Problem-based approaches to learning have a long history of advocating experience-based education. Psychological research and theory suggests that by having students learn through the experience of solving problems, they can learn both content and thinking strategies. Problem-based learning (PBL) is an instructional method in which students learn…

In this study, we defined and quantified the degree of cognitive conflict induced by a discrepant event from a cognitive perspective. Based on the scheme developed, we investigated the relationship between cognitive conflict and conceptual change, and the influences of students' cognitive characteristics on conflict in learning the concept of…

Though the concept of online community has been heralded as a promising tool to support teacher professional development, a robust and meaningful definition remains elusive. This review draws together research on community, teaching, and learning in traditional and online settings. Examples of current efforts in the field of online learning…

In this essay, the author argues for a democratized way of developing a consciousness of differences by describing two abbreviated creative writing classroom experiences with urban sixth grade middle school students during the 2002-2003 academic year. She draws on Tony Medina's (2001) claim that poetry and writing weave people and worlds together…

A distance education system may be viewed in terms of intrapersonal and interpersonal instructional dialogues that mediate the learning and instructional resources that enable such dialogues. Instructional resources include self-instruction texts, tutorial sessions, instructor availability, Web sites, and more. This study investigated the kinds of…

This study aimed to verify the efficacy of a strategy for science learning acquisition based on contextual, metacognitive and socio-cultural perspectives, strongly linked to the paradigm of conceptual change. The teaching model we adopted is based on co-operation for the realization of scientific experiences, and included direct observation, pair…

Paired listening was originally developed as a research tool with the aim to understand the strategies used by L2 learners when listening to recorded speech in the target language. It offers researchers a useful combination of direct observation and verbal data, whilst avoiding the common drawbacks of subjective introspection. This paper examines…

This study deals with the demand of a task. A theoretical background shows the difficulty of applying the idea of demand (as established in the literature) to the data. This has been confirmed in the preliminary study of this paper, which deals with the analysis of university examinations. Some factors that affect the demand of a task have been…

By 2010, college enrollments are expected to increase by one-third, yet this growth happens at a time when colleges and universities are faced with limited or reduced funding [1]. The result is a demand for cost-effective methods of instruction like distance learning [2]. But to be successful in a distance learning environment, students must not…

This article presents a reflexive look at a year-long mentoring experience between a university researcher and two third-grade teachers in a lower socioeconomic school. The challenges and rewards of mentoring the teachers in areas of their choice--writing workshop, constructivism, interactive learning methods, and management of cooperative…

Teaching practicum requires a philosophy to give directions to values and actions. The philosophy proposed here aims for the development of a reflective and reflexive learner who learns through situational analyzing, theorizing, hypothesis testing, inquiring, experimenting, and justifying. Such development has to be built around the searching and…

This article describes a model for creating a total quality environment (TQE) for learning in which everyone is considered a learner. The model consists of 11 interrelated characteristics derived from the literature in the areas of continuous improvement, leadership, learning, learning organizations, and spirituality. The characteristics in the…

Spelling strategies were examined based on error analysis and strategy reports for errors and correct spellings for 50 Grade 4 and 5 students with and without spelling difficulties. Based on their own reports, all students possessed a repertoire of effective spelling strategies. Strategy use, however, differed as a function of spelling accuracy…

This curriculum guide presents strategies for teaching a unit on the Middle East conflict including a rationale, performance objectives, background information, and questions. Worksheets contain simulations, poetry, and news stories which are used to teach the origins of and issues concerning the conflict. A simulation of the 1897 Zionist Congress…

Translating basic sciences into a clinical framework has been approached through the implementation of various teaching techniques aimed at using a patient case scenario to facilitate learning. These techniques present students with a specific patient case and lead the students to discuss physiological processes through analysis of provided data…