Purpose: Graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) often play a vital role in the delivery of university programs, yet GTAs may lack pedagogical experience. The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions of GTAs during their first semester of university teaching. Specifically, we provide a descriptive account of the GTAs' lived experiences and…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore an interactive teaching approach using an autoethnographic lens to enhance key competencies in sustainability. These competencies are integrated sets of knowledge, skills, and attitudes that facilitate effective task performance and problem-solving related to real-world sustainability issues (Wiek,…

Personal academic agency--the thoughts, actions, and emotions that impact individual functioning at school--is central for academic success. On average, students from low socio-economic status (low-SES) backgrounds report lower levels of personal academic agency than their more advantaged peers, but there are also many who achieve academic…

Traditional classroom setting has transitioned from a solely face-to-face, teacher-oriented instructional approach to an integrated, mixed-mode classroom learning dynamic. With this change of educational context, it is imperative to know: are students' basic psychological needs being better met and fulfilled? To address this question, this paper…

Background: Students' mastery goals are positively related to adaptive learning behaviour. Moreover, these goals often mediate the relation between perceived classroom characteristics and academic achievement. Research generally shows a decline of academic achievement and mastery goals after transition to middle school. Creating a learning…

This study investigates the role of the e-tutor within an Open Distance Learning Higher Education institution in terms of perceptions of their work roles and the assessment of the competencies of the e-tutor. In the universities' strategic plan the importance of providing excellent service to learners is strongly emphasised. E-tutors are the…

Georgia Gwinnett College, an access institution serving the most diverse student body of southeast colleges, was awarded National Science Foundation and University System of Georgia STEM-Education Improvement grants to help our students meet the evolving needs of STEM education. One of the initiatives emerging from these resources is the Peer…

This article aims to study the relationship between teachers' judgment and pupils' self-perceptions controlling for the big-fish-little-pond effect (BFLPE). Three studies were conducted among third-grade pupils. Study 1 (n = 585) focused on pupils' perceptions of their scholastic competence. Teachers' judgment and BFLPE were found to have an…

Facing the growing number of digital natives entering the classroom, business professors look for innovative ways to enhance the student learning experience. The authors focus on the online interactive learning tool LearnSmart (McGraw-Hill, New York, NY), and examine its impact on student learning effectiveness by testing the direct and indirect…

Effective online teaching requires instructors to develop knowledge and new skills conducive to creating meaningful and successful learning experiences for online students. This exploratory case study examined 34 prospective online instructors' reflections on their development of online teaching expertise at the end of a graduate course. We…

This small study examines how one group (n = 59) of first-year undergraduate students developed their knowledge through co-construction using an online forum as a platform as part of a three-year Initial Teacher Training (ITT) programme. Professional dialogue at the online interface supported them to cope with the challenges they faced during…

This study explores (1) how parental and teacher scaffolding and children's coping strategies contribute to children's adjustment during the transition from preschool to school; and (2) how children's perception of stress and coping are constructed over time. The sample included 216 six-year-old children, their parents and teachers. The parents,…

A positive teacher-student relationship is a critical component of an engaging climate in pluralistic music classrooms. This article defines and gives examples of five strategies for building positive, cross-cultural teacher-student relationships. Teachers who take responsibility for developing these relationships begin by becoming culturally…

With a national sample of 700 Native American students who took the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), this study tested the ways faculty interaction and inclusion of diverse perspectives in the classroom contributed to learning for Native American students. Significant predictors of learning were quality academic advising, faculty…

An activity for eliciting student involvement in collaborative decision-making and problem-solving with adults--the student listening circle workshop--is examined for the first time through an experimental study of its effects on participating students. A student listening circle is a facilitated focus group in which students articulate to adults…