This report uses NAEP background data to track time and learning since the mid-1990s in three areas: student absenteeism; classroom instructional time in mathematics, reading, music and the visual arts; and homework time expected by teachers. Key report findings are: (1) Students with higher rates of "monthly absenteeism" score…

Targeted as a highly desired skill for contemporary work and life, problem solving is central to game-based learning research. In this study, middle grade students achieved significant learning gains from gameplay interactions that required solving a science mystery based on microbiology content. Student trace data results indicated that effective…

When we publish behavioral research, we are not allowed to communicate the thrill, the poetry, or the exhilaration that are outcomes of the discovery process. Yet, these are among our most potent reinforcers. Explicit recognition of the emotional accompaniments to research could help attract students into the experimental analysis of behavior.…

The Calculator Controlled Robots activities are designed to engage students in hands-on inquiry-based missions. These activities address National science and technology standards, as well as specifically focusing on mathematics content and process standards. There are ten missions and three exploration extensions that provide activities for up to…

Spectrum research on teaching has been conducted since 1970s. The purpose of this study was to identify, categorize, and analyze research in this area. Fifty three Spectrum studies conducted between 1970 and 2008 were included in this study. Each paper was coded for (a) decade the study was published, (b) publication outlet/dissertation research,…

Arguing that teacher education has become rule bound, even in the use of teaching narratives and cases, and for the need to challenge beginning teachers' conceptions of teaching and learning, the author suggests parables as promising means for enlivening teacher education and for stretching understanding. After defining parable, the author…

Authentic research, in which students pose original questions and attempt to find the unknown answers, addresses principles of undergraduate education in an ideal way. With careful planning and reasoned considerations it will benefit students, faculty, and institutions.

When teaching science, the time allowed for students to make discoveries on their own through the inquiry method directly conflicts with the mandated targets of a broad spectrum of curricula. Research shows that using an inquiry-based approach can encourage student motivation and increase academic achievement (Wolf & Fraser, 2008, Bryant, 2006,…

Digital media applications (DMAs) have emerged in abundance over the last ten years. Enabled by exponential growth in computing power and inexpensive data storage, these applications are easy to use and inexpensive (often free) to own. DMAs not only allow users to produce digital content efficiently they allow users to exploit the connective power…

This essay focuses on how young women students in a first-year, first-quarter basic reading and writing course wrote about their connections to the process of identity development as portrayed in the graphic novel "Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return" by Marjane Satrapi. While the circumstances of becoming a student in a required…

The current article represents a methodological proposal. It seeks to address the question of how one might recognize a discovery as a discovery without knowing in advance what is available to be discovered. We propose a solution and demonstrate it using data from a study previously reported by J. Roschelle (1992). Roschelle investigated 2…

This article summarizes the literature concerning the use of visual and textual metaphors and describes outcomes of a project designed to help teacher education candidates begin integrating their personal beliefs about teaching with their growing professional knowledge and emergent practice. By using metaphors, teacher educators have the…

This study was designed to explore the effectiveness in student performance and confidence of limited and full device simulators. The 30 employees from an information technology company who participated in this study were assigned to one of three groups. Each group received practice for learning a complex software procedure using traditional…

In this exploratory study, reading, writing, and discussion were examined within the context of a pen pal intervention focusing on authentic literacy tasks. The study employed a mixed-method design with a triangulation-convergence model to explore the relationship between authentic literacy tasks and the literacy motivation of elementary students…

Wilbert J. McKeachie has been the president of the American Psychological Association (APA), the American Association of Higher Education, the American Psychological Foundation, the Division of Educational and School Psychology of the International Association of Applied Psychology, and APA's Divisions 2 and 15. He received his PhD at the…