Incorporating new methods and approaches in learning environments is imperative to the development of education systems. By enhancing learning processes, education becomes more attainable at all levels. "The Handbook of Research on Instructional Systems and Educational Technology" is an essential reference source for the latest scholarly…

This article describes two approaches to improving literacy in a high poverty, diverse urban high school. One curriculum program, "Striving Readers," included a prescribed course of study for students reading below grade level along with schoolwide strategies. This approach did not improve targeted students' reading scores or motivation…

This case study addresses the exigence of low retention and graduation rates of college students. The authors sought to incorporate the perspectives of all three stakeholders implicated in retention efforts--administrators, faculty, and students--by implementing a personalized system of instruction (PSI) in eight of their college courses. This…

Background: In the physical education (PE) domain, teachers are given the freedom to make important educational decisions. Because of the common assumption that the decisions teachers make are based on a set of educational perspectives, a considerable number of studies have addressed the importance of studying the thinking and beliefs of PE…

The research was designed to add to the UK-based literature around the Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies (PATHS) curriculum, a whole school emotional literacy and social competence intervention. Seven semi-structured interviews were carried out with class teachers and pastoral leads. Questionnaires were designed to explore a number of…

Service-learning can mean different things and look quite different in varying statistics curricula that may include undergraduates, graduates, majors and non-majors across a wide array of higher institutions. The terms community engagement, volunteerism, community-based projects and service-learning are tossed around on various institutions'…

A central challenge in efficacy studies centers on the issue of "fidelity of implementation," that is, the extent to which participants use the curriculum specified by curriculum developers. In this study, we describe and discuss a "fidelity of implementation" model using multiple methods and instruments to compare two versions of a science…

Progressive education has been an article of educational faith in Papua New Guinea during the last 50 years but the best available evidence indicates that major reforms to formalistic curriculum and teaching in primary and secondary classrooms have failed during this period despite large-scale professional, administrative and financial support. In…

This response to Rachel Muehrer, Jennifer Jenson, Jeremy Friedberg and Nicole Husain's paper, "Challenges and opportunities: Using a science-based video game in secondary school settings," explores the issues encountered while a science-based video game is introduced in secondary school settings. It highlights the importance of the context, the…

Writing needs to be taught, not assigned, but teaching writing well within a 43-minute period is a daunting task. This article describes how three 8th-grade teachers implemented a unit of study approach to teaching memoir writing in their language arts classes. Teacher and student decision making are highlighted in this inquiry process. ["Teaching…

The relation between fidelity of implementation and student outcomes in a computer-based middle school mathematics curriculum was measured empirically. Participants included 485 students and 23 teachers from 11 public middle schools across seven states. Implementation fidelity was defined using two constructs: fidelity to structure and fidelity to…

This paper concerns an exploratory and interpretive case study of the literacy curricula in a Canadian transnational education programme (Pseudonym: SCS) delivered in China where Ontario secondary school curricula were used at the same time as the Chinese national high school curricula. Using ethnographic tools and actor-network theory, the study…

In this article we present and discuss the process of developing and implementing a PBL-based course entitled Moving Images in Teaching and Learning that was held at the University of Lapland, Finland. In the course of the project, this fairly traditional face-to-face course was redesigned into a blended PBL course by integrating Web 2.0…

This study sought to identify the relationships among elementary teachers instructional practices in mathematics pre- and post-CCLS implementation in relation to technological and pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK), formative assessment, reflective practice, receptivity to change, academic optimism, and instructional leadership across age,…

Engaging students in inquiry-based science is a potentially powerful way for students to understand science-as-practice (Lehrer & Schauble, 2006; NRC, 2007). Students who gain a more meaningful understanding of the processes of science will be more prepared citizens as consumers, science enthusiasts, or civic minded participants (Toumey et…