In order to collaborate effectively in group discourse on a topic like mathematical patterns, group participants must organize their activities in ways that share the significance of their utterances, inscriptions, and behaviors. Here, we report the results of a ethnomethodological case study of collaborative math problem-solving activities…

This article reviews research-based knowledge about service learning in social work education. Student learning outcomes common to both service learning and social work education are examined, and the research-based literature on service learning in social work is analyzed. Service-learning practice issues in social work education are described:…

The writer describes a book project that successfully motivated middle school students with learning disabilities to independently practice comprehension strategies while reading material at their independent levels. Conception of the project, example homework and activities, development of a book club, and benefits for students are described.…

Biological evolution is one of the over-arching concepts recommended for student learning by the "National Science Education Standards." As with all such complex concepts, student understanding of evolution is improved when instruction includes hands-on, inquiry-based activities. However, even authors writing in strong support of teaching…

This article addresses how metacognitive skills contribute to the teaching and learning of problem solving in mathematics. It describes the development and use of a metacognitive journal activity in the classroom. (Contains 2 figures.)

In the 1970s, the movement to the metric system (which has still not completely occurred in the United States) and the advent of hand-held calculators led some to speculate that decimal representation of numbers would render fractions obsolete. This provocative proposition stimulated Zalman Usiskin to write "The Future of Fractions" in 1979. He…

Using activities as its analytic focus, this article compares the classroom cultures of two reading lessons taught by the same teacher. One was from a regular reading class and the other from a reading intervention class that was designed to help students pass the high-stakes state assessment. By developing fine-grained descriptions of classroom…

From the first moments of life, infants begin the exciting journey to gain control of their bodies. These beginning movements are an essential way of playing and learning for infants. During their first year, infants learn more motor skills than at any other time in their lives. Brain research has revealed that the motor area of an infant's brain…

Purpose--The purpose of this paper is to increase understanding of how the introduction of a team-based work organization can affect the opportunities to learn at work. Two research questions are addressed: "What conditions are important for learning and competence development in a team-based work organization?" and "To what extent…

This article explores drawings of learning in the classroom made by a class of 6 to 7-year-olds in a UK primary school. The drawings were analysed by considering the choices that children made in their drawings in terms of four themes: self and social relations in learning, the physical environment, learning activities, and learning and behaviour.…

This article presents a proficiency-oriented approach to teaching feature films in the first- and second-year classroom. It argues that film is currently under utilized at the Basic and Independent User levels, particularly as a means to create context in the classroom. Strategies are presented to tap the potential of film for communicative…

Play is, by definition, internally motivated, flexible, spontaneous and voluntary. Yet some researchers claim to have taught children with autism to play using behavioural interventions that are heavily structured, repetitive and make use of external reinforcements. In the current systematic review, we examine the extent to which these claims are…

By using a simple teacher-made template, students as young as first grade can collaboratively write and publish their own student-created newsletters. Teachers enjoy the time and energy they save with this integrated learning strategy, and the experience that students gain in publishing their own class newsletter seems to strengthen learning…

This article reports on lessons about climate change which pose many challenges for science teachers. The natural world today offers a broad--and dire--catalog of scientific phenomena for teachers wanting to craft classroom lessons on the topic of climate change. As public concern about global warming increases, teachers are carving out a larger…

Developing the ability to make, recognize, and evaluate connections among disparate concepts, fields, or contexts is what integrative learning is all about. Breadth and depth of learning remain hallmarks of a quality liberal education. Yet, today, there's a growing consensus that breadth and depth are not enough. Strengthening integrative learning…