A comprehensive approach for integrating technology into a TESOL teacher preparation program is described. Ten specific ways to assure constructivist technology use in teacher education are highlighted. These techniques have been synthesized into a compact model with three pillars: (a) electronic assessment system (e-portfolios for individual…

Background: The introduction of a new National Curriculum in post-apartheid South Africa heralded a different approach in education. This curriculum not only advocated the development of knowledge and skills, but also emphasised education for democracy and citizenship. It seeks to balance central control (and a single curriculum) with local…

The number of games, simulations, and multi-user virtual environments designed to promote learning, engagement with subject matter, or intended to contextualize learning has been steadily increasing over the past decade. While the use of these digital designs in educational settings has begun to show promise for improving learning, motivation, and…

The purpose of this study was to determine pre-service physics teachers' attitudes towards assessment. It was also aimed to examine the factors affecting their attitudes. Two factors were considered. The first was difficulties that pre-service teachers experienced relating to assessment. The second factor was teachers' self-efficacy regarding…

The No Child Left Behind education act mandates that school districts develop supplemental educational service programs for students not demonstrating mathematical proficiency on state standardized math assessments. Yet there is limited understanding of issues related to supplemental educational service math programs. The purpose of this…

The purpose of this Executive Position Paper (EPP) is to develop a model for improving the online training modules utilized by a mid-Atlantic Residence Life department. The complexity of the Residence Life staff positions, coupled with demands from other university departments and the need to provide as much information as possible, resulted in an…

Background/Context: New technologies have been largely absent in arts education curriculum even though they offer opportunities to address arts integration, equity, and the technological prerequisites of an increasingly digital age. This paper draws upon the emerging professional field of "media arts" and the ways in which youth use new…

Due to the central role of textbooks in the teaching and learning of science, it is imperative that textbooks provide correct content and instructional support. We investigated how 16 South African Grade 7 natural science educators selected their textbooks and how they evaluated these textbooks. The results were analysed according to the…

Daily advances in technology are restructuring the way we live, work, learn and interact. The rapid development of synchronous online venues available to distance education has lead to a heightened need for theory & practice in the effective use of these collaborative learning live venues. This paper is directed to faculty members who are already…

This paper reports on implications of a research study with a group of 44 Indigenous middle school students learning the science concepts of energy and force. We found the concepts of energy and force need to be taught in English as we failed to find common comparable abstract concepts in the students' diverse Indigenous languages. Three…

College and university teaching has come under intense scrutiny in recent years. Scholars agree that effective teaching is much more than the transmission of knowledge. However, they may disagree as to what effective teaching entails. This paper provides a perspective that effective teaching, and thus learning, is enhanced when appropriate…

Constructivist pedagogical approaches have become common in many science curricula. However, while sciences such as physics and chemistry lend themselves to compelling opportunities for interaction (explosions, reactions, objects in motion), certain systems sciences are more challenging for learners to engage with on a short time scale. Applying…

The purpose of this study was to determine whether Science, Technology, and Society (STS) learning increases student concept mastery, general science achievement, use of concepts in new situations, and attitudes toward science in middle school classrooms. The study involved two teachers and fifty-two students in grades 6 through 8. Two sections of…

This study examines the effectiveness of asynchronous communication in facilitating historical discussions among adolescents, with a specific focus on the ways in which teachers can affect this process. Threaded discussion board posts and teacher-student email correspondence from a five-week American history summer course are analyzed and…

The National Professional Qualification in Integrated Centre Leadership (NPQICL) is a programme that supports children's centre leaders to develop their own leadership capability. This research highlights the effect the particular constructivist teaching and learning methodology has had on individual tutors' and mentors' professional development.…