This is the first of two reports that summarize the findings from an impact evaluation of a violence prevention intervention for middle schools. This report discusses findings after 1 year of implementation. A forthcoming report will discuss the findings after 2 years and 3 years of implementation. In 2004, the U.S. Department of Education (ED)…

The purpose of this study was to investigate how elementary students can learn about the culture of another country and how technology can play a role in this process. The sample of the study included 135 fifth grade students from the United States and Turkey. Initial knowledge and information sources of students were assessed at the beginning of…

The Faculty Survey of Student Engagement (FSSE) was designed to complement the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), and is coordinated by the Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research. FSSE (pronounced "fessie") measures faculty members' expectations of student engagement in educational practices that are empirically…

A preservice teacher learning community at California Polytechnic University was created to guide adult learners in being able to effectively teach diverse learners. From the spring quarter of 2008 to 2009, these preservice teachers engaged in working with each other to write their own lesson plans and teach mathematics and literacy to English…

Student teachers should be prepared to integrate information and communication technology (ICT) into their future teaching and learning practices. Despite the increased availability and support for ICT integration, relatively few teachers intend to integrate ICT into their teaching activities (e.g., Ertmer, 2005). The available research has thus…

Diversity is a key issue in education not only because of ongoing inequalities in student learning outcomes but also because of the importance of supporting each individual to reach his/her potential to contribute to national economic prosperity, individual well-being and social cohesion. Through an ethnographical approach, this research…

In this paper we describe an instructional tactic of individually assigned homework that promotes and strengthens individual learning processes. We claim that current emphasis on the benefits of collaborative learning belittles the importance of individual learning processes and reduces the opportunities to require and assess individual learning…

The impacts that the lack of physical cues and non-verbal cues of emotional expression has on the student learning experience in text based online environments were targeted separately in this study. A questionnaire was constructed with separate items for non-verbal cues of emotional expression and cues to physical identity. The survey also…

To improve student retention in distance education, Simpson suggested in 2003 that institutions analyse their own retention characteristics and "spot the leaks." In 2008 the Centre for Distance Learning at Laidlaw College, New Zealand, employed two part-time academic support coordinators in an effort to improve student retention and…

Considerable research has been conducted examining the use of laptops in higher education, however, a reliable and valid scale to assess in-class use of laptops has yet to be developed. The purpose of the following study was to develop and evaluate the "Laptop Effectiveness Scale" (LES). The scale consisted of four constructs: academic…

Preparing students for success in a globalized world invites new approaches. Online collaboration between students from different countries via globally networked learning environments (GNLEs) is one such approach. This article presents the results of a six-semester study beginning in 2006 of international online project collaborations between…

This study examined students' perceptions of peer feedback and learning in a large, undergraduate course that incorporated supplementary online discussions. Peer feedback (PF) was facilitated via an automated rating system, within Blackboard discussion forums, for half of the students enrolled in the course. Following the peer feedback process,…

Research has established that individual student interest has a positive effect on learning and academic achievement. However, little is known about the impact of a blended learning approach on individual student interest and whether combinations of online and face-to-face learning activities significantly enhance student interest. This paper…

What distinguishes high schools that "beat the odds" for students from traditionally lower-performing groups from schools that struggle to improve the achievement and graduation rates of these student populations? What types of programs, practices, and processes support better than expected outcomes for students at risk of failure? How…

A controlled experiment tested the effects of lottery incentives using a prospective college applicant Web survey, with emails sent to more than 9,000 high school students. Found minimal effect of postpaid incentives for increasing levels of incentive. (EV)