Studies of reflective practices among pre-service teachers focus mostly on teaching practice and very rarely on the acquisition of academic knowledge. The aim of this study was to examine the reflections of 25 pre-service teachers in online forums and weblogs focused on their learning in two literary pedagogical courses. A total of 97 online forum…

In this study, I considered the development of mathematical meaning related to the Invertible Matrix Theorem (IMT) for both a classroom community and an individual student over time. In this particular linear algebra course, the IMT was a core theorem in that it connected many concepts fundamental to linear algebra through the notion of…

While the current reform efforts in Bangladesh require a substantive change in how science is taught, an equally substantive change is needed in the culture of professional practice. This study will, therefore, investigate how science teachers' learning in a professional learning community (PLC) influences the ways in which participant teachers…

This article presents research on students' experiences of learning through a blend of face-to-face and online discussion. The participants in our study were students enrolled in a foreign policy course at a major Australian university. Students' conceptions of learning through discussion, and their approaches to both face-to-face and online…

Feedback is central to pedagogic theory, and if feedback is to be effective, students need to engage with it and apply it at some point in the future. However, student dissatisfaction with feedback--as evidenced in the National Student Survey--suggests that there are problems which limit student engagement with feedback, such as their perception…

Five articles describe effective ideas and techniques suggested by correctional educators. In "Warming Up: Mental Exercises for Successful Learning" (Louise Henick), warm-up exercises to help students get ready to learn are discussed, such as daily journals, word of the day, and quote of the day. "Keeping Students Posted" (Richard Johnson) shows…

At a conference in 1988 the Maricopa Community Colleges (Arizona) began the process that resulted in development of the Ocotillo Action/Research Groups to study the development of educational technologies in the community college setting. This year-end report presents the following reports of the various working groups, which summarize activities…

Observations of 90 lessons reveal the limitations of the whole-class discussion, the dominant teaching method in elementary and secondary schools. In addition to producing a low percentage of student involvement, rarely more than 50%, teachers' questions and answer techniques do not usually stimulate critical thinking. Besides most often asking…

A description of a teaching method which encourages student participation through small discussion groups is offered along with a sample group discussion guide and worksheet. The student group analysis technique is presented as a structured, competency-based method in which small groups of students cooperatively arrive at answers to a worksheet.…

This handbook was developed to assist teachers of secondary agricultural cooperative training with related instructional periods and to assist students in developing the civic and social aspects of their lives. The contents of the handbook are intended as a guide for teachers in leading group discussions with their class members, selecting…

The study circle concept, now almost a century old, is by far the most popular form of adult education in Sweden. Swedish study circles are sponsored by 10 national educational associations that receive substantial annual subsidies from the national government. Together with 140 folk high schools (residential adult programs), university short…

The Seattle Public Schools' effort to define and establish effective schools is described in this paper, a transcript of four coordinated presentations. Ellen Roe, the first presenter, recounts the design of the project. Planning, she states, was begun in late 1981 by a decision seminar (comprised of teachers, administrators, a community…

The paper describes the basic features and techniques of a specific kind of discussion group, the Grouptalk. Grouptalk, especially useful in the elementary grades, is a formal discussion of a question by a small group and a leader. Participants follow the specific rules that all contribute relevantly to the discussion and that all help in the…

This is the final report of a three year program for preventing dropout attitudes from developing in the middle schools in grades 6,7, and 8. The project plans focused on three major goals: staff training for leading the project activities the development of materials for assisting teachers in the project activities, and the provision of…

This booklet is a guidebook for leaders of small group discussions in the Valleybrook Elementary School-Lakemont High School Simulation Game. The game focuses upon typical problems of elementary and secondary schools with heterogeneous (racial and ethnic) student bodies. The information in the guidebook is confined to a brief explanation of the…