Mathematical argumentation is an important skill. It leads to the process of proof, which is one area that students are being asked to master by the end of secondary school. Encouraging explanation and justification in math class allows this skill to develop. Explaining and justifying their ideas forces students to think deeply about mathematics…

The author examines using problem-based learning (PBL) to guide preservice teachers' problem-solving abilities. Two classes of preservice teachers were divided into either an experimental group, who were taught to solve classroom problems using PBL, or a control group, who used traditional teaching methods such as discussion and videoclips of…

Professional journals serve the vital scientific function of disseminating knowledge to colleagues. In so doing, journals become the "face" and "voice" of the professional disciplines they represent. Journal content shows the major topics of interest, the scope, and the boundaries of the profession. It shows the techniques and methods of research…

The students in three sections of a class rated their knowledge and identified their view before and after each of five in-class debates. The degree of self-reported knowledge was significantly different after four of the five debates. Between 31% and 58% of participants changed their views after participating in or observing each debate. Some…

Online discussion forums provide open workspace allowing learners to share information, exchange ideas, address problems and discuss on specific themes. But the substantial impediment to its promotion as effective e-learning facility lies in the continuously increasing messages but with discrete and incoherent structure as well as the loosely-tied…

Background/Context: Research has demonstrated that moving from traditional teacher-directed, monologic practices to dialogic discussions remains a daunting challenge. The reasons for this staying power are multiple: Teachers often stick with familiar canonical texts; districts often mandate the literature teachers must use; standardized tests…

Classroom discourse is structured by socially accepted ways in which knowledge is presented and by established procedures for carrying out educational activities. However, the underlying linguistic and social ground rules are usually implicit, for students as well as for teachers. The implicitness of these ground rules has been attributed to…

The Yellowstone cutthroat trout (YCT; "Oncorhynchus clarki bouvieri") has become a species of special concern for Yellowstone National Park (YNP) fisheries biologists. Although this subspecies formerly occupied a greater area than any other inland cutthroat trout, the current distribution of YCT is now limited to several watersheds within the…

Numerous studies have compared the Angoff standard-setting procedure to other standard-setting methods, but relatively few studies have evaluated the procedure based on internal criteria. This study uses a generalizability theory framework to evaluate the stability of the estimated cut score. To provide a measure of internal consistency, this…

This commentary brings additional theoretical perspectives to bear on data and findings presented by Anniken Furberg and Hans Christian Arnseth in their paper on students' meaning making in genetics in collaborative learning activities. The theoretical perspectives converge on the importance of maximizing students' learning in genetics. The…

This article is based on a study which investigated the beliefs about English language learning of 661 first-year university students and their 34 English teachers at a Japanese university. The focus of the article is the shifts in reported student beliefs over a nine-month period of English study between two administrations of the Sakui and Gaies…

The article explores the author's learning as she interviewed students who participated in a data analysis unit. The article features students' comments and raises issues that are pertinent to supporting students' understandings of data analysis and their views of their own mathematical capabilities. (Contains 1 figure.)

"Group groping," a classroom activity in which discussion units of five to seven students search into a text (play, essay, poem or short story) to illuminate a problem posed by the teacher, is a way of making discussions both teacher-directed and student-centered. After a class has read a work, the teacher provides background information to…

The results of the study suggest that for one graduate department, a week of discussions changed few attitudes toward campus issues. (Author)

Investigates differences in questions developed and asked by preservice teachers during literature set discussions. Finds that preservice teachers' questioning practices can be influenced by training and practice. Concludes that classroom reading instruction and students' reading achievement may be enhanced through teacher questioning practices.…