Uses the author's experiences to illustrate the challenge of teaching in today's schools. Discusses ways to provide a climate in which students feel they hold ownership, and have relationships with the community of learners around them to engage in discussion about the subject material and further develop their own thinking patterns. Presents…

Examines conversational interaction in mother-twin-twin triads during play. Findings, paralleling those for mother-infant-sibling triads, reveal that these conversations are five times longer and elicit more turns from all speakers than dyadic conversations between a mother and a single twin and that the unique effects of triadic exchanges are not…

Discusses the use of electronic discussion groups as part of regular course activities at California Lutheran University. Highlights include benefits, including meeting student needs and convenient interaction; the need for assessment to determine instructional effectiveness; and the results of student surveys. (LRW)

Summarizes the novel, "Western Wind," by Paula Fox, lists 12 discussion questions, describes six activities, and contains an annotated bibliography of seven other novels related to birth, death, and families. (DGM)

Discusses teaching practices that promote interaction and foster a positive learning environment in online classes. Topics include meeting student learning needs; the teacher's role in computer-mediated interactions; biographical posts for instructors and students; positive affirmation of student work; integrating stories into class discussions;…

The author reflects on her personal experience of networked learning using the approach of personal inquiry, addressing the issue of identity and presenting herself online; experience of participating in the formation of the learning group; and experience using this medium of communication. This is followed with a theoretical exploration which…

Addresses questions that teachers may face in the classroom to help them educate their students about Muslim Americans. Includes a list of books about Islam, topics to be used for classroom discussion, and other resources for teaching about Muslim Americans. (CMK)

Includes an interview with Cathy Fowler, a Year 7 teacher at Kawungan State School in Queensland, Australia. Explains that Cathy is a participant and coordinator of the extremely popular Harry Potter Book Rap, a guided Internet book discussion among students all over the world. Discusses how this activity fueled her students' love for reading. (PM)

Online discussions and transcriptions of face-to-face discussions by graduate students (14 online, 14 on campus) were analyzed. Technical support was not available 24 hours a day to online students who were predominantly women. Online discussions were more student-to-student, classroom discussions student-to-teacher. The analysis suggests how…

Discusses the need for new student evaluation methods that are applicable to online distance learning in higher education. Highlights include challenges faced in online learning as compared to traditional classroom instruction; types of online assessment strategies and examples of activities, including performance assessments, virtual discussions,…

Reviews communication as a fundamental component in implementing a balanced and effective mathematics program. Presents a classroom episode in which students solve problems, use rubrics to rate the written response of a peer, and discuss solutions and decisions for rating their peers' papers. (KHR)

Discusses the use of focused interactive learning (FIL), in which students participate in focused discussions with their peers to learn about psychological concepts. Evaluates the use of FIL at Florida Atlantic University (Boca Raton, Florida). Addresses student benefits resulting from this technique. (CMK)

Investigates a graduate-level online course in which groups of four students were used to lead online discussions. The teams were examined for their ability to bring instructional design, discourse facilitation, and direct instruction to the discussion. Results indicate that the peer teams fulfilled each of the three roles and valued the…

Two aspects of instructional practice in mathematics are discussed: the process of developing instructional activities and the importance of engaging students in mathematical discussion. The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) Standards are evaluated based on this discussion. (CW)

Questions whether skills taught when using young adult novels transfer to other literature, to situations across the curriculum, and to daily life. Suggests encouraging this transfer with four critical thinking processes: (1) exploring multi-perspectives, (2) developing criteria for evaluating literature, (3) participating in open-ended…