Agricultural development programs often produce unexpected results. This can be attributed to the fact that the target-farmers already have their own knowledge and competencies which, in turn, determine their practices. In order to be adopted, an innovation has first to be discussed, and then appropriated by a local group of farmers in their…

Integrating funds of knowledge--the resources, processes, and strategies attached to family and community proficiencies--has widely been accepted as a worthwhile pedagogical intervention. In this article, we argue that two of the primary assumptions underlying such interventions have yet to be explored. First, because funds of knowledge are…

We examined direct and interaction effects of learners' characteristics (cognitive ability, prior knowledge, prior experience, and motivation to learn) and classroom characteristics (videoconferencing and class size) on learning from a 16-week course. A 2x2 quasi-experimental design varied the class size between large (approximately 60 students)…

The aims of this study were considered under three headings. The first was to elicit misconceptions that students had about the terms "solute", "solvent" and "solution." The second was to understand how students' prior learning affected their misconceptions. The third was to determine if students were able to make a…

This articles describes a qualitative research project investigating the effects of participation by preservice teachers in a literacy tutorial early intervention program that was based on a constructivist model utilizing self-reflection and inquiry. Seven recurring themes emerged from the data analysis providing little evidence of growth in…

Chemistry learning involves establishing conceptual relationships among macroscopic, microscopic, and symbolic representations. Employing the notion of intertextuality to conceptualize these relationships, this study investigates how class members interactionally construct meanings of chemical representations by connecting them to real-life…

Leadership is a concept that has always been a major component of Colleges of Agriculture. Undergraduate students have numerous opportunities to develop their leadership skills and abilities though formal coursework, collegiate organizations, and personal leadership activities. This ethnographic qualitative research study investigated the…

Few issues on the educational scene have proven as vexatious as the achievement gap between the "haves" and "have nots" in society. The achievement gap has proved both substantial and persistent, despite the good intentions and considerable efforts of thousands of educators and notwithstanding the "No Child Left Behind" Act and other reform…

The Advanced Technical School from Novi Sad set up a completely new study group for web design in 2004. The main goals of the paper are to explain the steps that were taken in starting this group, and to present the educational program based on our own research through the organization of the group and course descriptions. Since there is a…

This qualitative study focuses on ten graduate students in an English education master's program, who were enrolled in a course that I taught on teaching literature in the secondary school. I had restructured the course to make students the center of a series of conversations. For the study, I drew upon memory theory to examine their imagined…

With the advent of the standards movement, most states have produced statewide tests that evaluate children's understanding of expository science text. Expository texts are designed to explain, describe, or present a logical argument. Usually, the purpose of expository texts is to present new information. This article describes a research-based…

This study investigated students' achievement regarding photosynthesis and respiration in plants in relation to reasoning ability, prior knowledge and gender. A total of 117 eighth-grade students participated in the study. Test of logical thinking and the two-tier multiple choice tests were administered to determine students' reasoning ability and…

This paper briefly identifies a number of contemporary pressures for change which condition the way universities will behave and which provide both opportunities and threats for the future; it then goes on to consider the implications for distance education universities. Pressures on universities include such factors as the growth of other…

This study was conducted to investigate the microcomputer experience of female preservice teachers. A questionnaire developed to evaluate prior computer experiences of teacher education students enrolled in an educational technology and media course was administered during the first week of class. The sample included 40 males and 215 females.…

This guide to developing a prior learning portfolio was prepared to assist students in the Credit for Lifelong Learning Program (CLLP) at Sinclair Community College (SCC) in Dayton, Ohio, through the process of identifying college-level prior learning, matching their learning to specific courses, and articulating and documenting their learning.…