Although there is a considerable emphasis on inquiry-based, active learning in standards documents, curriculum documents, and textbooks, there exists a great deal of debate regarding the effectiveness of specific curricular and instructional approaches, including kit-based instruction. This study examines the efficacy of science kits in improving…

Despite official government srt (in various jurisdictions around the world) for providing students with opportunities to construct their own knowledge within the context of formal schooling, school science systems continue to place greatest priority on teaching and learning of "products" of science (e.g., laws and theories), while…

The quality reform of higher education in Norway has generally recommended a substitution of classroom teaching with more active forms of learning in higher education. This study reveals that ignoring the student's personality type may be in conflict with the purpose of the reform. The student's personality type affects both the most effective…

Educationalists experience difficulties with the construction of competence maps that describe final attainment levels of educational programs. Web-based support was developed with three supportive aids: A construction kit, a phenomenarium, and an information bank. Each supportive aid was expected to improve perceived process and product quality…

In this article we analyze the dialogic learning of one pair of students in order to investigate how these students cope with a collaborative learning situation in the classroom. Our aim is to substantiate the claims that not only are young students (8 year olds) capable of solving mathematical problems collaboratively, but that they also take an…

This study examined the effectiveness of the Montana Early Literacy Project (MELP) curriculum on literacy and language skills of preschool-age children in Head Start. The MELP model utilizes everyday events and existing routines of classroom and home environments to build literacy and language directly into children's daily experiences. Using a…

A great deal of value is placed on student research within universities, exemplified by the prominent role of the dissertation or extended written work at the end of many programmes, and the more general benefits of embedding research-based learning into a curriculum in order to develop higher-order learning. This article reports on a…

Computer technologies develop at a challenging fast pace. Formal education should not only teach students basic computer skills to meet current computer needs, but also foster student development of informal learning ability for a lifelong learning process. On the other hand, students growing up in the digital world are often more skilled with…

This paper reports the results of a doctoral research pilot study that paired a researcher with an experienced classroom teacher for a 12-week time span with the goal of effectively integrating the use of Geometer's Sketchpad (GSP) into the classroom teacher's practice. Using a teacher development experiment, the researcher created an…

The role of motivation and collaboration in STEM learning and performance is paramount. A learning community represents an educational approach that can engage students in learning in a motivated, thoughtful, active, and collaborative way. The focus of this article is on the nature of students' interest, attitudes, learning experiences and…

The aim of this study was to determine the effects of problem-based active learning in science education on students' academic achievement and concept learning. In the study, both quantitative and qualitative research methods were utilized. Quantitative data were obtained via the pre/post-test, treatment-control groups test model. Qualitative data…

This case provides a real-world semester long project-oriented case study for students enrolled in an electronic commerce course that has a significant development component. The case provides the technical framework in the form of functional requirements for students to design and build a fully functional transaction processing e-commerce Web…

Increased opportunities for undergraduate students in agricultural and natural resource disciplines to write for diverse audiences besides their instructor may increase motivation to write and improve student writing skills. The objectives of this teaching research were to determine and compare the initial writing experience of students enrolled…

This paper presents findings of a study that examined case-study teaching methods, specifically, the use of case stories in the training of educational administrators. A case story blends aspects of the case-study methods with storytelling. The case-story approach asks students to develop case stories, using their personal experience to create…

Research in recent years has demonstrated that cooperative learning is a highly effective classroom intervention that promotes student learning and development across a range of curriculum areas. This study compared the effects on behavioral interactions and achievement of: (1) cooperative learning in which members were trained to collaborate to…