This paper discusses seven ways in which college faculty can become actively engaged in scholarship about teaching. The seven principle components of teaching are as follows: (1) subject matter expertise; (2) organized presentation of subject matter; (3) concern for curricular relevance and coherence; (4) informing the curricular change process;…

The conventional nature of school-sponsored writing, in which writing becomes a formal operant within the closed space of classroom signifying practices, is one in which the feminine mode of expression often announces it cannot play. While the masculine style of peer-response to student writing is largely aggressive, the feminine is conceptually…

This paper proposes a reorientation of classroom practices in the teaching of literature, a reorientation proceeding from new understandings of literary reading. The first section of the paper reviews convergences in current theory and research on literary reading that teachers ought to consider when rethinking classroom practice. The second…

A study was undertaken to explore how elementary school children employ help seeking as a means of problem solving in the classroom. High-, average-, and low-ability students at the first-, third-, and fifth-grade levels were targeted for in-depth observation. A "focal-child" observational procedure was used to gather data on naturally…

Research on classroom reading practices reveals a heavy emphasis on teacher monitoring and management of materials. Little evidence exists of teacher explanation in reading, and little is known about the qualitative dimensions of such instruction. With this in mind, a study was designed to provide descriptions of explanations used by effective…

The purposes of this study are to describe teacher-student interaction in a seventh-grade mathematics class and to examine the relationships between teacher-student interaction and achievement by race and sex. Sixteen students taught by a black male were studied. For 10 days near the middle of 45 classroom days, quantitative teacher-student…

Intended for middle school teachers interested in helping students (especially those with no experience attending theater) learn how to read and see a play by themselves, this paper provides a lesson plan based on W. W. Jacobs's dramatic play, "The Monkey's Paw." After furnishing a rationale for reading this particular play, the paper…

A study was conducted to observe four elementary school teachers in an effort to determine the influence that their teaching styles and teaching approaches had on their students' ability to think more critically. After the teachers completed a questionnaire about their classroom situation and had a brief interview with the observer, each teacher…

A study explored (1) the types of teacher oral feedback statements student speakers identify as helpful in improving their speeches, and (2) the types of oral feedback they identify as making them feel either good or bad about their speaking abilities. The student speakers--two female graduate students and a female graduate teaching…

To develop a more accurate and functional definition of "real communication" in the second language classroom, research into the language of teachers and students in their interactions was undertaken through classroom observation. The results show that the assumption that second language classroom language can be described as focusing either on…

This study explores aspects of the hypothesis that communication in cooperative learning groups mediates effects of cooperative learning. The study develops a taxonomy of the cooperative communications of groups of predominantly Anglo and Hispanic elementary school students attending a public school where teachers were being trained to implement…

Rhetorical ethos, or the character of the rhetor as she presents herself in discourse, is vital to the success of any student attempting to enter the universe of academic discourse. According to Aristotle, ethos is demonstrated by showing good sense, good character, and good will. However, in the modern university, with the diversity of…

A study of the use of interactive discourse in the second language classroom begins with a discussion of the regulation of discourse, examines the use of scenarios for the promotion of interactive discourse, and provides evidence from classroom use of the effectiveness of this technique. Three types of discourse control are noted: object…

Reported in this document are observations of early childhood education in England, Israel, Seychelles, and China. Specifically, observations focus on (1) teacher behavior, including behavior toward individuals, small groups, and large groups or whole classes; (2) teacher demonstration behaviors; (3) teacher verbal and nonverbal behaviors, such as…

The Effective Classroom Management and Discipline Strategies Graduate Program for Educators is organized around a series of core modules designed for use in inservice teacher education. The basic skills learned in these series of modules are communication (feedback, nonverbal, listening, self disclosure, problem solving, and conflict resolution),…