Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of competitive Student Team Achievement Division (STAD), non-competitive STAD, and traditional learning on chemistry learning and learning perceptions. Sample, design and methods: By adopting the STAD approach, this study examined 144 nursing students at a five-year junior…

In November 2008 the Sloan Consortium published "Staying the Course: Online Education in the United States." This study produced survey statistics relating to enrollments in online courses. The study confirmed what most administrators and faculty members already suspected: the growth of online higher education continues to be astounding;…

The goal of this study was to investigate the culturally afforded contradictions that ten advanced English as a Second Language (ESL) learner encountered when they posted their paper topics and exchanged feedback strategies online and contextualized some of these strategies to draft their papers. Using Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT),…

Educational blogs have drawn the growing interest of researchers and language teachers due to the user-friendly interfaces as well as the powerful archiving features. The purpose of the current study is two-fold: (1) to examine the effectiveness of extensive speaking practice on speaking performance in voice blogs, and (2) to examine learners'…

Scope and method of study: Using Mary Douglas' (1982) Grid and Group Typology, the purpose of this case study was to explain the distinctive patterns of student engagement, communication and community in the culture of four online courses. The participants were four online instructors and four of their students who completed online courses at…

Students need a strong foundation in reading, writing, math, and numeracy to be successful in GED preparation, in work readiness programs, and in post-secondary education and training. The resources in the Basic Skills Collection that will assist in providing this foundation include research articles, materials and curriculum based on research,…

Some of the nation's leading scholars and philanthropic organizations selected a dozen foster care experts to discuss what they know--and don't know--about improving educational outcomes for children and youth in foster care. These experts represent a wide range of experience and perspective including that of an urban county school superintendent,…

This dissertation study was a descriptive case study of a minority community service organization whose members were actively involved in local school decision-making and activities in a rural Northeast Georgia community. Rural schools face unique challenges in light of current educational trends. To address the challenges, rural schools must…

This article focuses on the ways world language teachers individually and collectively negotiate intercultural encounters and symbolic competence while abroad, at the art museum. In this empirical study, I locate, describe and analyze emerging third places by examining the teachers' discourse, in interaction at the museum. The data consists of a…

Here we reflect on the collaborative research, engagement, and pedagogical relationships and processes that gave rise to "The Other Side of Middletown," a collaborative ethnography written by a team of faculty, students, and community participants. We offer background on the project; discuss how collaborative researches engendered…

In this article, we provide a discussion on our revision method (termed "prescriptive tutoring") aimed at revealing students' misconceptions and misunderstandings by getting them to solve physics problems with an anonymous partner via the computer. It is currently being implemented and evaluated in a public secondary school in Singapore,…

Purpose: This paper aims to explore the concept of Winnicott's intermediate space as a method of understanding the role of learning spaces in the development of technology-enhanced educational organisations. Design/methodology/approach: The approach takes the form of a comparative analysis of interaction within face-to-face and online learning…

This investigation assessed the effectiveness of using Collaborative Learning Assessment through Dialogue (CLAD) (Fitch & Hulgin, 2007) with students in undergraduate human development courses. The key parts of CLAD are student collaboration, active learning, and altering the role of the instructor to a guide who enhances learning opportunities.…

Asynchronous online discussion has been widely used by faculty members and students in schools and universities. Previous research has examined how factors such as the discussion activity, knowledge about the discussion topic, and the behaviour of other participants can affect learner participation. This study explored student facilitators'…

This article examines how two new teachers, with varied content knowledge and preparation as teachers in mathematics education, improved their use of whole-class discourse in their mathematics classes with a mentor's assistance. Discourse has long been shown to be influential in supporting students' learning of mathematics, but the implementation…