Learning to program is difficult for novices, even for those undergraduates who have majored in computer science. The study described in this paper has investigated the effects of game strategy and preference-matching on novice learners' flow experience and performance in learning to program using an experiential gaming activity. One hundred and…

This article reports the results of a research study to determine the washback effect of an oral assessment system on some areas of the teaching and learning of English as a Foreign Language (EFL). The research combined quantitative and qualitative research methods within a comparative study between an experimental group and a comparison group.…

This study sought to explore qualitatively how participation in an informal science program might affect the following aspects of upper elementary school children's scientific thinking: conceptual understanding, epistemology of science, and the formation of their identity as science learners. A purposefully selected, maximum variation sample of…

Reading is critical to children's academic and future economic success. Yet reading skills continue to lag in the upper elementary grades. One way that school districts across the country have responded to the challenge of improving students' reading skills has been to hire additional, presumably more skilled, teachers as "instructional…

In recent years, teachers have noticed a drop in student effort on complex problems in math and science. The purpose of this study was to determine if incorporating cooperative learning and self-recording strategies had an impact upon student effort on complex problems. A total of 38 9th through 11th grade math and science students at two…

The math achievement of third and fourth grade special education students has been identified as an area of concern within a public school located in a small rural town located on the east coast. The purpose of this action research study was to investigate whether or not the Touch Math strategy increased the math ability of third and fourth grade…

This newsletter, published five times a year, features articles on issues of concern to adult, family, and youth literacy practitioners, as well as recommended resources, announcements, and teaching strategies. (1) Creating a 21st Century Adult Literacy System (Martin C. Finsterbusch); (2) What Research Can Tell Us (Stephen Reder); (3) Skills the…

The purpose of the research was to study the effectiveness of Cardinal Stritch University's Undergraduate Teacher Education Program in preparing its graduates to teach all children. The researcher framed the study around four areas of concern common to beginning teachers from the research and literature: (a) curriculum, instruction and assessment…

Professionals throughout the field of education agree on the importance of teacher-caregiver communication. Yet teacher education programs still do very little to prepare future teachers for these interactions. This exploratory study investigated the use of a standardized caregiver model, with 12 teacher education students involved in a simulated…

Experiential placements are increasingly recognised as an essential component of university programmes, providing students with real-world contexts to apply their knowledge and to develop practical skills and personal attributes. In Australia, professions such as pharmacy have traditionally developed experiential placement programmes within state…

The statistics on acquaintance rape and sexual assault against women are a clear indication that this is a problem that needs to be confronted. An increasing number of articles address the problems that rape survivors face and examine methods mental health professionals can use to assist survivors in dealing with these problems. Articles that…

This study explored the effects of community-based service-learning (CBSL), supplemented with discussions and activities about diversity, on the self-efficacy beliefs of preservice elementary teachers regarding equitable science teaching and learning for diverse student groups. The study was conducted with 81 preservice teachers enrolled in four…

In this article, the author describes a project designed to take the dread out of discussion in a first-year interdisciplinary humanities course at Sewanee: The University of the South, a private liberal arts college in Tennessee. The Responsible Intellectual Discussion project, known as RID, was created in conjunction with the college's Eloquence…

"Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will eat for the rest of his life." This popular Chinese proverb is an apt metaphor for the dilemma faced by principals and curriculum coordinators when deciding whether to purchase a scripted commercial reading program. Although a scripted reading program may solve…

The purpose of this review was to explore the effectiveness of teaching basic reading skills to adolescents. Studies that were published in the past 20 years from 1986 to 2006 were selected and reviewed on the basis of specific criteria for inclusion. Results indicated that there were 23 studies that met the criteria. Findings revealed that…