Primary school teachers generally have to teach several subjects. Their training, however, is often fairly short and it is tempting to force-feed them with everything they need to know to teach these subjects. It is more realistic to accept that a short course cannot do everything. Instead, it would be better to equip these students with skills…

The purpose of this study was to investigate how concept cartoons, together with other diagnostic and scaffolding tools, could be used in formative assessment, to stimulate talk and argumentation among students in small groups, as part of peer-assessment and self-assessment; and to provide diagnostic feedback about students' misconceptions to the…

The inability of students to become proficient in algebra seems to be widespread in American schools. One of the reasons often cited for this inability is that instruction seldom builds on prior knowledge. Research suggests that teacher effectiveness is the most critical controllable variable in improving student achievement. This report details a…

The main hypothesis here is that the notion of economic and social development has been misconceived by most stakeholders in matters of development. This misconception is the main cause of underdevelopment in Kenya, which leads to all the reasons most authors and commentators have given to explain Kenya's situation. Therefore, it is only possible…

Learning mathematics has traditionally been thought of as a sequential progression. Children learn to count to 10, then to 20, and then to 100. They learn to add without regrouping and then with regrouping. The authors teach addition before multiplication and the two-times table before the six-times table. They usually teach division as a separate…

In the present work, I investigated the origin of the misconception that glucose is the sole metabolic fuel previously described among Brazilian high school students. The results of a multiple-choice test composed of 24 questions about a broad range of biology subjects were analyzed. The test was part of a contest and was answered by a sample…

This study extends the debate concerning the mathematical skills deficit of bioscience undergraduates towards a deeper understanding of their mathematics learning, since only through the latter can appropriate and effective explicit teaching be implemented. Three hundred and twenty-six first-year bioscience undergraduates, from three pre- and four…

This study has resulted in an elementary science methods course that facilitates the identification and description of the changes in students' conceptions and understanding of inquiry teaching, and the cultural influences, reflections, and situational factors influencing these changes. Written responses to open-ended questions, reflective…

There have been many theoretical and practical efforts to include students with intellectual disabilities into the mainstream of school and community life. These initiatives are derived from, and limited by, individualized notions of disability. Alternatively, using data from an exploratory multiple-case study of gay and bisexual persons with…

The first term of any preservice teacher education program can be challenging for students in many ways, and learning to read and write in a scholarly way is one potential challenge. This article chronicles events in my secondary education literacy course when I asked students to write in a descriptive, analytical, and reflective way about the…

An important aspect of developing science literacy for all students is developing science-literate teachers. With the implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act, many middle school teachers found themselves in a position where they were no longer qualified to teach middle school science. This study was designed to help science teachers…

In this article, the Greek primary school teachers' understanding of three current environmental issues (acid rain, the ozone layer depletion, and the greenhouse effect) as well as the emerging images of nature were examined. The study revealed that teachers held several environmental knowledge gaps and misconceptions about the three phenomena.…

Effective instruction requires continual assessment of student understanding to identify and redirect misconceptions. This is particularly important when dealing with topics that seem straightforward to the teacher but may go beyond the personal experience of many students, such as the life cycle of flowering plants. Life cycles are a core topic…

Despite recent talk about the worsening condition of the U.S. workforce, more highly skilled workers are still needed to help America maintain its competitive edge. But that insight doesn't exactly constitute a "Eureka!" moment for community college leaders. In reality, community colleges have been working with industry executives and…

This project explores the experiences of women who mother children with ADHD. The authors use the metaphor of the text and the margin. The text is the "motherhood myth" that describes a particular sort of "good" mothering. The margin is the space beyond that text. This marginal space is inhabited by some or all of the mothers they spoke with, some…