Contemporary learning in Australia necessitates that students develop the capability to play an active role in their own learning. Yet, the student's role as an active agent in the learning process has not been fully examined. Drawing on the notion of assessment as generations informed by conflicting theoretical viewpoints, this paper explores how…

This paper synthesizes what is known from previous research about the effects of children teaching other children in different K-12 contexts, emphasizing the academic and affective impact of such activity on the child doing the teaching. The study reviews peer teaching, integrating research findings about different types of peer teaching into one…

This study assessed the effectiveness of a metacognitive and reciprocal teaching approach for improving the word identification and reading comprehension skills of upper primary poor readers in a regular classroom situation. To improve word identification skills, experimental subjects were given metacognitive training in the analysis and…

This study examines the effectiveness of Reciprocal Teaching during social studies instruction in fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-grade inclusive classrooms (N=128) in a rural school system in New Mexico. Reciprocal teaching is a method of scaffolded instruction that has been demonstrated to improve reading comprehension in students of various ability…

This paper reports on a series of three studies designed to assess the effectiveness of a metacognitive approach to teaching word identification and reading comprehension skills to upper primary poor readers, and to investigate effective methods for implementing the metacognitive program in the regular classroom. To improve word identification…

A study examined how elementary school children spontaneously construct meaning when reading informational text. In particular, the study explored: what kinds of knowledge they draw on and how they use it to help them understand what they read; and how does what they do influence what they recall. Twenty-nine 6th graders from two elementary…

In the fall of 1991, the Master of Arts in Teaching program of The School for International Training, Brattleboro, Vermont, created a position to mentor newly arrived, full time adjunct faculty in their adjustment to a nontraditional program that operates as a community and provides experiential learning. This paper describes a group of five…

This paper describes the work of an unusual kind of change facilitator lacking formal authority or educational expertise. Founded in 1993, Partners in School Innovation is a nonprofit organization that supports whole-school change efforts in schools serving low-income communities across the San Francisco Bay Area. It commits to 3- or 5-year…

Students construct meaning from text through conversation and social interaction. This research examines how the use of an online, threaded discussion, as a discourse support, can facilitate deeper levels of student understanding. The basic assumption being tested is that using discourse supports, applying various discussion strategies like…

This paper reports on a project involving student recall of the dialogue in a movie and retention of the "anchor," which in this case refers to a videotape recording of "To Kill a Mockingbird." The project looked at how students retained knowledge over a few days and what kind of activities resulted from expertise with an…

This study was conducted to explore the relationship between teaching methods and students' grades at the college level. Subjects, 58 undergraduate students enrolled in 2 introductory education courses, were organized into groups and exposed to one of two teaching methods: the lecture format and reciprocal teaching. Reciprocal teaching engages…

This study investigated what master teachers and student teachers learned from one another during reciprocal teaching. Data came from two exploratory case studies at elementary schools in southern California. The first study focused on the contributions of partner elementary student teachers to the professional development of their master…

In a climate of rapid change, increasing innovation, and proliferating knowledge, lifelong learning is an important educational objective. Lifelong learning skills need to be developed if educators intend for their students to stay current in their fields. Staying abreast of new innovations, research, techniques, and information is a prerequisite…

The primary purpose of this study was the naturalistic assessment of growth in oral English proficiency of Hispanic American limited English proficient (LEP) students in a paired reciprocal learning format. Subjects were fifth-grade students in a summer English-as-a-Second-Language class. Twelve students in a paired learning format and 12 in a…