This topic brief is one in a series on personalized learning prepared for Conversations with Innovators, 2018. Active student responding (ASR) strategies promote meaningful engagement by all students and have been shown to increase student participation and decrease classroom disruption while also providing real-time formative assessment…

This essay tells the story of a collaboration between an English education professor in a large urban university and a high school English teacher working in a school whose population consists almost entirely of new immigrants. The English education professor serves as a visiting teaching artist, introducing the students to studies of works of…

The importance of using systematic formative assessment to guide students toward meaningful learning has gained more recognition in the education community in recent years. This form of assessment is characterized by task-oriented feedback in a low-risk environment, which is believed to promote mastery goal orientation and self-regulated learning.…

This article presents an activity that combines this popular website, Postsecret.com, with college students' love for the internet, and course content on privacy boundaries and theory, disclosure, communicative control, and privacy rule development. By taking part in this activity, students practice privacy disclosure and are able to examine their…

Students in Ginger M. Eikmeier's high school classes link themes and terms from their readings to episodes of "The Simpsons." Because students are already familiar with "The Simpsons," Eikmeier believes that using the show supports students' comprehension and retention by activating prior knowledge. Additionally, it shows students that she cares…

The primary vehicle of this inquiry into the nature of motivation is the case of Phaedrus' Demonstrator. Its setting is a class where grades are withheld from students, and their reactions are noted and analyzed from the instructor's perspective. Effective use of the case is delineated, and options are suggested for carrying its lessons to the…

This article comes largely from observations made on-the-job while teaching mathematics in a government high school in the ACT. The issues canvassed will be familiar to those who have considered the arguments for and against ability grouping in mathematics education. It is speculative in nature, hinting at a synthesis of opposing views in the…

The types of teacher expectation effects found in the classroom are discussed, with emphasis on research involving teachers' expectations for and interactions with students believed to be of high or low potential. A model for use in understanding the dynamics of expectation communication to students is presented. (Author/MT)

Describes poetry programs presented to children by a troupe of performers who incorporated music, humor, and audience response in their performances. Lists qualities of the shows that contributed to their success with children. (HOD)

Discusses the extra credit exercise (ECE), a pop quiz variation that combines the benefits of frequent, unannounced testing with the features that make quizzes less aversive (the ECE are extra-credit and do not hurt the students' grades). Addresses the benefits of the ECE assignment and the students' reactions to it. (CMK)

Explores classroom extensions of job enrichment theory by administering a modified Job Diagnostic Survey, a widely employed organizational research tool that assesses each core job characteristic, to 217 psychology students along with outcome scales assessing their course motivation, satisfaction, performance, absenteeism, interest, and desire to…

Examines (1) the social motives and factors prompting students in Russia to attend technical colleges and universities and (2) the functional relation to students' national-ethinc affiliation. Uses survey results of a representative sample of students at technical colleges and universities in the Republic of Bashkortostan. (CMK)

Argues that pupils in the second language classroom should be encouraged to respond to questions for personal information truthfully and that certain aspects of existing teaching practice encouraging the opposite should be scrutinized. Focuses on the objections to this premise and outlines reasons for seeking truthful student responses. (CK)

The feasibility of conducting computer science courses in artificial intelligence at a small liberal arts college is examined. The following problems are examined in detail: isolation; student abililty, motivation and expectation; equipment; and faculty readiness. Providing a focus to the discussion, three issues are addressed in terms of…

Describes how one fourth-grade teacher used television, videos, computers, classroom guests, and lots of reading and writing to engage his students in their language-arts unit, focusing on the book "Shiloh." Discusses how such "intermediality" (using multiple media) increases students' comprehension and understanding of text, capturing their…