This study investigates how two groups of bilingual algebra students reasoned about rate, slope, and linear functions during peer discussions. This investigation brings together and advances research that investigates issues at the intersection of collaborative learning, algebraic reasoning, and the use of mathematical discourse practices. A…

The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of a SIOP-based training on lesson preparation and delivery of elementary mathematics for English language learners. In a qualitative case study of six elementary teachers, data sources included videotaped observations of classrooms, lesson plans, and semi-structured interviews. Data…

Using a sociocritical approach to the study of language and literacy and discourse analysis, this article examines student initiated challenges in a sheltered English course with two types of English learners: native+, ESL students; and, recently, arriving ESL students. The analysis draws on 19 hours of video-recorded observations of…

Transitions in early childhood classrooms are changes from one activity to another or from one place to another. Well-planned transitions can be positive learning experiences for children. During transitions children can sing songs, follow a leader by copying his or her physical motions, practice counting, or even recite a favorite poem or nursery…

Task-based learning has been recommended in immersion classes in order to provide relief from the usual teacher-fronted lessons and increase the opportunities for student output. This paper presents one aspect of the data collected during the on-going evaluation of a late partial immersion French programme in an Australian school. It presents the…

This study examines the effectiveness of a classroom response system (CRS) and architecture students' perceptions of real-time feedback. CRS is designed to increase active engagement of students by their responses to a question or prompt via wireless keypads. Feedback is immediately portrayed on a classroom projector for discussion. The authors…

This paper describes how teachers employ gaze, head nods and pointing gestures in allocating response turns to students in whole-class instructional interaction. Specifically, it focuses on examining teachers' embodied allocations--that is, turn-allocations produced (mostly) by embodied means--and the sequential positions in which they are…

We set out to understand how different instantiations of inquiry emerged in two different years of one elementary teacher's classroom. Longitudinal observations from Mrs. Charles' 5th grade science classroom forced us to carefully and deliberately consider who exactly was responsible for the change in the class activities and norms. We provide…

This paper is about the displays of orientation that students use to participate in the classroom. It is argued that students use their direction of gaze, body posture, gesture and other modes of communication to realize such displays and respond to what goes on when they are not nominated speakers. The focus of the paper is on the silent but…

Professors and researchers have reported an increase in incivility within their classroom and have expressed their frustration, "...that classroom terrorists have hijacked their courses" (Lepper, 2000). Incivility has produced distractions and stresses that interfere with the instructor's ability to teach and students' ability to learn.…

Prenskey (2005) asserted that a major problem within education is not that the information being taught lacks "relevance" to students lives, but that there is a lack of engagement with educational tasks. When attempting to engage classes, tutors are aiming to draw students into learning activities--to involve them--and thus promote active learning…

School literacy has been identified with specific ways of talking about texts, especially during teacher-led lessons. This paper considers school literacy through a focus on talk about error correction during a time of individual writing activity in an early years classroom. Conversation Analysis is used to develop descriptions of error correction…

Semiotic work is principled engagement in the making of meaning. The semiotic work of school-based learning entails interpretation and expression framed by the curriculum and the social practices of the classroom, and realized multimodally in diverse pedagogic interactions and activities. Micro-examination of the relationship between a teacher's…

One of the main issues often discussed among academics is how to encourage active participation by students during classroom discussions. This applies particularly to students at the tertiary level who are expected to possess creative and critical thinking skills. Hence, this paper reports on a study that examined how these skills were…

Economic and market globalization in the United States has engendered a multicultural learning environment that challenges both faculty and students. Diversity in the classroom is further complicated by nonverbal communication, which impacts on students' attitudes toward faculty members. Because today's classrooms are changing and undergoing rapid…