Inferencing abilities are crucial to development of reading comprehension. However, few studies addressed those abilities in interventions promoting early literacy skills, especially in kindergartners. The aim of this study was to measure the efficacy of an interactive book-reading intervention targeting inferencing abilities, delivered by a…

Developing young children's vocabulary is essential for later reading success; thus, early childhood classrooms require a comprehensive vocabulary approach that teaches academic vocabulary. Yet even providing young children with child-friendly definitions of sophisticated words can be a challenge. First, the authors outline the components of a…

Understanding how power is communicated by instructors and students is important to student motivation and learning. To examine how power is communicated online by instructors and how receptive (or not) students are to this, I examined four online graduate seminars using two analytical tools: community of inquiry (COI) theory and McCroskey and…

The choice of instructional strategies, methods and techniques used by teachers is important in terms of establishing an effective learning environment. The purpose of this study is to examine the most common methods teachers use in their lessons and the factors that influence their choice of methods by using game theory. Game theory has different…

What makes some teachers more effective than others? What pedagogies and practices are fads and which are backed with quality evidence? Which teaching strategies give teachers the biggest learning bang for their buck? The authors have surveyed the research literature and carefully curated 50 elements of effective teaching--elements such as direct…

A limited mixed-method study revealed that students could alter written style after direct style instruction, but the effect faded quickly. Instead, students reverted to culturally structured intuition to make conscious, contrary choices. Thus, direct instruction in precise forms of style should probably yield to methods that build culturally…

Experiences of failure can provide valuable opportunities to learn, however, the typical classroom does not tend to function from an orientation of learning from failure. Rather, educators aim to teach accurate information as efficiently as possible, with the main goal for students to be able to produce correct knowledge when called for, in the…

This study examined the impact of process-based listening strategy instruction on Iraqi EFL learners' listening comprehension and their metacognitive awareness of listening strategies. The study also investigated the differences in all of the five factors of the "Metacognitive Awareness of Listening Questionnaire" (MALQ) offered by…

The aim of this study was to examine the effects of two different instructional models (i.e. direct instructional model (DIM) and tactical games model (TGM)) with primary education students. Perceived exertion, affective valence, physical activity (PA) level, instruction time, active learning time, and relation of instruction/active learning time…

Reading comprehension is considered a salient source of input and an important language skill in English as Foreign Language (EFL) learning contexts. Moreover, connectors are regarded as main constituents of reading materials. Connectors refer to linguistic devices which provide cohesion in texts and thus are highly likely to contribute to the…

The purpose of the study was to investigate the impact of a hybrid teaching games for understanding (TGfU) and sport education (SE) physical education unit on autonomy support, perceived motivational climate, enjoyment and perceived competence, in comparison to a unit delivered via a traditional direct instruction model. A crossover design was…

This document was created in response to a request from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction to the Wisconsin Minnesota Comprehensive Center (WMCC) Region 10 to provide information on high-quality, qualitative studies about K-2 explicit, systematic phonics instruction. This document is intended to supplement the review document:…

Eight middle school mathematics teachers' perceptions and uses of curriculum materials and the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSSM) were investigated. Adapting a noticing framework and models of dialogic instruction and direct instruction, teachers' noticing practices with curriculum materials and the CCSSM when planning, enacting,…

Children with language impairment frequently struggle with written language skills such as spelling. With their expertise in language, speech-language pathologists are in the position to promote the development of such skills. One way to do this is through the use of direct spelling instruction which has been shown to facilitate growth in a number…

In this "Connecting Practice & Research" column, we present a brief glimpse of the challenges and issues on the writing side of disciplinary literacy. A quick review of literature on academic and disciplinary writing provides an understanding of how the view of academic writing as a rudimentary and technical practice led the way into…