The purpose of this article is to present empirical evidence suggesting the potential benefits of systematically utilizing general education as the institutional foundation for an integrated, multidisciplinary learning environment expressly dedicated to the promotion of civic engagement. Recently, the authors conducted an assessment of student…

The development of critical thinking skills is a fundamental educational objective and is regarded as an essential component of the general education of college students. To further this objective, this study investigates instructional strategies for improving the thinking skills of college students engaged in collaborative learning endeavors.…

The purpose of this study was to gain information about the high school general educational context for students with and without disabilities. A questionnaire was administered to general education teachers who taught required high school courses in which students with disabilities and students who were low achievers were enrolled. Instructional…

Current figures (CILT, 2005) indicate that, whilst the numbers of students taking post-16 modern foreign language public examinations in England, Wales and Northern Ireland have declined overall between 2000 and 2004, one of the biggest drops is for German, which has experienced a steady year-on-year decline over the same period at the full A…

In this article, the author discusses "Game Face: Life Lessons Across the Curriculum", a teaching kit that challenges assumptions and builds confidence. Game Face, which is derived from a book and art exhibition, "Game Face: What Does a Female Athlete Look Like?", uses layered and powerful images of women and girls participating in sports to teach…

The major purpose of this study was to attempt to understand some of the reasons for Mathematics perception of Taiwanese children compared to American children. The study was conducted with elementary schools in the Denver metropolitan area and Taipei, Taiwan in which fifth graders in each city (21 and 37 respectively) were selected as target…

A variety of barriers relating to resources, institutional and administrative policies, skills development and attitudes can hinder the effectiveness of technology professional development resulting in underutilized technology resources and lack of integration of those resources within instruction. Multiple methods were used to evaluate the…

This study investigated differential effects of learning styles and learning orientation on sense of community and cognitive achievement in Web-based and lab-based university course formats. Students in the Web-based sections achieved higher scores at the "remember" and "understand" levels, but not at the "apply" or "analyze" levels. In terms of…

The present study examined whether specific item characteristics, such as mode of acquisition (MoA) of word meanings, make reading comprehension tests particularly difficult for deaf children. Reading comprehension data on nearly 13,000 hearing 7-to-12-year-olds and 253 deaf 7-to-20-year-olds were analyzed, divided across test levels from second…

The purpose of this study was to explore the effectiveness of using ALEKS (Assessment and Learning in Knowledge Spaces [3]), an online interactive learning system, in teaching a college algebra course at a university. This system was used to replace traditional assignments. The study was conducted in eight college algebra courses in the Fall 2003…

Recognition of poverty and neglect is very important in formulating a practical diagnosis of children's and adolescent's learning disorders. Early brain development forms the basis of learning, behavior and health over the entire life span. Through accumulated stressors and lack of supports, early poverty undermines competent parenting which then…

This research uses an autobiographical approach to examine the relation of age to several aspects of wisdom. In Study 1 (N = 86), adolescents', young adults', and older adults' wisdom narratives were content-coded for the types of life situations mentioned and the forms that wisdom took. Types of life situations reported (e.g., life decisions)…

As we move through the 21st century, the need to prepare professionals to work effectively with students from diverse backgrounds is of utmost importance. This paper discusses the use of service-learning in a pre-service preparation program at a metropolitan university. Service-learning was infused into a course examining issues and trends in…

Over the last decade, research related to personal epistemological beliefs has offered insight into how to promote effective teaching and learning across educational settings. Personal epistemological beliefs reflect an individual's views about what knowledge is, how knowledge is gained, and the degree of certainty with which knowledge can be…

This qualitative study describes the differences in the lived experiences of two elementary teachers and the impact these differences have had on their beliefs and practices as teachers of science. Although both teachers experienced traditional, textbook-driven science instruction as students in schools, their experiences with science outside of…