We describe an exercise for introducing undergraduate students to the practice of assigning tasks to followers and illustrating that proper task assignment is contingent on context. Students are assigned the roles of "manager" or "employee," and managers instruct employees how to create a penholder out of Mega Bloks® using only…

The problem-solving process is investigated for five groups of students when solving context-rich problems in an introductory physics course included in an engineering programme. Through transcripts of their conversation, the paths in the problem-solving process have been traced and related to a general problem-solving model. All groups exhibit…

In Dutch Design and Technology Education the beginning of a process of learning is usually determined by the teacher. In this paper it is argued that a beginning, determined in interaction with the students, is more profitable as the interaction will lead to joined-up exploring, creating and thinking and an increased motivation to learn.…

This study investigates the practices of public (high) school, private language institute, and public-private teachers. In particular, it aims at addressing the role of contextual factors, the variations teachers introduce to cope with them, and the degree of sustainable behaviour among these three groups of teachers. High school teachers…

This article reports the findings of a one-year longitudinal study that investigated the impact of group work on the development of students' critical thinking in Hong Kong secondary schools. It explores whether the participation of teachers in a group-based teaching intervention adapted from an earlier study conducted in the United Kingdom (UK)…

This study examines the effects of employing student group leaders on the motivation of group members during co-operative learning activities in a secondary school classroom in Turkey. The study was carried out in a period of eight weeks in biology classes during which "living things" and "ecology" topics were taught to a class…

The availability of technological tools is promoting a shift toward more student-centered online instruction. This article describes the implementation of a Problem-Based Learning (PBL) model and the technological tools used to meet the expectations of the model as well as the needs of the students. The end product is a hybrid course with eight…

This facilitator's guide is designed to assist professional learning communities (PLCs) in applying evidence-based strategies to help K-8 English learners acquire the language and literacy skills needed to succeed academically. Through this collaborative learning experience, educators will expand their knowledge base as they read, discuss, share,…

These handouts, which are meant to accompany the facilitator's guide, are designed to assist professional learning communities (PLCs) in applying evidence-based strategies to help K-8 English learners acquire the language and literacy skills needed to succeed academically. The facilitator's guide uses a five-step process for collaborative…

This paper reports an intervention study on Singapore primary five (fifth Grade) students' ICT (information and communication technology)-mediated Chinese idiom learning. We introduced "seamless learning" to the learning design, that is, the bridging of formal and informal learning, and individual and social learning, conforming to the…

The process of students' conceptual change was evaluated during a computer-supported physics unit in a Grade 10 science class. Computer simulation programs were developed to confront students' alternative conceptions in mechanics. A conceptual test was administered as pre-, post-, and delayed post-tests to determine students' conceptual change.…