Michigan State University (MSU) is strongly committed to the idea that study abroad is deeply beneficial and important for undergraduate students. However there is a relative scarcity of systematically gathered qualitative and quantitative information that assesses the impact of study abroad. In the summer of 2000, MSU implemented a broad plan to…

This is the third in a series of studies examining young students' attitudes toward and knowledge about computers. Data were collected at the end of students' third and fourth grade academic years and analyzed with respect to their "love" of computers, their feelings of competence in using them, and the number of computer terms they…

This article offers three interrelated arguments for the adoption of a cultural approach to the study of learning. It then presents some early analyses of data from a case study of one learning site, concerned with the assessment of learning in the workplace. These analyses show how the shape of the learning site--for example, the nature of…

Higher education globalizes: its potential contributions are now seen as a crucial component of cross-border economic competitiveness. Accumulating evidence suggests that a highly qualified workforce contributes substantially to a nation's economic competitiveness, particularly when a large share of the workforce has acquired skills and knowledge…

A 2003 survey of principals found that middle and high schools were more likely to increase social studies and science instruction than decrease it. This suggests that districts are not cutting social studies and sciences entirely but merely "deferring" those subjects until the secondary grades. This strategy provides more time for reading…

This article focuses on the Web-based resources available to low-income students as they build their perceptions, make their decisions, and engage in financial aid activities. Data are gathered from the results of six focus groups with low-income high school students attending urban high schools. Findings suggest that low-income students do have…

Though AIDS case rates among Asian Pacific Islander Americans (APIs) in the United States remain relatively low, the number has been steadily increasing. Scholars, policy makers, and service providers still know little about how confident APIs are in carrying out different HIV risk reduction strategies. This article addresses this gap by…

There is a lot of educational software on the market, but little of it can be said to be revolutionary. Despite all the talk about education and computers, the educational software revolution has yet to begin. All educational software can be placed in categories of games (edutainment), simulations, reference software, and tutorials. Choosing…

Much has been written about the value of metacognition. However, little research has identified subsumed intellectual factors, logical operators, and cognitive functions; or has established clear relationships between metacognition and science cognition. This paper presents a study to build a strategic metacognitive model of an efficient,…

How science understandings are communicated and how students construct meaning of these communications are central issues in epistemic research. Students' metacognition of the meaning-making process is embedded in this line of research. This paper reports a study to examine children's declarative, procedural, and conditional knowledge of science…

A Hong Kong program to train secondary school teachers in the use of English as the medium of classroom instruction is reported and discussed. The program provides assistance to teachers accustomed to using mixed code in the classroom and who must use English consistently, and helps English teachers understand how they can support teachers of…

This book focuses on communication as the central feature in teaching and learning within second language classrooms. It examines the classroom as a unique communication context with highly regulated patterns of communicative behavior that are actively negotiated between teacher and students, and explores how and why these patterns of…

This guide describes the general expectations and major purposes of partner schools in the National Network for Educational Renewal (NNER). Partner schools work in partnership with higher education for the training of teachers and the renewal of education. The partner schools all share a commitment to the 19 postulates enumerated by John I.…

One hundred and forty students in grades 6 and 7 were asked to process 32 science statements. Half of the statements were consistent with their prior knowledge, whereas the remaining facts were inconsistent with it. Half of the students were instructed to read the sentences for understanding (reading controls). The remaining students were…

To analyze a student's conceptual changes, analyzing transcriptions of writing and verbal statements may not provide enough information. In a study of 25 sixth graders learning about matter and molecules, concept mapping of students' stated ideas was used to analyze the kinds of organizational changes the students made to use new science…