Contends that a problem with using discussion in the classroom is that only a few students participate actively. Provides four strategies teachers can use to involve all of their students in a discussion and to encourage the development of their students' understanding of historical issues and problems. Includes a handout. (CMK)

Class discussions and student interaction were compared in a conventional class (n=33) and an Internet-based class using LearningSpace(R) software (n=29). No significant differences in learning or interaction quality were found. There was significantly more participation in the Internet course, particularly by women. (SK)

Teachers in Germany, Japan, and the United States pose many questions to their students, and it is assumed that the kinds of questions teachers ask influence students' opportunities to think and communicate mathematically during lessons. Investigates teachers' use of questions in 8th-grade mathematics classrooms within the three cultures.…

Describes the use of newspaper advice column letters as case problems in a human development course where students wrote weekly papers focusing on defining the problem in the letter, offering a solution to that problem, and relating the letter to course concepts. Reveals that students enjoyed and learned from the assignments. (CMK)

Describes the role of meta talk (explicit talk about grammar) in the classroom practice of two English-as-a-Second-Language teachers. Classroom observations and teacher interviews provided descriptive data about the initiation, development, and outcomes of meta talk in the teachers' work, and insight into the rationale behind their approaches to…

Describes an approach to engineering mathematics instruction that uses case studies, not as illustrations of applications after a mathematical topic has been discussed, but in a fully integrated, central role as vehicles for whole group discussion from which students discover the necessary mathematics, which is subsequently taught. Discusses…

Examines the nature of student participation in an online discussion-oriented course delivered via the Web. Highlights include access to course materials; a focus on course content; changing participation while students served as course moderators; and community building through student dialog with each other and with the instructor. (Author/LRW)

Examines reliability issues in the large-scale assessment of speech communication through authentic techniques, used recently in Saskatchewan. Performance-based approaches enable educators to evaluate the integrated, interpersonal communication skills of large student populations, thereby modeling best professional practice. However, decentralized…

Describes a participatory exercise in which a simulation is used to create the context of institutional discrimination. Explains that student volunteers leave the room while two terms are defined to the remaining students. When the volunteers return, the entire class is given a pop quiz on the terms. (CMK)

Contends that professors of graduate seminars fail to provide the structure necessary for academic discourse. Describes four models for graduate seminars along with the disadvantages of each model. Discusses the issue of authority in graduate seminars. Provides an example of an effective graduate seminar. (CMK)

Describes a study of a graduate level online course that investigated whether the systematic use of instructor-initiated audio emails, as a supplement to regular textual forms of communication, would increase students' participation in group discussion and result in more favorable student perceptions of student/faculty relationships and quality of…

Students talk with teachers about disappointing grades for different reasons, and the way students frame such interactions has consequences for how those interactions are likely to unfold. To explore students' primary goals in such interactions, 234 undergraduates reported on a recent conversation with an instructor about a lower-than-desired…

Electronic discussion sections can create a learning environment that will elicit quality student discussions in classes with large enrollment (i.e., 100 to 150 students). Redressing problems encountered during the first year using electronic discussions, I made changes such as establishing grading criteria for evaluating each student contribution…

The key to improving students' attitudes about reading is to expose them to more contemporary literature--books to which they can relate in settings and themes--books that they are more likely to enjoy. This article describes a collaborative literature circles project between an English teacher and a media specialist that was extremely successful…

Anyone who has spent time looking at science books with young children has no doubt experienced the endless questions that the information and visuals in the books can stimulate. Books prompt questions, which can lead to further reading about and investigation of science topics. Whether from a textbook or a nonfiction trade book, informational…