The pedagogical potential of classroom assessment to support student learning has increasingly been evidenced in research over the past decade. Constructive classroom assessment has been championed by assessment specialists, and endorsed by professional organizations. In practice, however, the process of changing classroom assessment from its…

This study examined the effects of pre-structuring discussion threads on group performance in computer-supported collaborative argumentation where students labeled their messages as arguments, challenges, supporting evidence, and explanations on a threaded discussion board. In the pre-structured group students were required to post supporting and…

Productive pedagogies (PP) is an influential framework for teaching and learning that has featured well in current reforms of teacher education. The present study was designed to examine principles of PP adopted by a cohort of beginning mathematics teachers. A networked online learning environment, WebCT[TM], facilitated the teachers'…

This study is about what supervisors perceive as crucial aspects of quality in supervising students writing their bachelor theses. The questions on quality are related to a scientific perspective, a learning perspective, a societal perspective and a social perspective. The study demonstrates that the criteria on science varied considerably,…

Group achievements and social change are rooted in self-efficacy. This concept has important implications for career development in a changing environment. Associations that represent professionals involved with physical rehabilitation in the United States have identified activities that they feel are essential for the survival of the…

The current study describes preschool teacher-child interactions during several commonly scheduled classroom activities in which teachers deliver instructions. An observation system was developed that incorporated measurement of evidence-based compliance strategies and included the types of instructions delivered (e.g., integral or deficient…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the ways in which a multi-layered women's calculus course influenced the participants' learning of mathematics. This study, conducted in a state university in the Midwestern region of the United States, revealed not only that women in this particular section of calculus were likely to select careers…

This article reports on the third year of a three-year longitudinal investigation into six secondary students' understanding of optics at a secondary school level. In the third year of this investigation the students, who by now were in Year 12, underwent a teaching sequence that centred on the teaching and learning of physical optics and quantum…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the literacy difficulties experienced by people with physical disabilities, and the factors that prevent them from improving their literacy skills. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 25 individuals with physical disabilities who defined themselves as having literacy difficulties. Four…

Self-report questionnaires are frequently used in youth research, but doubt remains whether total anonymity affects the results. This study compared the responses of 704 mainly 16-17-year-old adolescents to self-report measures of various health indicators in 2 groups: anonymous and confidential collection. For most health indicators no…

Increasing numbers of full-time university students mix their studies with paid employment. The current research examined the nature, extent and correlates of paid work amongst a sample of 246 university students. Approximately 85% of the sample reported having a paid job during semester, a figure that exceeds that found in previous studies. Five…

Broad support exists within the science education community for the incorporation of socioscientific issues (SSI) and argumentation in the science curriculum. This study investigates how content knowledge and morality contribute to the quality of SSI argumentation among high school students. We employed a mixed-methods approach: 56 participants…

Traditionally, youth with learning, cognitive, and intellectual disabilities (LCID) have not been given the option of participating in and thus benefiting from a postsecondary education. There are school districts and community colleges across the country, however, that are creating opportunities for these youth to have the option of meaningful…

We used two multiple baseline designs to investigate effects of a self-monitoring strategy on following-direction skills of six middle school students with moderate to severe disabilities in general education. Students were instructed to acknowledge a given direction, complete the task, and monitor their performance. Results suggest that all…

This article describes the "Add-a-Page Assignment" in which students choose a picture book to which they would add a page, imitating both the style and artistic medium of the illustrator and the writing style of the author. In this article, the author begins with quotes from students who have very different learning styles and vastly different…