The authors investigated the effects of online discussion embedded within metacognitive guidance on mathematical literacy and self-regulated learning (SRL). They compared 4 instructional methods: online discussion embedded within metacognitive guidance (Online+Meta), online discussion without metacognitive guidance (Online), face-to-face…

Contemporary trends in education reflect a shift from traditional teacher-centered approaches to more student-centered approaches to learning. Empowering students in their own learning is facilitated by teaching them effective meaning-making strategies that support active participation in their own learning. Making this happen requires using…

Problem solving is seen to lie at the "heart" of mathematics (Cockcroft, 1982). Problem solving is also of great importance to industry that claims many young people leave school and take up jobs without the skills needed to sort out difficulties and problems (Smith Report, 2004). So is problem solving at the heart of mathematics teaching in…

Storysack projects (in which sacks including books and artefacts to help children learn through play are made and distributed), are proliferating in the UK and beyond, often involving work with parents. However, little of this work has been reported. One way to find out about new storysack project ideas is to talk with those directly involved.…

The Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV) is immersed in an educational system mainly based on master classes, and although graduates benefit from a good preparation, there is an appreciable rate of failure among the students. The UPV is aware of the restructuring requirements of the current system and consequently, and in accordance with the…

This paper develops a rhetorically centered model of community literacy in the theoretical and practical context of local publics--those spaces where ordinary people develop public voices to engage in intercultural inquiry and deliberation. Drawing on fifteen years of action research in the Community Literacy Center and beyond, the authors…

The current educational arrangements of advanced liberal democracies continue to isolate various ethnic and racial groups. Disadvantaged minority students attend inferior schools. The overreliance on the curriculum as a design for teaching and learning renders school learning less relevant for "knowledge work" jobs in network societies.…

This article describes a valuable lesson that university mathematics faculty members learned from fifth grade and middle school teachers in a professional development workshop. The goal of the workshop was to show how models for whole number operations could be linked to models for rational numbers and to connect the traditional algorithms to the…

Some research studies, many of which used quantitative methods, have suggested that graphics calculators can be used to effectively enhance the learning of mathematics. More recently research studies have started to explore students' styles of working as they solve problems with technology. This paper describes the use of a software application…

Teachers are expected today to assess student understanding as an integral part of instruction, using a combination of various assessment methods and tools, among which are observing students solve problems in class and listening to their mathematical discussions. The aim of our study is to explore what it might mean for a teacher to hear students…

Elementary education students enrolled in an experimental mathematics course participated in this study. The course is taught using a social constructivist approach and is designed to improve students' mathematical problem-solving ability and deepen their understanding of mathematics. The research question for the present study is as follows: In…

The new 1?9 curriculum framework in Taiwan provides a remarkable change from previous frameworks in terms of the coverage of content and the powers of teachers. This study employs a modified repertory grid technique to investigate biology teachers' preferences with regard to six curriculum components. One hundred and eighty-five in-service and…

This research consisted of 3 studies, with a sample of over 3,000 Taiwanese college students, aimed at developing and validating a situation-specific Collectivist Coping Styles (CCS) inventory from an Asian perspective. The results from the exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses supported a stable 5-factor structure of the CCS: (a)…

This article traces the evolution of a quest for solving the problems involved in the analysis of multilevel data and the estimation of the value added effects of schools in influencing educational outcomes. The authors report the findings of two studies that followed several cohorts of students that were tested at two grade levels (Grade 3 and…

Background: Solving ill-structured problems is an important aspect in many professions, including the teaching profession. It is therefore appropriate to engage pre-service teachers in solving ill-structured problems. Aim: This study investigates the ill-structured problem-solving processes in an un-moderated asynchronous discussion for one group…