This study examines the use of Makaton® , a language programme based on the use of signing, symbols and speech, as a pedagogic tool to support the development of talk for pupils learning English as an Additional Language (EAL). The research setting was a Reception class with a high percentage of pupils who have EAL in the initial stages of…

This study explores tensions between three Iranian EFL teachers' beliefs and practices with respect to teaching culture. The teachers were observed and interviewed over a period of eight weeks. The observations provided insight into how they taught culture in practice, while the interviews tried to elicit their beliefs. Drawing on the distinction…

This article explores teachers' discourses on teaching English Literacy Development (ELD) students in mainstream elementary school classrooms through an examination of their philosophies of teaching and reflections on literacy. The findings are based on empirical qualitative data collected from interviews with two English-as-a-second language…

This multiple case study examined the experiences of two groups of elementary prospective teachers (N ?=?12) completing distinct mathematics content courses. The findings reveal perspectives on knowing, learning, and teaching mathematics as experienced in the context of these courses. One group characterized mathematics as a "record of…

Mentors and school heads play cardinal roles in teacher education programmes in most countries, including Zimbabwe. The side-effects of such symbiosis have not yet been investigated fully. This article used a qualitative methodological approach to investigate the perceptions of some Zimbabwean student teachers regarding their teaching practice…

This study profiles, through a case study of an undergraduate business programme, how a business school has embedded the theme of enterprise in its core undergraduate programme. Key participants in the development of the strategy and programme tutors and students were interviewed, to provide information for an analysis of the principle objectives…

The purpose of this descriptive case study was to discover how the newly implemented Common Core State Standards (CCSS) may have changed teachers' practices and philosophies regarding literacy instruction and to determine which teaching strategies were being presented in regard to informational text in the studied Kindergarten through second grade…

In the United States the lack of mathematic knowledge of citizens has remained a significant problem. Both national and international assessments of mathematical knowledge of students have consistently reported poor results. Given the importance of mathematics education in college attendance and career options, finding ways to improve the…

The purpose of this study was to discover characteristics of principals whom teachers perceive to have influenced their sense of efficacy in classroom practices. Teachers shared their progression into becoming an efficacious practitioner and then associated the principal's interactions that inspired their efficacy. Common characteristics were…

Students in developmental writing courses and first-year composition courses struggle with the writing process. Individual instructional strategies have been insufficient to engage these students or build their self-confidences for further writing courses. The purpose of this study was to understand how students perceive a combination of three…

This research was a triangulated study of student attitudes towards instructors' rapport-building traits and their preferences amongst instructors' rapport-building practices in online learning environments. Participants were undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in courses within an educational technology program at a central Texas…

This dissertation thesis describes a research inquiry that took place at a large Midwestern University, in the Fall semester of 2009, is comprised of three case studies, and attempts to respond to the question: "How do prospective teachers perceive, think about, and respond to the instructionally relevant variation of their students".…

Objective: To ascertain paraprofessionals' perceptions regarding a self-directed computer-supported nutrition educational intervention to disadvantaged mothers of infants. Design: Qualitative focus group study. Setting: Three county extension programs in a Midwestern state, which serve disadvantaged families. Method: Sixteen paraprofessional…

This study examines the epistemic beliefs about justification employed by physics undergraduate and graduate students and faculty in the context of solving a standard classical physics problem and a frontier physics problem. Data were collected by a think-aloud problem solving session followed by a semi-structured interview conducted with 50…

The tensions between environmental protection and economic growth are critical to future well-being, and it is therefore important to understand how young people conceptualize these tensions. The aim of the present study is to explore students' solutions to the dilemma of economic development and mitigating climate change, with regard to societal…