Uses a formative experiment design to learn about ways in which a teacher used questioning strategies to help students expand their intertextual boundaries during discussions about literature. Concludes that the use of a questioning framework such as the Directed Reading-Connecting Activity helps teachers organize their thoughts before discussions…

Presents one first-year teacher's experience with incorporating literature into her fifth grade class. Notes the lack of support from the administration and fellow teachers. Observes that when readers talk together about books, their "socially" constructed meanings can represent the range of their experiences, ideas, and backgrounds. Aims to…

This article examines some of the characteristics of a person who is morally well developed. Two of the commonly held theories of moral development are discussed, along with the possible moral problems of gifted adolescents. Finally, ways that educators can help gifted adolescents develop their full potential are provided. (Contains references.)…

Discusses how to maximize classroom participation in the English-as-a-Second-or-Foreign-Language classroom, and provides a classroom discussion method that is based on real-life problem solving. (Author/VWL)

This study examined how frequently psychology professors at liberal arts colleges assign primary source readings. Professors provided information on 576 courses. Frequent use of primary sources suggests that professors view such readings as a valuable component of the psychology curriculum. Professors assigned primary source material in 70.8% of…

Focus group discussions offer participants time to discuss particular topics. This article discusses some results of several graduate students' attempts to implement focus group research. After a brief review of literature reflecting the use of focus groups and recommendations for their use, the author reports their reactions and their…

This study investigated changing attitudes toward reading among elementary and secondary teacher candidates participating in in-class book group discussions in an introductory language and literacy course taught by two instructors in a medium-sized state teacher education program. Qualitative methods focused on both students' weekly self-reports…

Ethical dilemmas observed by students in retailing internships were the basis for a survey in which students indicated their perceptions as to whether case situations involved unethical behavior. Expanded case situations were offered to students for further exploration. The specific questions posed in this study included the following: (1) In what…

Biographers have called Walt Whitman "America's most influential and innovative poet" and some have even called him "the greatest of all American poets." But in the winter of 1862-63, even as he was gaining a reputation as a talented poet, Whitman was forty-three years old, volunteering as a nurse in Union hospitals, and…

To understand the role of affect in classroom discussion, the authors asked 16 students taking a 3-hr seminar to participate in a semester-long grounded theory inquiry. Coding of classroom observations, stimulated recall interviews, and self-ratings from each class meeting resulted in a model of affect as a catalyst in students' experience of…

The music classroom is the perfect setting for investigative and imaginative inquiry--for teaching students how to talk about music. Because dialogue that is done well is too dynamic to be captured in a one-dimensional model, the ideas and frameworks in this article are merely intended to serve as springboards for eliciting richer discussions in…

This study investigates how middle school students and teachers in preservice and master of arts classes analyze writing samples. Three sets of participants analyzed and scored a common set of writings. Findings indicate that several intact classroom groups of eighth-graders, preservice teachers, and veteran teachers in a graduate reading program…

Students studying a third-year e-commerce subject experienced face-to-face and online discussions as an important part of their learning experience. The quality of the students' experiences of learning through those discussions is investigated in this study. This study uses qualitative approaches to investigate the variation in the students'…

This article operationally defines effective student class participation. Optimum class management and effectiveness depends on students being actively engaged, supportive of each other, and civil in their exchanges. Examples of student behaviors to avoid are also discussed. Desired student classroom behavior is argued to be enhanced by good…

This article describes the implementation of an activity designed to confront a common misconception about variable. (Contains 1 table and 3 figures.)