To develop children's understanding and ability to enquire, teachers need to create the conditions that promote thinking and the expression of ideas. Opportunities to wonder aloud, speculate, and form hypotheses are essential. These can be offered through the use of visual stimuli--objects and demonstrations, pictures and dramatic scenarios,…

This dissertation proposes a place-based theoretical and methodological framework, informed by concepts of ecology, multimodality, and activity systems. I apply this framework of ecoliteracy as it is defined within the interdisciplinary contexts of rhetoric and composition, linguistics, and Chicana/o studies. Ecoliteracy refers to individuals'…

While the benefits of the using the Learning Cycle have been well researched, one area that has received surprisingly little investigation is the effect that student cognizance of the learning cycle has on student performance in chemistry. The Learning Cycle, with its strong theoretical roots in scientific practice and learning theory, offers a…

Increases in population, climatic changes, and other environmental issues are current challenges affecting the U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) decision to examine land-use trends and emphasize efficient use and reuse of limited resources. Because of global concerns involving limited natural resources, researchers recognize land-use decision…

Through an ecological systems perspective, this study explores factors that influence successful academic achievement for at-risk African American males. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine factors that contribute to the successful achievement and advancement to higher education for African American males from at-risk populations.…

New approaches to emergent learner-directed learning design can be strengthened with a theoretical framework that considers learning as a dynamic process. We propose an approach that models a learning process using a set of spatial concepts: learning space, position of a learner, niche, perspective, step, path, direction of a step and step…

Existing research on doctoral education documents levels of satisfaction, the difficulties students face and variations according to demographic variables. Cognitive dimensions of learning are emphasised, and calls to attend to bodies in doctoral education remain largely unheeded. This article draws on theoretical work that rejects Cartesian…

To address the developmental deficits of children with autism, several disciplines have come to the forefront within intervention programs. These are speech-pathologists, psychologists/counselors, occupational-therapists/physical-therapists, special-education consultants, behavior analysts, and physicians/medical personnel. As the field of autism…

Prospective teachers often walk into my course, Arts in the Elementary Classroom, carrying a guarded consciousness that constrains unencumbered artistic exploration. My responsibility as their instructor is to question mantras that reflect insecurity in process and make pedagogical use of their fears. Through studying the nature of these fears…

The purpose of the study is to examine Korean parents' attitudes, motivations, and home literacy practices toward their children's participation in bilingualism in Korean and English in Korea. The success of foreign language learning is influenced by positive attitudes and the level of motivation regarding the target language. Language learners'…

Background: Breast cancer is an important public health issue within the American Indian (AI) community in Oklahoma; however, there is limited information to explain the low screening mammography rates among AI women. Purpose: To identify the motivational factors affecting an AI woman's decision to obtain a mammogram. Methods: Through the use of…

Both contemporary popular and scholarly discourse on teacher development and evaluation assumes the truth of a certain view of normative human behavior, one that holds that skill in a given domain is predicated upon the application of maxims, rules, or principles in a given situation. Such a view would allow one to isolate behaviors associated…

Adult learning, critical thinking, and decision-making are fields that receive attention individually, although they are interspersed with elements of each other's theories and philosophies. In addressing adult learning precepts, it is essential to include critical thinking and decision-making. One without the other creates weakness; all must be…

Objectives: This study examined the knowledge, attitudes and practices of clinicians in promoting physical activity to prostate cancer survivors. Design: A purposeful sample was used and cross-sectional data were collected using an anonymous, self-reported online questionnaire or an identical paper-based questionnaire. Settings: Health services…

Outside an academic setting, telecommuting has become fairly popular in recent years. However, research on telecommuting practices within a higher education environment is fairly sparse, especially within the higher distance education sphere. Drawing on existing literature on telecommuting and the outcome of a valuation study on the success of an…