The purpose of this study was to determine students' perceptions of team-building activities within a university Latin dance course. Students (N = 30) completed an evaluation of the team-building activities and wrote reflective essays about their experiences in the course. The course consisted of twenty 90-minute classes. In the third class…

Student attitudes can have a positive or negative effect on learning. According to Duschl, Schweingruber, and Shouse, "[students'] goals for science learning, their beliefs about their ability to do science, and the value they assign to science learning are likely to influence their cognitive engagement in science tasks" (2007, p. 195). Therefore,…

This article is concerned first with identifying teacher characteristics connected with excellence. It then analyses the results of a survey conducted among primary school teachers in one local authority area in Scotland. Teachers responded to a questionnaire which asked them to rate in importance 44 characteristics of excellence. The findings…

The purpose of the current study was to investigate child and teacher characteristics associated with closeness and conflict in prekindergarten teacher-child relationships. Child gender and temperament were significantly associated with closeness and conflict. Specifically, higher levels of shyness correlated with closer relationships for boys…

The goal of the X-Tech project was to enhance preservice teachers' perceptions of their preparedness to teach with technology. Results indicated that practically-oriented methods that meet a variety of technology related needs are viable for attaining such a goal. Further, it is particularly beneficial to have teachers use a variety of resources…

Results-based management has gained currency in Kenya. After pre-service training, teachers take various staff development programmes to enhance their role effectiveness. Many studies which have associated staff development with employee productivity have not delved into the actual mechanisms in which staff development impact on teachers'…

The increasing importance attributed to the cultural dimension of foreign language (FL) education has entailed new demands for teachers and teacher educators. This paper explores the cultural agenda in Finnish language teacher education from a student teacher perspective. The focus is on the students' perceptions regarding how effectively cultural…

The major aim of this study was to examine the relationship between teachers' curriculum preferences in the primary school and the relative value they place on PE compared to other key learning areas (KLAs) of the primary curriculum. Data were collected from 422 pre-service and 63 in-service classroom teachers. Results suggested that most…

Understanding the scientific method fosters the development of critical thinking and logical analysis of information. Additionally, proposing and testing a hypothesis is applicable not only to science, but also to ordinary facts of daily life. Knowing the way science is done and how its results are published is useful for all citizens and…

This paper reports on the results of a survey of primary teachers who attended a series of three 1/2 day workshops that focused on primary science activities concerned with two key outcome areas from the Tasmanian Essential Learnings curriculum: "Investigating the Natural and Constructed World" and "Inquiry." The workshops…

Foreign language (FL) teachers and students may have very similar or disparate notions of effective teaching, and the intersection of the two sets of beliefs has ramifications for language learning and the effectiveness of instruction. Horwitz (1990), Kern (1995), and Schulz (1996) have argued that mismatches between FL students' and teachers'…