Rich educational environments encourage students to construct their own knowledge, to solve problems collaboratively, and to heighten their interest and motivation to continue to learn. This paper presents the findings of a qualitative study that investigated the formation of collaborative problem solving through social interaction during a…

Presents results from elementary school classroom uses of the Computer Supported Integrated Learning Environments (CSILE) software that stores student productions, including text and graphics, in one database to which all users have simultaneous access. Educational uses, effects, and outcomes of CSILE are described; and knowledge construction is…

Describes the experimental preschools of Reggio Emilia, Italy, providing a brief history and an overview of their guiding educational philosophy. Notes their distinguishing features, including an image of the child's social construction of learning, cognizance of children's sense of time, involvement of parents and the community, collaboration…

Asserts that presidential elections and the Electoral College provide opportunities to combine instruction in government and geography. Presents a week-long unit designed for grades 6-12 that utilizes 4 different instructional strategies. Includes relevant excerpts from the U.S. Constitution and data sheets, maps, and charts. (CFR)

In recent years, the information and communication technology (ICT) has created a significant impact on the methods of communicating information and knowledge to the learners and, consequently, innovative teaching techniques have evolved to change the way teachers teach and students learn. In this paper, the focus is on a study which was conducted…

These proceedings contain the papers of the 11th International Conference on Cognition and Exploratory Learning in the Digital Age (CELDA 2014), October 25-27, 2014, which has been organized by the International Association for Development of the Information Society (IADIS) and endorsed by the Japanese Society for Information and Systems in…

This study addresses changes in student perceptions when team leaders are incentivized. Although the benefits of groupwork have been thoroughly studied and documented, minimizing dysfunctional teamwork may prove difficult because of leadership incentives, social loafing, and organizational justice implications. Using an innovative pedagogical…

Faculty and administrators at the College of Education at Louisiana State University recognized the need to incorporate technology into all of their programs. Project KITES (Kids Interacting with Technology and Education Students) was developed to give students just beginning their professional education component real experiences with children…

This article discusses a project about lunch undertaken by a class of 3- to 5-year-old children in a preschool in Iowa. Following a description of the school and the goals of the project, the article presents the three phases of the project. The teacher's reflections about the project are also included. Photographs taken to document the project…

Provides a series of guidelines for overcoming resistance and problems with cooperative projects in an introductory sociology course. These include coordinating common interests and common free time between team members, requiring allocation of various roles (presider, scribe, coordinator), and ongoing monitoring of the research teams. (MJP)

Described is a student-produced bulletin board that illustrates that mathematics is a universal language and that mathematics is being created around the world. Presented are two approaches for resolving a problem involving three equations and three unknowns. (KR)

Describes KID DESIGNER, a project that emphasizes play as a lifelong learning process by teaching elementary school students how to design their own educational computer games that embed content from subjects studied in the classroom. Topics include constructivism; cooperative learning; project-based activities; prior learning; group dynamics; and…

Describes a field study in a local ecosystem which allows high school students to investigate the edge effect, where a meadow and a forest meet. Students measure soil moisture content, soil temperature, air temperature, relative humidity, wind intensity, and illumination level. Teachers can help students apply their findings to understand problems…

Describes how a "tech prep" junior English class at a vocational-technical high school collaborated with a class of third graders, as the juniors wrote short stories based on topics generated by the third graders who then illustrated the stories. Discusses how both classes prepared and got started, and how all participants benefited. Offers tips…

This article draws on second language theory, particularly output theory as defined by Swain (1995), in order to conceptualise observations made in a computer-assisted language learning setting. It investigates second language output and learner behaviour within an electronic role-play setting, based on a subject-specific problem solving task and…