The virtual Chemistry classroom is a learning environment for students that are willing to study Chemistry, but have no opportunity to do so at school. The program launched in 2015, and currently, there are 22 students in the 11th grade and 80 students in the 10th grade. This study investigates and characterizes the virtual learning environment,…

This study captured the experience and perceptions of faculty members who have implemented Universal Design (UD) in their courses, to understand the implementation process and outcomes UD had on their students and themselves; as the current research on UD has been long on best practices, and short on empirical evidence. A thorough review of…

The decision to migrate to a foreign country with an unfamiliar educational system to pursue higher education as a nontraditional adult learner is a decision that is not taken frivolously. Despite the motivation and excitement coupled with such a journey, there are numerous unforeseen accompanying challenges from a socio-cultural perspective that…

This report provides a description of a study conducted by WestEd on behalf of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to examine how the affordances of the technologies in the blended learning environments of three charter schools impacted teaching and learning activities. A particular focus of the work was to examine whether the blended learning…

This report provides a comprehensive review of the literature on restorative justice in U.S. schools. The review captures key issues, describes models of restorative justice, and summarizes results from studies conducted in the field. The review was conducted on research reports and other relevant literature published, or made publicly available,…

This study investigated the nature and degree of difference in students' behaviors, participation, and power structures in classroom based online book discussions versus face-to-face discussions using pseudonyms, to determine whether online discussion is a useful adjunct to face-to-face literature circles in involving all students as participants.…

To strengthen the nation's education system, schools, districts, and states must actively engage parents and communities. The recently passed Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) of 2015, which replaces the No Child Left Behind Act, includes specific requirements that parents and communities can use to make their voices heard. This brief primer…

According to StopBullying.gov, an official U.S. government Web site managed by the Department of Health and Human Services in partnership with the Department of Education and Department of Justice, definitions of bullying vary, but "most agree that bullying involves: (1) Imbalance of Power: people who bully use their power to control or harm and…

Ziegler and Phillipson provide a timely, thought-provoking critique of traditional approaches to gifted education. For a long time, the field has searched in vain for the Holy Grail of giftedness. Alas, the essentialist assumption fails because giftedness does not have a single essence that holds its identity, unity, and continuity. Reification of…

The article presents evidence of a shift in the conception of childhood towards communication, social intercourse and interaction as central forces in shaping children's identities in Spain during the last decades of the eighteenth century. Following a significant shift of meaning regarding the concept of children's "inclinations", the…

This study explores the relation between argumentation in online discussions, cognitive elaboration, and individual knowledge acquisition. In a one-factorial experimental design with 48 participants we investigated the effect of an argumentative computer-supported collaboration script (with vs. without) on the formal quality of argumentation,…

This article is a tribute to the writings of Dr. Roland Barth through a personal story spanning over two decades. It explores Dr. Barth's personal vision of an effective school through recent brain-based principles. It revisits Barth's axioms and uses recent implications from the neurosciences as new supporting evidence for their success in…

Great rivalries represent sports at their most dramatic. These contests and the histories behind them can inspire the best in athletes and bring together communities in shared enthusiasm like few other public events can. This is shown in venues large and small, from national pride during the Olympic Games to the community spirit on display when…

How to design learning environments leading to learning-, thinking, collaboration- and regulation skills which can be applied to transferable, knowledge oriented learning outcomes is still controversial. We studied the designs of learning environments in innovative higher professional education more closely. To characterize learning environments…

There is a strong case for stating that during the past decades there has been a shift in perspective when addressing questions of how to handle and preserve social order in Swedish schools. As an institution that has focused on social order and education since the 1990s, the Swedish school system has also become an institution that focuses on…