical procedures and concepts are constructed within individual…

Calls for increased student involvement in mathematics classroom learning situations are due primarily to the recognition that a traditional lecture/demonstration format within school mathematics instruction is not effective in fostering and promoting students' problem-solving abilities, mathematical reasoning power, and mathematical communication…

A guide to learning strategies for English as a second language (ESL) college students outlines a variety of classroom and study skills, information about American academic practices, and common cultural misconceptions. Sections are included on listening with comprehension, understanding lecture format and style, taking lecture notes, speaking for…

This unit, one of six which comprise the Fair Play program, is designed to develop decision-making skills in middle school students. The Fair Play program is a series of student and teacher materials the purpose of which is to help students expand their female or male self-concepts, increase their decision-making skills, and improve their academic…

Student writing can be used in literature classes as a motivational and learning tool. Through careful planning, writing activities can (1) demonstrate that student ideas on literature will be considered seriously, (2) integrate students' literary opinions with those of the instructor and established critics, (3) improve student writing skills,…

National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) data included in America's Challenge: Accelerating Academic Achievement, indicate the scope of the task of reaching the National Goal for Education on Student Achievement and Citizenship. This discussion guide focuses on the five corollary objectives of the National Goal, which are to: (1)…