As a result of an increased emphasis on literacy learning, teachers are forced into making difficult choices about how to allocate and balance time for other content areas. As a result, science is often neglected as part of the daily curriculum. If this trend continues, the result will be a generation of learners lacking the ability to perform…

Background: Challenging behaviour often serves a communicative function. It therefore stands to reason that the residential staff working in developmental disability services require training to foster appropriate communicative interactions with adults with challenging behaviour. Method: Eighteen members of staff working in three residential…

In this article, the authors discuss the Skilled Dialogue approach as a practical framework to help teachers access the richness of diverse perspectives and weave webs of connectedness that honor the identity and voice of all concerned, not just those from the culture deemed to be normative. More specifically, the authors identify specific Skilled…

This interpretive study explored the communicative strategies teachers employ when constructing and presenting course syllabi to overcome challenges teachers face surrounding the syllabus. Data included 13 classroom observations, 19 teacher interviews, and document analysis of the instructors' syllabi. Communication strategies teachers used to…

Recent social influence research utilizing psychological reactance theory (J. W. Brehm, 1966) has focused on how reactance motivates message rejection due to threats to perceived freedoms posed by controlling language. Although reactance has been shown to increase message rejection and source derogation, persuasive appeals employing alternative…

Study aim: To determine the knowledge of participants and their attitudes towards sport of the disabled, in the basic and intermediary coach education. Material and methods: A group of 20 instructors, running a coach education course organised by the Institute of Coaching and Sport Education (ICSE), Semmelweis University (Budapest), were…

Increasing access to online databases from home has raised the value of computer use for retrieving student achievement information. This study's purpose was to examine the relationship of family use of an electronic reporting mechanism in the home to student achievement, attendance, and home-school communication. Using communication as a parent…

The purpose of this case study is to understand ways to plan, organize and facilitate experiences in which experts who are geographically dispersed act as effective consultants. Graduate students enrolled in an advanced course in instructional technology at a large university in the Midwestern United States interacted with colleagues studying at a…

In this article we describe the MentorBlog project, which facilitated the mentoring of trainee teachers in the postcompulsory education sector through the use of blogs. In an experimental design, the study compared their experiences with students who received traditional mentoring. Blogs were used by the trainees to communicate with their mentors…

Purpose: To examine perceptions about aging well in the context of cognitive health among a large and diverse group of older adults. Design and Methods: Forty-two focus groups were conducted with older adults living in the community ( N = 396; White, African American, American Indian, Chinese, Vietnamese, and Hispanic). Participant descriptions …

Beginning your college education means you'll be exploring a new place, making new friends, learning new things and setting your own priorities. You are going to face a lot of big changes in a short time. That's exciting--and challenging. The more prepared you are for college when you get there, the more ready you'll be to address these new…

The "2011 Superintendent's Briefing Book" provides comprehensive yet concise overviews of the best thinking available on a wide range of top-priority PreK-12 education concerns. This resource will prove invaluable in making research-based decisions with confidence, and in identifying programs and practices that will improve student achievement.…

A study investigated the manner in which communication strategies (passive, active, and interactive) were used by new employees in the early stages of the employer-employee relationshiip to gain knowledge of their supervisors, thereby reducing uncertainty. Twenty-six full-time new employees from several organizations in the midwest were…

The purpose of the two studies reported was to investigate why young children, especially kindergarteners, so often treat vague, ambiguous, or otherwise unclear instructions as though they were perfectly informative, instead of asking what they mean. It was hypothesized that when faced with vague instructions children might employ two ordered…

Nations and states monitor the progress of children with good reason. They are the early indicators of future prosperity, of a stable and productive society. In recent years, economists have become more interested than ever before in the impact of early investments in children on the future health of the economy. And scientists are giving them the…