This article reports a study in which two researchers collaborated with five teachers to facilitate discourse activities aimed to enhance students' learning from practical activities. The paper explores how certain teacher practices support or hinder students' learning. Four cases from the study were analyzed in depth using…

One of the most common household polyhedra is a cereal box. For over 100 years, American companies like Kellogg's™ have packaged cereal in containers shaped like rectangular prisms. Why is a rectangular prism the most commonly used solid for holding cereal? Would another design work equally or more efficient? This article describes an…

Although one of the presumed aims of graduate training programs is to help students develop into practitioners of their chosen fields, very little is known about how this transition occurs. In the course of studying how graduate students learn to solve organic synthesis problems, we were able to identify some of the key factors in the epistemic…

In this article, authors Jordan T. Hede and Jonathan D. Bostic present a classroom activity that challenges upper elementary students' understanding of area beyond a memorized formula and explores the meaning behind students using A = l × w to solve rectangular area problems. This activity will deepen students' understanding of the area…

The Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSSI 2010) asks students in as early as fourth grade to solve word problems using equations with variables. Equations studied at this level generate a single solution, such as the equation x + 10 = 25. For students in fifth grade, the Common Core standard for algebraic thinking expects them to…

Tour Across America is an interdisciplinary, project-based, multimodal (IPM) activity where students get the opportunity to apply what they learn to a real-life situation while illustrating the interdisciplinary nature of literacy. It provides students with a high-interest, creative platform to review, reinforce, and integrate learned literacy…

Tzur and Simon (2004) postulated two stages of concept development, participatory and anticipatory. The distinction between the two stages was exemplified by what they termed "the next-day phenomenon" in which learners who could solve a task one day in the context of the activity through which they made the abstraction, could not solve…

In this case, Sharon Rowley, a veteran principal, volunteers to participate in a new community-driven accountability initiative and encounters dilemmas about what it means to be a "data-driven" instructional leader. This case provides an opportunity for aspiring school leaders to explore and apply data-use theory to the work of leading…

The purpose of this article is to explore and problematise teachers' talk about outdoor education in New Zealand. The focus is on what can be said, how it is said and the discursive effects of such ways of speaking. The inquiry draws on Foucauldian theoretical insights to analyse interview transcripts derived from semi-structured interviews with…

Educators and managers that focus on individuals' strengths can see up to 40× more engagement from those individuals than those that do not. "StrengthsFinder" 2.0 builds a framework to understand and improve those strengths. This resource review will explain the history of the tool, including its origins in positive and strengths…

In 21st century education students should have ample opportunities to collaborate on authentic problems. Many teachers however find it difficult to make the transfer from teacher to student-centered education. Giving students autonomy can be disquieting to teachers, as they fear to lose control of student learning. Teachers in a teacher…

The purpose of this study was to detail teachers' proving activity and contribute to a framework of Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching Proof (MKT for Proof). While working to justify claims about sums of consecutive numbers, teachers searched for key ideas and productively used examples to make, test and refine conjectures. Analysis of teachers'…

Emphasis on universal learning activities of each student rather than acquisition of ready knowledge, as well as on how an individual masters a language necessitate the development and application of innovative technologies promoting functional-semantic and textual approaches. In the modern context, Russian language teachers, along with knowledge…

The popularity of online learning has boomed over the last few years, pushing instructors to consider the best ways to design their courses to support student learning needs and participation. Prior research suggests the need for instructor facilitation to provide this guidance and support, whereas other studies have suggested peer facilitation…

Problem-based learning methods support student learning of content as well as scientific skills. In the course of problem-based learning, students seek outside information related to the problem, and therefore, information literacy skills are practiced when problem-based learning is used. This work describes a mixed-methods approach to investigate…