This study investigated whether the level of instructional guidance affected student learning and science self-efficacy when nine- and ten- year old children learn to design unconfounded experiments using control of variable strategies (CVS). Specifically, the goal of this study was to replicate and extend prior research that examines the impact…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of using the concrete-representational-abstract (CRA) teaching sequence with integrated strategy instruction for developing addition with regrouping competence among students with learning difficulties in mathematics. A total of 16 lessons were provided to 24 students during a six-week…

This study explored a group of elementary teachers' ("n" = 35) learning to construct high-quality lesson plans that foster student understanding of fundamental mathematical ideas. The conceptual framework for this study was gleaned from the recently released Institute of Education Sciences (IES) recommendations, including (a)…

Adopting new curricula presents both a need and an opportunity for professional development to advance teacher content knowledge and instructional practices for achieving curriculum-specific student outcomes. This study examines two modalities of professional development: face-to-face in a summer workshop and online that included two days of…

Modeling Instruction holds the potential for transforming science instruction and improving student achievement. Key to the success of Modeling Instruction, however, is the fidelity of implementation of its curriculum. This qualitative study examined the impact of Modeling Instruction professional development on participating teachers'…

This paper reports on a design experiment within a professional development context purposefully planned to teach teachers about students' mathematics thinking and learning. We examine the factors to which participating elementary teachers attributed student mathematics success or failure when engaging with the projects' professional learning…

Research experiences for teachers (RET) programs report benefits to teachers and students. RET programs aim to give teachers authentic science research experiences based on the premise that these experiences will improve science instruction. Specifically, many programs require teacher development of lessons and units to help translate the…

Many students with cognitive impairments are not afforded the opportunity to develop their potential as readers. A review of the literature reveals that few researchers have evaluated the effects of phonics instruction on the reading skills of students with cognitive impairments. The purpose of this study was to test the effectiveness of a…

The authors investigated whether the amount of instructional guidance affects science learning and self-efficacy. Sixty 9- and 10-year-old children were randomly assigned to one of the following three instructional conditions: (a) guided instruction consisting of examples and student-generated explanations, (b) direct instruction consisting of a…

When students feel comfortable in the learning environment and are being given authority to make their own choices about what they want to create, they can create significant artworks with different personal expressions through the form of narratives. Students feel this freedom especially when they are not in the regular school environment where…

Teacher education for sustainability is a central part of integrating sustainability into classrooms and schools. However, educating for sustainability is not limited to increased content knowledge; rather it encompasses different forms of knowledge that embrace the normative, dynamic and action-oriented nature of sustainability. Curriculum for a…

Developing teaching practices that meet the needs of Second Language Learners (SLL) calls for models of apprenticeship in which teacher candidates acquire competency on how to create learning spaces where students discover, experience and construct knowledge rather than solely practicing skills. The aforesaid argument has an implication when…

This article describes a five-week summer literacy program designed for a group of 70 multilingual refugee boys resettled from their home countries in Africa and Asia to a city in the Southeastern USA. The students attended local public schools but struggled to experience academic success in the traditional classroom. The summer program addressed…

Building on the work developed by Morrell (2003) on critical textual production, this paper provides a glimpse into a critical text produced by a student during a summer research seminar at a West Coast University. This paper highlights the process of critical textual production, the writing that resulted from this method and how a critical…

Recent educational studies have shown increasing lack of interest and participation of youth (ages 10-14 years old) in various STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) fields in the U.S. The decline in the number of youth choosing to study STEM fields in higher education and the resulting lack of STEM professionals in the society…