According to Richard DuFour (2004), "To create a professional learning community, focus on learning rather than teaching, work collaboratively and hold yourself accountable for results." Professional learning communities provide the structure that must exist within a school in order to become effective. However, to truly prepare…

The Lawrence Hall of Science, a science center, seeks to replicate real-world engineering at the "Ingenuity in Action" exhibit, which consists of three open-ended challenges. These problems encourage children to engage in engineering design processes and problem-solving techniques through tinkering. We observed and interviewed 112…

The purpose of this study was to explore the concept of play through the eyes of talented and gifted (TAG) fifth- and sixth-grade students. Three focus groups consisting of fifth- and sixth-grade TAG students were conducted in one urban, one suburban, and one rural school district in the Midwest. Students were asked to describe the value of play…

Mathematics teachers face the challenge of integrating calculator use in their classrooms. Calculators provide advantages for students when performing calculations and they can provide teachers with a versatile instructional tool. Students face high-stakes mathematics tests each year in middle school and must take Regents and college entrance…

International students, who study a foreign language abroad, experience more adversities than their domestic peers. The social challenges they face include problems with immigration status, isolation, difficulty speaking a new language, and learning unfamiliar customs. There is limited research focused on the coping strategies of these…

Fieldwork is a critical component in geographic education. This study examines the impact on the development of skills across six field courses, over five years, and among students from three institutions. A survey instrument comprised of 46 questions in eight categories serves as the vehicle for primary data collection. Student perceptions are…

Within the current test-centered educational reform movement, considerable emphasis is placed on using assessment results to make instructional decisions for individual students. Test scores are used to estimate a student's current level of skill, monitor his or her progress during instruction, and identify whether the student has gained the…

This study is based on our belief that mathematics should be challenging in any classroom and that mathematical challenge is among the central factors that determine the quality of mathematics lessons. Choosing challenging mathematical problem for the students is central in teachers' work while their conception of mathematical challenge can…

The term "restriction endonuclease mapping" covers a number of related techniques used to identify specific restriction enzyme recognition sites on small DNA molecules. A method for restriction endonuclease mapping of a 1,000-basepair (bp)-long DNA molecule is described in the fictitious experiment of this test. The most important fact needed to…

Using Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2012, an international education database, this study analyzed the evaluations of computer use for academic learning by 15-year-old students from seven Edu-systems (unit in PISA) in Eastern Asia. Six variables were identified in association with students' evaluations of computer use…

The present study reports the basic characteristics of a game-like application entitled "Playing with Words-PwW". PwW is a single-user application where a word must be guessed given an anagram of that word. Anagrams are presented from a predefined word list and users can repeatedly try to guess the word, from which the anagram is…

Across the country, districts are committing to observing, assessing, and giving feedback to teachers multiple times a year. Currently, school systems are dedicating an enormous amount of effort to accumulating data on teachers, but the field still has a lot to learn about how best to use data to support the improvement of teaching. This brief,…

The "fos" proto-oncogene codes for a component of the AP1 transcription factor, an important regulator of gene expression and cell proliferation. Dysregulation of AP1 function may lead to the malignant transformation of the cell. The present test describes an experiment in which the role of a micro-RNA (miR-7b) in the regulation of "fos" gene…

This paper presents the findings of a field study conducted to ascertain the perceptions of first year accounting students concerning the integration of computer applications in the accounting curriculum. The results indicate that both student cohorts perceived the computer as a valuable educational tool. The use of computers to enhance the…

This study reports on engineering graduates' labour market requisite communication competences and skills in the work environment in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Its main purpose was to investigate whether internationally required engineering graduates' communication competences were the same in third world countries or different. It used a…