This study set out to test whether relevant prior knowledge would moderate a positive effect on academic achievement of elaboration during small-group discussion. In a 2 × 2 experimental design, 66 undergraduate students observed a video showing a small-group problem-based discussion about thunder and lightning. In the video, a teacher asked…

This article describes a project that includes a two-week series of researching, essay writing, and speaking lessons exploring the broader implications of using ethanol as a fuel. The author, a chemistry teacher, describes how she uses a senate hearing discussion of ethanol fuel subsidies as the forum for a role-play. The four components of the…

This article describes an activity for a course in "Intercultural Communication, Communication and Diversity" that is designed to help students better understand the concept of world views in everyday life. It also provides an understanding of how world views may be connected to values, norms, and ethnocentrism in very personal and…

Building the cultural competencies of Extension educators to work effectively with increasingly diverse audiences has become an important goal and a timely focus for professional development. Yet reduced budgets and reductions in staff are challenging the ability to provide professional development in the traditional face-to-face delivery method.…

Higher education institutions are considered by many to be pivotal in shaping the next generation of thinkers and practitioners required to further work towards addressing the sustainability challenges faced by contemporary societies. The extent to which higher education has embraced this responsibility is debateable. Notwithstanding, this article…

We present a study of classroom voting in linear algebra, in which the instructors posed multiple-choice questions to the class and then allowed a few minutes for consideration and small-group discussion. After each student in the class voted on the correct answer using a classroom response system, a set of clickers, the instructor then guided a…

Discussing and exploring concepts is an important element of literacy and mathematics instruction in elementary classrooms. Read-alouds provide an opportunity for teachers to engage students in meaningful discussion. This article describes a quick three-step process for mathematizing books, that is, weaving together read-alouds, discussion, and…

This summer, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in "Shelby County v. Holder" that Congress had exceeded its Fifteenth Amendment enforcement authority when it reauthorized a part of the Voting Rights Act (a coverage formula) that forced places with a history of discrimination to get federal approval before making changes to their election laws.…

This article describes an equity education program established in 2009 by Ontario's (Canada) Ministry of Education to improve outcomes for students at risk and create the conditions needed for student success. Beginning teachers were crucial partners and emerging leaders of equity education. Some of the equity concerns these teachers faced were…

This study attempts to examine how students participate and interact in different discussion modules organized with different group size in an online environment. It adopts a case study methodology where full semester online course with two small-group and three class-wide discussion forums was examined. The researcher counted the number of…

In this article, the authors review the theoretical and social science literature that supports the pedagogical practice of engaging students in discussions and deliberations about controversial political issues. They first outline the theoretical underpinnings of deliberative democracy and explain how it has appeared in the field of education for…

The Thanksgiving Day holiday celebrated in the United States is generally traced to a first harvest celebration in the newly established Plymouth colony (present-day Massachusetts). Traditional storytelling describes the first Thanksgiving feast as having been attended by 53 Pilgrims (the European settlers) and 90 Native Americans. The holiday can…

Does learner participation vary depending on the learning context? Are there characteristic features of participation evident in formal, non-formal, and informal online learning environments? Six online learning environments were chosen as epitomes of formal, non-formal, and informal learning contexts and compared. Transcripts of online…

The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of the most frequently utilized teaching strategy of lecturing followed by discussion and to compare it with lecturing followed by role playing to determine how to best prepare nursing students both in terms of knowledge and self-efficacy. The primary goal of the study was to learn how to…

This study explores the communicative accommodation strategies employed by a bilingual tutor and an ELL student during the discussion of word problems involving secondary algebra and geometry concepts. Mathematics discussions are conceived as communicative events wherein ELL student comprehension is promoted through provision of simplified…