In 1998, Nancy Pearl and Chris Higashi, librarians working in the Washington Center for the Book at the Seattle Public Library (SPL), had a brainstorm. Challenged with a grant to develop new audiences for literature, they were intrigued with the power of books to unite diverse audiences. With that in mind, they expanded the book club concept to…

A crucial challenge in terms of research methods in philosophy of education is that of combining philosophical ways of analyzing and arguing, with the dialogical and pluralist way of thinking needed in educational research. In this article I describe how I dealt with this challenge in my research project focusing on educational implications of the…

In this paper, the authors provide a brief description of written (letter) assignments that use student pairs in a virtual Blackboard-based discussion board. The authors begin their discourse with the purposes for employing this teaching and learning method: (1) To allow students to function in a team structure; (2) To provide written knowledge…

Turkey, like many Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cultures, is homosocial. Profoundly intimate, though nonsexual, relationships between members of the same gender predominate. In such cultures it is expected that male friends kiss one another on the cheek when greeting or saying goodbye, and it is common to see men walk arm-in-arm together, hold…

Monitoring one's own performance accurately is essential for information-processing and self-regulation, which are indispensable in an online learning environment. In this article, the effect of metacognitive monitoring (MM) on interaction in an asynchronous online discussion forum was investigated. Transcripts of this forum, which was integrated…

Current evidence confirms that young women who smoke or who have regular long-term exposure to secondhand smoke (SHS) have an increased risk of developing premenopausal breast cancer. The aim of this research was to examine the responses of young women to health information about the links between active smoking and SHS exposure and breast cancer…

One way to frame science classroom discussion is to engage students in scientific argumentation, an important discourse format within science aimed at coordinating empirical evidence and scientific theory. Framing discussion as scientific argumentation gives clear priority to contributions that are sustained by evidence. We question whether this…

This article explores the use of multiple digital tools for mediating communications, drawing on two recent empirical studies in which students and researchers in UK higher education worked on collaborative activities: how different tools were used and the quality of the communications and their contributions to collaborative working and knowledge…

How do interactions with diverse peers affect moral reasoning development? Results from a longitudinal study of 171 students enrolled in an Intergroup Dialogue or Introduction to Sociology course indicate that students who experience more negative interactions with diverse peers report lower developmental gains in moral reasoning, although the…

A mathematical theory of peer instruction describing the increase of the normalized number of correct answers due to peer discussion is presented. A simple analytic expression is derived which agrees with class data. It is shown that our theory is connected to the mathematical learning models proposed by Pritchard et al. It is also shown that…

This article discusses the findings from a study to assess the impact of corrective eye treatment in adults with a learning disability. The Special Visual Assessment Clinic (SVAC) is an optometry led multi professional service delivered in a Resource Centre in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The study, which included user and carer input in its design,…

Over the past 2 decades the topic of spirituality and its relationship to the social work profession has taken its place as a significant and important part of the agenda for social work research, education, and practice. In this article we discuss the results of a qualitative study that addresses how a group of social work practitioners defined…

This article reports on the ways that 77 students in an international studies programme constructed meanings for global citizenship. The focus was on their personal meanings for the topic and how they articulated a global identity with their national civic beliefs. Data were collected from online discussion boards, written essays and 20…

Blogs, short for Weblogs, began to show up in the late 1990s, based on online discussion boards centered on threaded topics. Currently, a blog typically refers to a Web site in which an individual posts entries and then allows for commentary from the readers. If scholars look to some educational theory, both novice and experienced bloggers can use…

In works by Van Fleet and Wren and by Smith, a strong case is made for including a greater emphasis on the historical aspects of management in undergraduate introductory-level management courses. This article builds on these two works by providing specific experiential activities to assist instructors who wish to offer more depth to their…