Teachers and their unions do not want test scores to count for everything; classroom observations are key, too. But planning a couple of visits from the principal is hardly sufficient. These visits may "change the teacher's behavior"; furthermore, principals may not be the best judges of effective teaching. So why not put video cameras in…

The term "sheltered instruction" (SI) has become a widely used metaphor representing a common pedagogical intervention intended to help English language learners simultaneously gain English proficiency and academic content knowledge. While existing research places considerable emphasis on observable pedagogical techniques that characterize SI,…

This article details the findings of research into the academic teaching staff experience of peer observation of their teaching practice. Peer observation is commonly used as a tool to enhance a teacher's continuing professional development. Research participants acknowledged its ability to help develop their teaching practice, but they also…

Research continues to find large differences in student achievement gains across teachers' classrooms. The variability in teacher effectiveness raises the stakes on identifying effective teachers and teaching practices. This paper combines data from classroom observations of teaching practices and measures of teachers' ability to improve student…

The present research aims shifting "scaffolding" from an inspiring metaphor to a practical tool to be used by kindergarten teachers when conducting scientific activities. It identifies scaffolding strategies that three experienced kindergarten teachers, ones acknowledged as excelling in science teaching, implicitly used when conducting science…

In recent years, educational technologists have advanced the construct Technological and Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) to describe teachers' knowledge related to effectively integrating technology. In this paper, I use the TPACK framework to examine elementary school teachers' experience in a year-long professional development program,…

This study examined how mother and father-child relationship quality and marital forgiveness were related to early adolescents' forgiveness of mothers and fathers. Adolescents' social-cognitive skills (empathy and emotional regulation) and parents' forgiveness of child were examined as mediators. Mother, father, and child self-reported…

Physical activity in the form of consistently opting for stair use instead of elevator use can have important health benefits. The article discusses a study assessing whether increasing the attractiveness and accessibility of a stairwell had an impact on stair use among students and employees of Maastricht University, the Netherlands. The…

Recent debates within UK rural studies have stressed the shifting interplay of economic, social, political and cultural forces, with a concomitant blurring as to what constitutes rural living, rural spaces and even rural occupations. This article situates the rural school within this social, cultural and political landscape and attends to the…

Surveys, experiments, large-"N" datasets and formal models are common instruments in the political scientist's toolkit. In-depth interviews and focus groups play a critical role in helping scholars answer important political questions. In contrast, participant observation techniques are an underused methodological approach. In this article, we…

Purpose: Practical work is regarded as an essential part of learning; hence most tertiary institutions have included a practical component in their physics courses. There is a concern about the effectiveness of the practical work in most universities. The purpose of this study is to assess the contributions of simulations on 20 Foundation Physics…

The authors examine whether and how observing anger influences thinking processes and problem-solving ability. In 3 studies, the authors show that participants who listened to an angry customer were more successful in solving analytic problems, but less successful in solving creative problems compared with participants who listened to an…

The purpose of this study is describe the initial feasibility, reliability, and validity of an instrument to measure physical activity in preschoolers using direct observation. The System for Observing Fitness Instruction Time for Preschoolers was developed and tested among 3- to 6-year-old children over fall 2008 for feasibility and reliability…

The tragedies of Columbine and September 11th led public schools to step up surveillance practices in urban schools--producing an environment with less freedom and more control. While students are aware of the seeming powerlessness they face at the hands of security guards and surveillance technologies, they are also engaged in developing new ways…

We tested the effects of an observational intervention (Greer & Singer-Dudek, 2008) on establishing children's books as conditioned reinforcers using a delayed multiple baseline design. Three preschool students with mild language and developmental delays served as the participants. Prior to the intervention, books did not function as reinforcers…