Mathematics' skills and knowledge lay the basis for engineering studies. However, the resources targeted to mathematics' teaching are in many cases very limited. During the past years in our university the reduction of mathematics' contact hours has been significant while at the same time the study groups have grown. However, the mathematical…

The purpose of the present study was to study if purposeful math, science, and technology curriculum projects and activities would support Pre-K children's performance in these subject matter areas. In this study, 58 Pre-K children from 4 Pre-K classrooms in a public Pre-K programme in North Carolina participated. Through a quasi-experimental,…

In any language education program, there are both commonalities and divergences in the ways in which students negotiate and form their identities. While work on bilingual education has revealed important similarities that students come to share, fewer studies have focused on explaining variation. In this paper, we explore individual differences by…

The purpose of this study was to identify the characteristics of common elementary music class activities that elicit situational interest, the short-term interest that emerges spontaneously in learners when faced with environmental factors in an educational experience. An instrumental case study approach was employed, with 24 fourth-grade…

We investigate the development of expert identities through the use of the sociocultural perspective of learning as participating in a community of practice. An ethnographic case study of biophysics graduate students focuses on the experiences the students have in their research group meetings. The analysis illustrates how the communities of…

Many have warned against a direct "brain scan to lesson plan" approach when attempting to transfer insights from neuroscience to the classroom. Similarly, in the effective design and implementation of learning technology, a judicious interrelation of insights associated with diverse theoretical perspectives (e.g., neuroscientific,…

Despite the significance of vocabulary knowledge to student learning, limited studies have examined English language arts (ELA) teachers' skills and practices that may be effective for building word consciousness in high school Mexican-American bilingual students. The research objective of the present study is to examine how two high school ELA…

The aim of this study was to investigate what the prospective elementary mathematics teachers noticed and how their noticing changed in an environment in which they discuss on video cases. To achieve this aim, we asked senior elementary mathematics prospective teachers to watch and discuss videos depicting real elementary mathematics classrooms.…

Undergraduate students at land-grant institutions across the country are often unaware of the depth and breadth of Extension services and careers. Agricultural communication students collaborated with an Extension programmatic team in a blended and project-based course at Purdue University to develop online videos about small farm agricultural…

We report the student response to a two-year transformation of a one-semester organic chemistry course for nonchemistry majors. The transformed course adopted a peer led team learning approach and incorporated case studies. Student attitudes toward the course transformation were assessed throughout the semester, and adjustments to the methods were…

This research examines students' use of African American English (AAE) in classrooms with varying levels of procedural and substantive engagement. In this study, classroom context is examined for type of engagement, turn length, and teacher response to student AAE use. Student AAE use is analyzed by ethnicity, gender, and teacher, and by features…

Research has addressed what instructional conditions may inhibit or promote scientific argumentation. Little research, however, has paid attention to interpersonal factors that influence collaborative argumentation. The present study examines the ways interpersonal factors affected group dynamics, which influence the features of collaborative…

This article examines the pedagogical content knowledge which underpins the practices in reading lessons of experienced teachers in test preparation classes. It takes as a starting point the assumption that practice is shaped by teacher cognitions, which are established through professional training and classroom experience. Thus, the study…

A flipped classroom approach promotes active learning and increases teacher-student interactions by maximizing face-to-face class time (Hamdan, McKnight, Mcknight, Arfstrom, & Arfstrom, 2013). In this study, "flipped classroom" is combined with the use of technology and is described as an instructional approach that provides lectures…

This volume addresses the role of communicative interaction in driving various dimensions of second language development from the perspective of Vygotskian sociocultural psychology. Emphasizing the dialectical relationship between the external-social world and individual mental functioning, the chapters delve into a wide range of topics…