It is important that students have the opportunity to experience the nature and processes of science for themselves. The sequence of activities presented in this paper--Draw-a-Scientist and the Mystery Box Redux--were designed to help students better understand the nature of science (NOS) and engage them in the process of scientific inquiry. These…

A common challenge for choral teachers is teaching students to listen. Too often, students focus on their own singing and do not hear the other parts around them, thus creating a less unified, even disharmonious sound. Robert Russell, director of choral studies at the University of Southern Maine, has observed that confident singers often sing…

We present a study on the effect of instruction on collaboration in a collaborative discovery learning environment. The instruction we used, called RIDE, is built upon four principles identified in the literature on collaborative processes: Respect, Intelligent collaboration, Deciding together, and Encouraging. In an experimental study, a group of…

In this article we describe a system that matches learners with complementary content expertise in reaction to a learner-request for knowledge sharing. It works through the formation of "ad hoc," transient communities, that exist for a limited period of time and stimulate learners socially to interact. The matchmaking system consists of a request…

Children can have a new favorite animal every week or even every hour. The more familiar the children become with an animal, the more they will be able to understand how its body form and behavior allow it to survive. Learning about the characteristics of organisms and how organisms relate to their environment is part of the National Science…

Papers from the proceedings of the 14th Annual Conference of the Bulgarian Comparative Education Society were submitted in two volumes. Volume 1 contains papers submitted at the conference held in Sofia, Bulgaria, June 14-17, 2016. Volume 2 contains papers submitted at the 4th International Partner Conference of the International Research Centre…

Kids of any age can learn the basics of good character and figure out what they stand for. This leader's guide is a companion to the children's book, "What Do You Stand For? For Kids". The 11 lessons on the CD-ROM provide a complete course for kids on caring, citizenship, cooperation, fairness, forgiveness, honesty, relationships, respect,…

When using mobile devices in support of learning activities, students gain mobility, but problems arise when group members share information. The small size of the mobile device screen becomes problematic when it is being used by two or more students to share and exchange information. This problem affects interactions among group members. To…

Despite the wealth of studies on smaller learning communities (SLCs), student voices are missing from the debate on high school reform. This article examines how students experience SLCs. A participatory research method, data-in-a-day was used to provide a systematic and inclusive method for gathering data on student perceptions. Data-in-a-day is…

With research showing the benefits of self-directed learning, more activities are needed to provide learners opportunities for self-directed practice (Khomson, 1997; Lee, 1998; Phongnapharuk, 2007). A 12-week experimental study was performed with 80 EFL learners; one group contained 40 Communication Arts students and the other one consisted of 40…

Research shows that a child's social and behavioral skills affect the development of cognitive and physical abilities. Set students on a path to success and have fun doing it with this activity-packed second edition of "Wanna Play". The authors provide hundreds of activities that help children learn how to behave appropriately and make friends.…

Analogous thinking has been commonly discussed as being an inherent and distinguishing characteristic of human cognition (e.g., Gentner, 2010; Goldstone, Day, & Son, 2010; Holyoak, in press; Rittle-Johnson & Star, in press). Gentner (2003) has argued that as part of the human cognitive toolbox, comparison accompanied by the relational language to…

The National Survey of Children's Health (NSCH) provides a unique resource with which to analyze the health status, health care use, activities, and family and community environments experienced by children in rural and urban areas. The NSCH was designed to measure the health and well-being of children from birth through age 17 in the United…

Challenge Based Learning (CBL) is an engaging multidisciplinary approach to teaching and learning that encourages students to leverage the technology they use in their daily lives to solve real-world problems. The approach is collaborative and hands-on, asking students to work with other students, their teachers, and experts in their communities…

This article presents student perceptions about different types of web-based activities used to seek information for French language learning. Group interviews were conducted with 71 students in five Canadian universities to elicit data on their use of the Internet for information-seeking activities. These students use the Web for three main…