Compares male and female perceptions of and confidence in an experimental physics class at the University of Arkansas. The class, a National Science Foundation (NSF)-sponsored project, attempts to improve the educational experience for all students. Women made statistically significant gains in confidence and attitude toward science in the…

Notes that there is a rich literature within social studies education promoting the teaching of controversial issues. Observes that, despite this, teachers continue to be cautious, only giving controversies a token nod in curricula. Suggests four reasons why controversial content continues to be difficult for teachers to implement. (DSK)

Describes use of an interactive Web forum to provide a safe vehicle for social work students to dialogue concerning the dynamics of social oppression and cultural diversity. Analyzes usage patterns of the website and data from student evaluations. Offers recommendations for using computer technology to meet the challenges inherent in teaching…

Describes a lesson consisting of activities such as a mock town hall meeting, forming a lobby group, and attending a town hall meeting. Focuses on community-based issues and the role of citizens in bringing about change at the local level. (CMK)

Discusses reading with pre-teens Francine Pascal's "Sweet Valley Twins: Best Friends," one of a series of pre-romance novels featuring identical twin sisters. Interviews six girls using the Symbolic Representation Interview (SRI) about the good girl/bad girl dichotomy in novels and other media. Provides comments by Tom Romano and Diana Mitchell.…

Explores the content and history of the last three constitutional amendments: (1) presidential succession and disability (the Twenty-fifth amendment); (2) voting rights for young people (the Twenty-sixth amendment); and (3) congressional pay raises (the Twenty-seventh amendment). Includes questions for discussion. (CMK)

Investigated the effects of three types of interaction (academic, collaborative, and social) on learning, satisfaction, participation, and attitude toward online learning in a Web-based environment with undergraduates in Korea. Concludes that social interaction with instructors and collaborative interaction with peers are important in enhancing…

Presents a lesson where students interact with the art of the Gilded Age and learn about various artists from the time period as a means to review the major themes of the Gilded Age. Explains that this lesson addresses the National Standards for U.S. History. Provides teacher notes, extension activities, and additional sources. (CMK)

Explains that this student forum provides students with an opportunity to learn more about human rights through role-play and specifically allows them to debate the issue of whether U.S. citizens should have an absolute right to adequate health care. Offers roles for students who intend to share their views in the panel discussion. (CMK)

Examines the role of discussion groups in a case-based environment. College students completed two cases individually or in small discussion groups. Overall, participants in groups liked their method significantly better than those who worked alone, felt they learned more working in a group than they would have working alone, and expressed a…

Weekly reading and writing workshops held with Caribbean middle school girls led to an understanding that concepts such as cultural relevance and gender sensitivity were inadequate in light of the complex, multidimensional identities they were required to negotiate on a daily basis. The paper argues for pedagogies that involve Caribbean girls in…

For all first graders, "high level of functioning" includes both continuing oral language development and new competencies in reading and writing. With young children in their preschool years, conversations can happen easily and frequently with familiar adults. According to one recently-reprinted earlier study, British psychologist Barbara Tizard…

In this article, the authors describe how they collaborated to learn how children in their classroom make sense of a mathematical idea. One discusses their new knowledge from the perspective of a large-group discussion, and the other discusses it from the perspective of her small-group investigation. They also discuss how this collaboration has…

This paper reports a phenomenographic investigation into students' experiences of learning through discussion--both online and face to face (F2F). The study context was a second-year undergraduate course in psychology for social work in which the teacher had designed discussion tasks to begin in F2F mode and to continue online. A combination of…

We integrate available and new technologies to strongly enhance student engagement in upper division undergraduate courses on human evolution and history. First, we use peer-mentored discussion groups through the Blackboard system--appropriately scaled, constructed, and incentivized. These allow day-to-day monitoring of student understanding.…