The present paper aims at investigating the structure and the content of the written explanations produced by primary school pupils' aged 11-12) during teaching sequences focused on the didactic elaboration of obstacles regarding temperature and heat. At first, teaching sequences targeted at the pupils' destabilising, restructuring, and…

This article argues that a mixed methods approach is useful in understanding the complexity that underlies teachers' commitment to environmental education. Using sequential and concurrent procedures, the authors demonstrate how different methodological approaches highlighted different aspects of teacher commitment. The quantitative survey examined…

When teaching geography to students in the primary grades, teachers should provide firsthand experiences that young children need to make meaningful sense of their world. David Sobel, author of "Mapmaking with Children: Sense of Place Education for the Elementary Years," suggests that teachers in the early grades adopt a small-world approach to…

This article provides physical education teachers with a practical, sequenced Adventure Education unit they can easily integrate into a curriculum. This unit was developed for a two week (e.g., 10 days) Adventure Education camp at Hofstra University. Students in 3rd through 5th grades participated in daily adventure activities during a two-hour…

This article reports on a research effort that investigated whether the use of Microcomputer-Based Labs (MBLs), implemented within an inquiry-based activity sequence on phase transformations (melting and freezing), contributes to the development of fourth grade (9-10 year-old) students' conceptual understanding and ability to construct and…

Make writing less of a task and more of an adventure through this creative and imaginative collection of writing prompts, targeted at grade levels 2 to 5. It provides not only ideas and inspiration, but also motivation. This book includes: (1) Story Headers: single pictures with story titles that kids write about; (2) Every Picture Tells a Story:…

Sequence errors may be reduced by allowing students to perform a chained task in any functional order. This study, involving four elementary-aged students with moderate intellectual disabilities, found that tasks taught with functional procedures were acquired in fewer sessions, in less time, and with fewer errors than tasks taught in a specific…

In this study the authors investigate the experience of Sandy, a nontraditional university undergraduate whose student teaching took place in a small, impoverished rural community in the southwestern U.S. They focus on her student teaching experience with third graders in a community whose youngsters, living in rural poverty, were at-risk in their…

This multimethod study generated and tested a "best evidence" model of school improvement processes (SIP) capable of improving student achievement. Initially developed through the review of a comprehensive body of previous empirical research, the model was further refined through a 2, 5-year longitudinal study in 10 schools. A quantitative test of…

For historians and nonhistorians, reflecting on the past century is an enticing activity. To many present-day historians, who are just barely into the twenty-first century, the past century already seems remote. It will definitely be perceived that way by students in elementary classrooms. Nonetheless, today's teachers have endless opportunities…

This article presents how Developmental Approaches in Science, Health and Technology (DASH) summer institute sparks the author to try and succeed in using inquiry with her young students. It is a program created by the Curriculum Research and Development Group, University of Hawaii, and funded in part by the National Science Foundation. DASH is an…

This textbook aims to (1) train the pupil in that part of arithmetic used in everyday business which he can understand; (2) develop his skill in rapid calculation by short cuts and time tests; (3) show the necessity for checking, and develop the habit of checking; (4) develop the habit of thrift by planning budgets, keeping accounts, and becoming…

This study explores how children in English primary schools perceive time and chronology in storybooks--whether the children are aware of the devices used in stories to manipulate time and chronological sequence, and whether their responses demonstrate their own ability to use these devices. Children aged between 3-9 years were involved in…

Team building activities are an excellent way to challenge students and teach them the critical communication and problem solving skills that encourage trust, empathy, and ability to work together. They create an atmosphere that enhances the ability to meet fitness and skill goals because students, regardless of skill level, will possess increased…

The 7th International Conference on Education Data Mining held on July 4th-7th, 2014, at the Institute of Education, London, UK is the leading international forum for high-quality research that mines large data sets in order to answer educational research questions that shed light on the learning process. These data sets may come from the traces…