Problem-based learning (PBL) is a constructivist pedagogical approach to learning in which students work together to find solutions to a complex problem. This study used a mixed-method approach to examine the impact of PBL on student attitudes toward science, problem-solving skills and their perceptions of the learning environment. Forty-eight…

Purpose of the study: The Alpert Medical School of Brown University began to integrate geriatrics content into all preclerkship courses and key clerkship cases as part of a major medical school curriculum redesign in 2006. This study evaluates students' responses to geriatrics integration within the curriculum using journals kept by volunteer…

In this article, a unique model of instruction based on co-teaching carried out in the framework of the practice teaching program intended for third year college students is presented. The program incorporated principles of modeling based on processes of mentoring, instruction, and discussion, showing the students the pedagogical importance of…

This was an exploratory case study consisting of 14 participants and covering nine weeks. The objective of the study was to discover if collaborative journaling would impact teachers' classroom practices. To accomplish this, a purposive sample of teachers, K-8, with 3 or more years teaching experience was selected. Both quantitative and…

Incorporating a journal writing routine into the classroom is critical to developing autonomous writers. During the course of a full year, a first-grade classroom embarked on a quest to discover the importance of creating successful writers. This study confirms the significance of implementing and establishing authentic and meaningful journal…

This article presents two longitudinal studies that investigated expertise reversal effects in journal writing. In Experiment 1, students wrote regular journal entries over a whole term. The experimental group received a combination of cognitive and metacognitive prompts. The control group received no prompts. In the first half of the term, the…

The purpose of this study was to examine the music interactions between mothers and young infants. Research questions included: (1) What type of musical interactions took place in the mother/infant relationship? and (2) What importance did mothers place on musical interactions within the family structure? Data included interviews, observations,…

Utilizing ecosocial theory and the notion of the environment as text, two teachers, the vice principal and a university researcher, engaged in a year-long, place-based, qualitative action research project in which they used the environment as the integrating context for teaching critical literacy, mathematics, and science. The project revealed…

The number of U.S. homeschooled students has steadily risen from the 1980's to the present, and many eventually choose to attend community colleges (Cogan, 2010; Mason, 2004; Ray, 2004a; Sorey & Duggan, 2008a). Homeschoolers who make community colleges their first structured educational setting outside the home do so for various reasons: (a)…

The purpose of this study was to find the best classroom management strategies to use when teaching in an elementary school setting. I wanted to conduct the best possible management tools for a variety of age groups as well as meet educational standards. Through my research I found different approaches in different grade levels is an important…

In this research project, students in applied linguistics were asked to keep blogs over a three-month period in which they reported on their online informal learning of English through activities such as social networking, downloading films and TV series and listening to music on demand. The study is situated within the framework of complexity…

There has been an increased use of authentic practices in both science and environmental education in recent years. Such practices can utilize social constructivist frameworks to consider the learning that may be taking place as students become engaged in tool use. The current study focuses on a group of elementary school students studying the…

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to identify student and staff experiences with online learning at higher education (HE) using the software Elluminate Live! Design/methodology/approach: This paper adopts a qualitative approach, focusing on the reflections of participants (student and teacher) collated over a 12 month period of piloting online…

This critical ethnographic study explores how two teacher candidates in English education used specific and varied literacy practices to enact their social justice priorities at a troubled high school in a high-need district. Data include interviews before and after the student teaching experience; observations of teaching, blogs, journals, and…

The purpose of this article is to describe the sociocultural learning of 40 second-year students in a Bachelor of Arts in English-as-an-additional-language (EAL) program in Auckland, New Zealand. These learners participated in a teaching and learning intervention involving journalized community placement. The study illustrates how reflective…