This study is concerned with the challenge of understanding what factors may influence students' higher level knowledge construction. We defined higher level knowledge construction occurrences as the sum of the number of phases II to V measured using Gunawardena et al.'s (J Educ Comput Res 17(4):397-431, "1997") interaction analysis model. This…

Findings from two studies are discussed in relation to the experiences and challenges faced by teachers trying to implement effective group work in schools and classrooms and to reflect on the lessons learnt about how to involve pupils with special educational needs (SEN). The first study reports on UK primary school teachers' experiences of…

Grounded in Vygotskyan sociocultural theory, this qualitative, classroom-based investigation incorporates an open-ended task framework. Open tasks in the present study were defined as ones designed to take shape in the second language classroom as teacher and adult learners jointly worked through exploratory problems. One central feature of open…

While a body of research exists on individual metacognition, research on reflective communities is just beginning. This study generated a framework for conceptualizing metacognition in groups by describing likely components of group metacognition. I focused on a group of five preservice science teachers engaged in problem-based learning (PBL). The…

We use the theory of communities of practice and the concept of accountable disciplinary knowledge to describe how a learning community develops in the context of an upper-division physics laboratory course. The change in accountable disciplinary knowledge motivates students' enculturation into a community of practice. The enculturation process is…

The present study used an interpersonal theoretical perspective to examine the interactions between Dutch teachers and kindergartners. Interpersonal theory provides explanations for dyadic interaction behaviors by stating that complementary behaviors (dissimilar in terms of control, and similar in terms of affiliation) elicit and sustain each…

The purpose of the present study is to investigate the mediational function of the gesture-speech interface in the instructional conversation that emerged as teachers attempted to explain the meaning of English words to their students in two EFL classrooms in the Ukraine. Its analytical framework is provided by Vygotsky's sociocultural psychology…

This dissertation explores how participants express and interpret verbal cues of interaction involvement in dyadic conversations via text-based Instant Messaging (IM). Moreover, it seeks to discover differences in the way American participants and Chinese participants use verbal cues when they are highly, or lowly involved. Based on previous…

This work explores the use of multimodal communication in a community of expert "World of Warcraft"® players and its impact on politeness, identity, and relationships. Players in the community regularly communicated using three linguistic modes quasi-simultaneously: text chat, voice chat, and face-to-face interaction. Using the…

Coaching is a powerful tool for improving special education teachers' use of evidence-based practices. Recent technological advances have great potential to influence the manner in which coaching is implemented. Virtual coaching is an innovative cycle of coaching that utilizes video-conferencing and bug-in-ear technology in internet-mediated…

This study analyzed instructional achievement and intrinsic motivation among 21st century secondary students utilizing a video lecture incorporating both student reaction cutaway images and immediate content interaction within the lecture. Respondents (n = 155) were from multiple classes and grade levels at a suburban Texas high school. Four…

The concept of pedagogical content knowledge is integral to teaching as a profession and is often considered to be an important aspect of a teacher's lived experience. Pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) is described as a transformation of teacher knowledge from a variety of domains of knowledge, which includes subject matter knowledge,…

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of manipulating toy sets on the social verbal interaction that occurs between preschool-age children with disabilities and their typically developing peers. A single-subject alternating-treatments design was used to evaluate the effects of manipulating social toy sets and isolate toy sets on…

This paper outlines some findings of a three-month investigation into the effects of students' interpersonal relationships on communication in two EFL classrooms in a Japanese university. Data was collected to identify and describe the various social subgroups that existed within the classes, and samples of classroom discourse were then analysed…

An educator working in a toddler-group (children aged 1-3) took part in an in-service program using a "Learning Study" design within the broader theoretical frame of the "Variation Theory of learning". The purpose of this study is, in qualitative terms and in the context of explorative play, to describe how the educator develops strategies where…