This paper reports on a study into the untutored ability of Grade 10 students to engage in argumentation about the interpretation of experimental data, and the effect of unsupported small group discussions on this ability. In this study, argumentation intends to promote critical thinking. The sample includes 266 students from five South African…

This paper will report on a case study that was conducted involving Grade 10 learners who were exposed to a high-tech rapid-prototyping environment of a Fabrication Laboratory as part of a FabKids experience. This project must be viewed in the context of a global shortage of key skills placing a higher priority on the initiation and development of…

Linear models are frequently inappropriately applied to various situations. When misapplied, linearity is traditionally referred to as a tendency, a misconception, or an error. Cognitive linguistic, situated cognition, and sociocultural or cultural-historical activity theory, on the other hand, suggest that linear models are adopted by learners…

While genetics has remained as one key topic in school science, it continues to be conceptually and linguistically difficult for students with the concomitant debates as to what should be taught in the age of biotechnology. This article documents the development and implementation of a two-tier multiple-choice instrument for diagnosing grades 10…

Good design brings the excitement of the Olympic Games into the visual realm of public media. Inspired by the design involved in the making of the Olympic Games, the author developed a lesson called Fashion Forward. Fashion Forward, which is taught to ninth and tenth graders, is based on the enduring idea that visual images are power communication…

Data from the spring 2010 Minnesota student survey were analyzed in order to quantify the risk for suicide ideation as a function of bullying variability. Other factors available from the survey included alcohol and other drug use, within-family violence and abuse, mental health symptoms. In addition, a factor analysis revealed a protective…

This qualitative case study investigated the process of teaching the self-management strategies, self-determination, and self-monitoring to chronically misbehaved students from the perspective of a secondary special education teacher. The investigation used a purposeful sample to select an urban high school setting and a tenured special education…

As part of its proposal to the U.S. Department of Education, the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) committed to developing model content frameworks for mathematics to serve as a bridge between the Common Core State Standards and the PARCC assessments. The PARCC Model Content Frameworks were developed through a…

This study examines the relationship between performance on Utah's English proficiency assessment and English language arts and mathematics content assessments by English language learner students and compares the performance of English language learner and non-English language learner students on the content assessments. Two research questions…

It's no secret that fewer and fewer women are entering computer science fields. Attracting high school girls to computer science is only part of the solution. Retaining them while they are in higher education or the workforce is also a challenge. To solve this, there is a need to show girls that computer science is a wide-open field that offers…

Introduction: This study examined (a) students' experienced emotions in classes of Mathematics and Language, (b) the role of students' emotions in perceiving their school performance in the same school subjects as successful or unsuccessful, and (c) the effects of students' self-beliefs (performance expectations, value beliefs, ability…

While policymakers and researchers alike have focused on improving students' transition into high school, a new study of Florida schools suggests the critical transition problem may happen years before, when students enter middle school. The study, part of the Program on Education Policy and Governance Working Papers Series at Harvard University,…

The discovery or re-construction of scientific explanations and understanding based on experience is a complex process, for which school learning often uses shortcuts. On the basis of the example of analyzing real seismic measurements, we propose a computer-facilitated collaborative learning scenario which meets many of the requirements for…

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect Serious Educational Games (SEGs) had on student interest in science in a federally funded game-based learning project. It can be argued that today's students are more likely to engage in video games than they are to interact in live, face-to-face learning environments. With a keen eye on…

This Annual Measurable Objective (AMO) is designed to keep Florida moving forward toward national and international competitiveness. Florida will compare its National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) scores to those of the top five states and its Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), Progress in International…