For three months, Japanese university learners (N=40) utilized the YoTeach! application by Pedagogic and Active Learning Mobile Solutions (PALMS) Project, PolyU as a part of their English discussion class. Researchers re-purposed the application, which originally was designed to be an online classroom backchannel, as an asynchronous, pre-task…

This article is a reflection on the National Further Education and Training (FET) Learner Forum (NFLF). It uses the NFLF as an example of learner voice in practice, retracing the history of the NFLF as a means of reflecting on some of the benefits and challenges of bringing learner voice into public policy. The article outlines educational debates…

Students today are increasingly engaged in the use of digital information and communication technologies. The Internet continues to grow and more and more young people are using it worldwide. Educational practices, however, have been slow to adapt to the corresponding developments. For example, Internet forums are generally ignored in most…

Because Journal Clubs (JClubs) represent valued educational tools, we often assume optimality of Journal Club practices. We analyze here JClubs records from a research group to identify factors that modify how much attendants benefit from discussing a paper. We demonstrate that attendants benefit most from papers focusing on systems similar to…

The purpose of the current study was to compare the use of virtual discussion boards in various educational settings in the United States and Costa Rica. Participants included professors of education, in-service and pre-service teachers in the United States and Costa Rica where a survey was used that included demographic, knowledge, attitude, and…

Previous research has shown that undergraduate science students learn from peer discussions of in-class clicker questions. However, the features that characterize such discussions are largely unknown, as are the instructional factors that may lead students into productive discussions. To explore these questions, we recorded and transcribed 83…

While high IQ is likely to be an advantage in moral reasoning, it does not guarantee students' putting those morals into practice. A clearly defined sense of purpose grounded in values of social responsibility, exploration of values, and the search for ultimate truths, both personal and collective, is paramount. The Meaning in Life program in…

The authors' intent was to show the effect of student discussion board activity on academic outcomes, after accounting for past academic performance. Data were collected from 516 students enrolled in a junior-level required business course. Controlling for students' grade point average, stepwise regression showed a significant…

Researchers have suggested that teachers use a specialized type of knowledge specifically attributed to the work of teaching. One aspect of this specific type of knowledge is the ability to analyze children's work. With continued emphasis on a teacher's ability to analyze their students' thought processes, teacher candidates will need to develop…

The film "BULLY" follows five stories of children and families who are affected deeply by bullying within the course of a school year. With intimate glimpses into homes, classrooms, cafeterias, and principals' offices, the film offers insight into the lives of bullied, ridiculed children. Historically, seemingly small instances of…

This dissertation builds on research about teacher identities (e.g., Agee, 2004; Sumara & Luce-Kapler, 1996; Ronfeldt & Grossman, 2008), teaching mathematics for social justice (e.g., Felton, 2010; Gutstein, 2006; Skovsmose, 1985; Stinson & Wager, 2012) and learning to teach mathematics for social justice (e.g., Gau, 2005; Gonzalez,…

Unlike previous research on computer-mediated discussions that has focused analysis on the final conversation as a completed product, this study was focused on the process by which the conversation was created. Using screen-capturing software, the on-screen actions of the nine participants in an online classroom discussion were recorded and…

Many general education educators have little pre-service preparation or in-service professional development for teaching students who are English language learners (ELL). Yet, ELLs are one of the fastest growing student populations in the United States. While teachers typically espouse the view that all students can learn, they do not often have…

The purpose of this study was to identify and analyze the views of exchange students from Asia about their academic and social experiences at an American university. The participants were eight exchange students from Japan (four men and four women). This study was descriptive-qualitative (Patton, 2002). The data sources were a demographic survey…

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether asynchronous video posts and synchronous videoconferencing would create higher levels of teaching and social presence within an online course when compared with the university's current text-based discussion platform. Undergraduate students in an online teacher education course were randomly…