The modern concept of first-year seminars was introduced in 1972. Ninety-four percent of America's accredited 4-year colleges and universities offered a seminar by 2002. "First-year seminar" defines a fairly diverse instructional construct, but the goal remains to improve student retention rates. Research trends indicate a positive and…

The aim of this study is to compare the teaching process of early reading in the US to in Turkey. This study observes developing early reading of students, their reading miscues, and compares early reading process of students in the US and to early reading process of students in Turkey. This study includes the following research question: What are…

In this paper, we explore the benefits to teacher evaluation when video-based self-observation is done by teachers as a vehicle for individual, reflective practice. We explore how it was applied systematically at the ICPNA bi-national center among hundreds of EFL teachers within two institution-wide initiatives that have relied on self-observation…

This study aims at describing the use of language at primary schools grade 1, 2, and 3 in Surakarta. The study belongs to descriptive qualitative research. It emphasizes in a note which depict real situation to support data presentation. Content analysis is used as research methodology. It analyzes the research result of the observed speech event.…

Rural subregions of the developing countries are suffering from many physical and socioeconomic problems, including scarcity of basic education institutions. The shortage of education institutions extended distance between rural localities and education institutions. Hence, to curb this problem, this research is aimed to deal with the basic…

Researches carried out all around the world showed that students learn more effectively if they are able to make connections between subjects. This case reports based on an investigation of how mathematics concepts were connected to science concepts by a science teacher in an elementary science classroom, and on the science teacher's views about…

Background: Currently, there is great enthusiasm surrounding place-based initiatives for school reform, such as the Harlem Children's Zone, Promise Neighborhoods, and other initiatives that attend to the multiple contexts that influence child development. However, past efforts to bridge schools, families, and communities have been undermined by…

School associates (SA's), or cooperating teachers (CT's), have arguably been one of the most powerful influences on the teacher candidate's (TC) pre-service experience. For this reason, most studies about the practicum have focused on this relationship. However, while observing one visual art student's practicum as her Faculty Advisor (FA) for the…

The study upon which this article is based investigates teachers' literacy development methods used in nursery and reception classrooms of a British international school, and focuses specifically on children having English as an additional language (EAL). Findings from teaching observations and from interviews with teachers present the techniques…

Moving teacher evaluation systems from measuring teachers' performance to improving their practice requires much greater attention to communication and support. In the fall of 2012, Chicago Public Schools (CPS) instituted a sweeping reform of its teacher evaluation system with the introduction of REACH Students (Recognizing Educators Advancing…

With the aim of deepening understanding of young children's identity construction, the study explores small stories produced in a Finnish day care center context. Small stories are understood as identity-constituting social practices that occur and recur in day care settings. Taking ideas on narrative ethnography as starting point, research…

The aim of this paper is to identify adoption factors of mobile wireless technology to increase interactivity between lecturers and students during lectures. A theoretical framework to ascertain lecturers' intentions to use mobile wireless technology during lectures (dependent variable) is proposed with seven independent variables. The…

Some educators may see cooperative learning as a Western pedagogy that is difficult to use in Eastern countries with a Confucian Heritage, while others argue that the philosophy of Confucius parallels the elements of cooperative learning. This article reports the key findings of a 2-year longitudinal study that investigated the perceptions of…

According to O'Brien, Aguinaga, Hines, and Hartsborne (2011), "Delivery of course content via various distance education technologies (e.g., interactive video, asynchronous and/or synchronous online delivery) is becoming an accepted and expected component of many teacher preparation programs" (p. 3). With the infusion of technology in…

Located in a northern Tasmanian government primary school, this study presents the findings of an investigation into the learning behaviours of middle primary (Grade 3/4) students in a collaborative music soundscape task. Recent literature regarding music education and social development are presented and the design of the research described.…