This article reports on a mixed methods evaluation of an indoor garden-based learning curriculum for 5th and 6th graders which incorporated aquaponics and hydroponics technologies. This study provides a better understanding of the extent to which indoor gardening technologies can be used within the formal curriculum as an effective teaching tool.…

As part of state transitions to college- and career-ready (CCR) standards, including the Common Core State Standards in more than 40 states (NGA & CCSSO, 2010), states are for the first time administering new summative assessments aligned to those standards and aiming for a higher bar in assessment quality. For a majority of states, this means…

Background: The audience response system (ARS) allows students to respond and interact anonymously with teachers via small handheld wireless keypads. Despite increasing popularity in classroom settings, the application of these devices to health education programming has not been studied. We assessed feasibility, engagement, and learning among…

The present case study investigated the impact of a short-term summer literacy approach on writing performance and self-perception of writing for young adolescents of low-income families residing in urban housing projects. The approach offered intensive literacy engagement to offset summer achievement loss; assisted ethnic-minority, low…

In this quasi-experimental design study, I investigated the impact of a current summer literacy approach on writing performance and writer self-perception of urban Housing Authority children. In addition, current campers and former CampUs Scholarship recipients provided feedback about personal experiences as well as shared the potential impact of…

Reciprocal teaching, a social constructivist instruction method, was explored in this study on the mathematical word problem solving skills of fifth grade students in two elementary schools within a suburban school district in upstate New York. Eighty-five students in four intact classes participated in this mixed methods study. Using a…

In quasi-experimental study, the researcher investigated and compared the effectiveness of two types of ELA instruction: (a) traditional ELA instruction methods such as flash cards practice, read aloud, dittos, and (b) instruction using iPod touch applications as a teaching resource. Two classes of heterogeneously grouped 5 [superscript th] grade…

Differences in male and female brains may impact the way girls and boys process mathematics and underscores the need for research that examines modification of mathematics instruction according to gender differences. Based in constructivist theory, this mixed-methods study investigated the effect of mathematics instruction modified according to…

A group of fifth-grade students who had persistent problems at lunch and recess were identified and provided with direct instruction in pro-social skills. These skills were taught by the authors in a two-week program that they called the "Alternative to Lunch Program for Students" (ALPS). This action research study measured the impact of…

A study was conducted with forty-seven preservice childhood (elementary) education teachers (42 F, 5 M) enrolled in two mathematics methods classes taught by the same instructor to determine the effect of these college students making curriculum materials appropriate for upper elementary students on the preservice teachers' knowledge of…