A growing body of research, both nationally and internationally, indicates that children in the early childhood years (birth to age 8) learn primarily through their senses and from direct experience. They develop an understanding about the world through play, exploration, and creative activities as well as by watching and imitating adults and…

Online information searching strategies (OISS) used by students can be viewed as a key indicator in online learning environments. Therefore, developments in their OISS may also involve variables such as self-regulated learning (SRL) and online information evaluative standards (OIES). Three instruments, an OISS, a SRL and an OIES were used to…

This study explored students' perceptions of self-directed learning (SDL) and collaborative learning (CL) with/without technology in an information and communications technology-supported classroom environment. The factors include SDL, CL, SDL supported by technology, and CL supported by technology. Based on the literature review, this study…

Teaching with song lyrics has many popular variations. The Common Core State Standards discourage pre-teaching, leaving students somewhat adrift. Song lyrics possess the potential to scaffold students' schema in select social studies topics. Using reciprocal teaching (Palinscar & Brown 1984) within the reading workshop students ponder…

In the modern business environment, managers are increasingly required to perform decision making and evaluate related risks based on quantitative information in the face of uncertainty, which in turn increases demand for business professionals with sound skills and hands-on experience with statistical data analysis. Computer-based training…

Although invested study time is expected to relate to exam performance, research findings have been mixed. Therefore, the current study examined (a) the role of self-study time above and beyond relevant student characteristics, affective-motivational processes (i.e. academic self-efficacy, learning goal orientation, and action-state orientation)…

Multidimensional models of giftedness specify individual and environmental moderators or catalysts that help transform potential into achievement. However, these models do not state whether the importance of the "individual boxes" and the "environmental boxes" changes during this process. The present study examines whether,…

Mobile technologies, such as smartphones and tablets, are rapidly gaining popularity as an effective means to enhance foreign language learning. However, does the incorporation of these mobile devices really benefit the learner or simply satisfy the instructor's need to be innovative and ahead of the learning curve? The present study seeks to…

In this article we consider how the roles of learner and teacher are configured in a teletandem exchange between two students working in a university language centre with no external tutor present. Teletandem is a multilateral exchange (Lewis et al. 2011) via desktop videoconferencing. It is based on the tandem method, where two learners with…

Contract learning as an approach to individualizing education in the context of assessment for learning is relatively underexplored in English as a Foreign Language instruction. The present study used a mixed-methods design to investigate its efficacy to provide feedback to students and improve self-directed learning. Furthermore, it studied…

Non-traditional open-plan schools and classrooms are currently enjoying a resurgence in Australia, with proponents arguing for the necessity of educational spaces that more readily accommodate the needs of twenty-first century learners. However, these learning environments can pose considerable pedagogic challenges for teachers who must balance…

The author explored the relations among Taiwanese eighth-grade students' satisfactions of the basic psychological needs (i.e., the needs for competence, relatedness, and autonomy), engagement versus disengagement coping with academic stress, self-regulated learning, and academic burnout. Three hundred and ninety-six eighth-grade Taiwanese students…

This paper presents findings from empirical study on assessing third year students' academic performance and development of generic skills through participatory teaching. Generic skills inventory and academic performance were utilized as measuring instruments where as activities of participatory learning used as an independent variable. The main…

This paper explores what it means to be an autonomous learner in an online social context. Using distinctions originally drawn by Jürgen Habermas, it argues that classic accounts of learner autonomy as teleological action are inadequate to explain learner activity in group settings. It points out that learners in such settings display attitudes…

Leadership is a versatile process that requires working with others in personal and professional relationships to accomplish a goal. Cultivating leadership skills is important for students who are developing professional competencies. Leadership characteristics and abilities should be evaluated to assist in learning student traits to better…