Once upon a time, nonfiction books for children routinely included concise, stodgy writing. Most of the books were text heavy, with just a few scattered images decorating, rather than enhancing, the content and meaning. But nonfiction has changed dramatically over the last two decades, evolving into a new breed of visually dynamic, engaging texts…

To improve students' interdisciplinary learning, it is necessary to find ways to support teacher candidates' pedagogical preparation for STEAM practices during teacher education. Thereby, in this study, the influence of a 5-week collaborative cross-disciplinary STEAM module on secondary mathematics, science, and English language arts (ELA)…

Wing (2010) says computational thinking (CT) is the "new literacy of the 21st century" (p. 3), but yet computational thinking does not have a widely accepted definition making it difficult to know what are its associated skills. Understanding what these skills are is important to be able to teach this new literacy. Various populations…

The researchers developed a youth weather and climate curriculum using a science comprehension model that integrates experiential and inquiry-based learning approaches with developing science knowledge, science skills, and reasoning abilities. The purpose of this study was to pilot the curriculum to determine if it would improve youth science…

In this chapter I address what I see as the cornerstone for advancing our understanding of how results from empirical research into L2 interactional development can usefully be brought to bear on L2 education--be it curriculum design, teaching or testing--, namely an epistemologically coherent understanding of interactional competence and its…

For this dissertation, I had the opportunity to investigate a well-established university-based intensive English program in the northeastern United States as it transitioned from an integrated-skills to a paired-skills approach. My goal as a researcher was to investigate in what ways "listening," the second language (L2) skill…

This is a small-scale qualitative case study exploring the importance of employability skills in fresh graduates, as perceived by faculty members and employers. Past studies on employability have primarily used quantitative research methods. This study used concept mapping along with semi-structured interviews to elicit rich data on participants'…

This narrative study examined the lived pedagogical experience of students, at a high school, in the midst of adopting practices associated with competency-based education. Specifically, it examined the experiences of students, grouped into academic tracks by perceived ability, associated with the development of autonomy, critical thinking and…

This qualitative embedded, single-case study examined the perceptions and experiences of four secondary-level preservice teachers leading whole class discussions in education classes in a private Midwestern college. Despite the research on the importance of dialogic instruction, preservice teachers are inadequately prepared to facilitate…

Purpose: The purpose of this quantitative study was to identify CNAs' perceptions about the most important soft skills used by CNAs in training and the workplace. Methodology: This quantitative research study identified CNAs' perceptions of the most important soft skills they used based on the composite model for soft skills. CNAs were selected…

Children with developmental disabilities and complex communication needs who use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) have limited opportunities to communicate and few trained conversation partners to interact with. Research literature on interventions utilizing AAC devices and systems to increase communication skills overwhelmingly…

Questioning skills is one of competencies required by teachers in dealing with the 21st-Century challenges. The purpose of this study was profiling biology teacher candidates' questioning skills in Pekanbaru. The subjects of the research were the students, in three institutions, who were taking Zoology course. The total number of the subjects were…

Textbooks occurring in diverse social settings points to the need to make textbook evaluation in its social context. Many researchers have highlighted the significance of evaluating textbooks in local practices. The present study aims at exploring the suitability of a listening textbook--- A Listening Course (I) published by Shanghai Foreign…

This study compared the language, reading, classroom, and quality of life outcomes of primary school-aged children with aural atresia (AA) to matched controls. Participants included 10 children with AA (eight unilateral) and 10 children with typical hearing matched by chronological and mental age. All children with AA had been fitted with an…

Much of the literature on grant writing does not explicitly identify the skills needed to be an accomplished grant writer, or how these skills are acquired. This paper reviews literature on grant writing and argues the need to identify key grant writing skills to improve the quality of grant applications. The ability to persuade, to weave a clear…