Using statewide survey study data collected from more than 5,000 community college students, this study examined the impact of a preengineering curriculum on students' self-efficacy level after they entered rural community colleges. Project Lead The Way (PLTW), is a project-based learning curriculum for middle and high school students that strives…

A graduate course, ETEC543 ("Technology and Learning I"), was revised to better serve increasing new student population, international students, in an academic program. Project-based learning, Google Docs, and instructional strategies fostering diversity and critical thinking were incorporated into the course redesign. Observations,…

To develop Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) talents, both researchers and policy developers recommend that educators begin early. In this randomized study, we document the efficacy of teacher professional development and a rich problem-based inquiry curriculum to develop the science talent of elementary students. The…

This paper describes the development and assessment of a learning environment to support the transition of students from lower to upper secondary chemistry education in Germany. The learning environment centers on reviewing and expanding learners' prior chemistry knowledge in heterogeneous learning groups upon entering upper secondary education.…

Teacher education in India, including that offered by the open distance learning (ODL) system to thousands every year, imparts mainly pedagogic knowledge, although the need for integrated teacher education programmes has been underscored. As the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), an ODL institution, will develop an integrated Bachelor…

Background: Elementary schoolteachers are an important vehicle for teaching students health skills that will carry them through life and reduce their future risk of disease linked to health behaviors. Purpose: To determine whether university classroom instruction resulted in increased self-efficacy and intent to teach a skill-based health…

This article explores the idea of distributed instructional leadership as a way to understand instructional leadership practice in comprehensive high schools. Our argument is that distributed leadership analyses allow researchers to uncover and explain how instructional improvement in high schools occurs through the efforts of multiple individuals…

Effective history teaching includes ample opportunities for students to develop historical thinking skills and habits of mind which encourage them to learn content beyond simple acquisition of facts. Covering the profound topic of segregation by employing multiple perspectives and encouraging investigation beyond the traditional narrative provides…

The increase in online course delivery in higher education has implications for students and instructors. In fall 2002, 1.6 million students took at least one online course and this number increased by the fall of 2012 to 6.7 million. The increase in the rate of enrollment in online courses in higher education provides an opportunity to examine…

Although standards-based IEP goals have been mandated in many states for almost a decade, their effectiveness is unknown. Standards-based IEP goals were first created to meet the requirements of No Child Left Behind and Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act, which increased accountability for all students as well as those with…

Using Seattle Public Schools (SPS) as a model, this Alliance for Excellent Education report shows how high-quality curriculum and innovative school designs that support the use of students' home languages, as well as English, produce better outcomes for English language learners (ELLs). The report also shows how SPS develops educators who value…

At the University of Delaware there has been growth in the use of multimedia technologies to facilitate the process of learning. However, many students entering higher educational institutions today, despite growing up with access to these tools, do not use them in interesting and meaningful ways. When given the opportunity to create multimedia…

This paper examines why communicative language teaching (CLT) fails to improve student learning in certain contexts by assessing two adult educators' communicative and noncommunicative practices through qualitative case studies, interviews, and participant observations. Results show no inherent CLT problems that prevent teachers from grasping…

For the thirty-ninth time, the Research and Theory Division of the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) is sponsoring the publication of these Proceedings. Papers published in this volume were presented at the annual AECT Convention in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Proceedings of AECT's Convention are published in two volumes.…

The explosive growth of learning portfolios in higher education as a compelling tool for enhanced student learning, assessment, and career preparation is a sign of the increasing significance of reflective practice and mindful, systematic documentation in promoting deep, meaningful, transformative learning experiences. The advent of sophisticated…