Background: The context of this research is reading literacy instruction in Foundation Phase classrooms in South Africa. Although large-scale studies have researched learner performance, little is known of the nuances of teachers' practice, particularly in the non-verbal realm. This research seeks to address that gap. Aim: This research…

We examined the relationships between teachers' communication styles and students' perceptions of the classroom goal structure. Within the context of high school health classes focused on teaching about HIV/STD/pregnancy prevention, we surveyed 456 students about their teachers' immediacy behaviors, efforts to make course content relevant, and…

Metaphor theory bears many implications for counseling processes, but metaphor in extended counseling talk is seldom evaluated. This article reports an exploratory skin conductance and discourse analysis of metaphorical versus literal communication styles in facilitating affective engagement over time. After background interaction with the…

The objective of this single-class activity is to get students to make connections between Eurocentric standards of communication and African American Vernacular English (AAVE) through a womanist rhetorical lens. This activity sheds light on how professional, academic, and corporate communicative spaces tend to deflect and reject Black people…

Quantum dots (QDs) are useful for demonstrating the particle-in-a-box (PIB) model utilized in quantum chemistry, and can readily be applied to a discussion of both thermodynamics and kinetics in an undergraduate laboratory setting. Modifications of existing synthetic procedures were used to create QDs of different sizes and compositions (CdS…

The purpose of this mixed-methods research study was to examine the relationship between leadership, decision-making, and communication styles of crisis managers in residence life at public and private institutions of higher education. Survey and interview data were collected for this research study from participants in southern Florida. The…

STEM disciplinary language is a necessary component for STEM success. It can be developed through experiences and attention to the development of STEM activities that are rich in language and can be acquired through practical experiences and systematic practice. Secondary students participated in an informal STEM summer camp where they learned to…

This study explores how engineering students develop learner agency in an intercultural PBL (problem- and project-based learning) environment, along with the factors that affect their development. Theoretically, learner agency is framed within three interrelated dimensions: intrapersonal, behavioural, and environmental. A narrative inquiry…

In some social situations, autistic people feel pressure to modify their innate social behaviour (i.e. camouflage), while in other social situations they feel free to engage in ways that feel authentic or true to themselves. To date, the latter aspect of autistic people's experience has rarely been explored. Using an online qualitative survey,…

Scientific training often begins with learning content knowledge and techniques. As a student progresses, they are required to communicate the results of their experiments with their instructors in a manner that other scientists would understand. This style of communication is stressed throughout their entire training. But what happens when the…

Millennials, those individuals born between 1980 and 2000, compose the largest cohort of college students in the United States. Stereotypical views of millennials characterize them as technologically sophisticated multitaskers, capable of significant contributions to tomorrow's organizations, yet deficient in communication skills. This article…

This article, the second of a two-part series, features 11 teaching innovations presented at the 2014 Association for Business Communication annual conference. These 11 assignments included leadership and other-focused communication--detecting communication style, adaptive communication, personality type, delivering feedback, problem solving, and…

Background: Previous literature pinpointed the limitations of behavioural treatment in helping families of people with intellectual disabilities to transit lifecycle adjustment and suggested the contributions of systemic intervention made to this population. Methods: This study aimed to explore the applicability of structural family therapy to…

The purpose of our study was to report the long-term impact or training efficacy of mentor training from the perspective of mentees at a single institution. Twelve mentees representing seven faculty graduates of a mentor training program were interviewed. Data were analyzed using grounded theory. Training resulted in improved goal setting and…

In this article, I draw on my experiences as a Teaching Practice Observer for various Colleges of Further Education and Adult Education establishments across South West England from 1994-2002. I discuss the essential lesson components that observers need to attend to when evaluating candidates. These include the candidate's diversity of teaching…