The purposes of this study were to examine preservice elementary teachers' conception of the water cycle; determine if participating in a conceptual change-based role-play alters these conceptions; and ascertain if any conceptual change brought about by the intervention is lasting. We found that most of our students held naive conceptions of the…

Although small teacher education preparation programs (STEPP) may struggle to implement robust program design frameworks compared to their larger preparation program peers, a collaborative design can help smaller programs with resource limitations. This collaboration can facilitate the design of effective and efficient teacher preparation programs…

The National Curricula of Georgia emphasises the importance of intercultural education only in a declarative way. This article investigates how specific activities can contribute to the development of intercultural competences in a diverse environment. We conclude that additional training resources are critical for the development of those…

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of the type of exploratory strategy and level of prior knowledge on middle school students' performance and motivation in learning chemical formulas via a 3D role-playing game (RPG). Two types of exploratory strategies-RPG exploratory with worked-example and RPG exploratory without…

This article used two studies to investigate sign and symbol mediation in children aged 8-11 years. In role play, children exist at one at the same time in objective reality and their representation of reality. We cannot observe their mental representation directly, but the issue of whether signs or symbols mediate early role play is an important…

One of the challenges in in-service teacher education is how teachers can be given professional development (PD) that enables them to respond to national curriculum and policy change. In recent years primary teachers in New Zealand have been inundated with Ministry of Education-funded professional development programmes to help them implement a…

In recent years teachers within the classroom have experienced an increase in the off-task behaviors of students. The purpose of this action research project was to increase on-task behavior through development of classroom social skills. The causes may be a lack of social skills, outside influences, presentation of materials, students not…

A multicultural model for children in Grades K through 5 to foster skills needed for success is presented. The learning, living, and working (LLW) group work model focuses on three skill sets identified by multiple researchers over the past 30 years as necessary for success in school, relationships, and work. These three skill sets--learning…