Because polarization and demonization of the "other" are increasingly prevalent in today's America, there are limited opportunities for deep and informed engagement across lines of difference, particularly on college campuses. "Bridging the Gap: Dialogue across Difference" (BTG) is a 2-3 week January term immersive experience…

In this article, the authors describe how a theoretical framework--the modeling cycle of Bliss, Fowler, and Galluzzo (2014)--came to life in their classroom as students struggled with an open-ended modeling task. The authors share their high school students' work--warts and all. They explain how they used their students' ideas and errors to help…

In today's complex world, there is a continued demand for recently graduated forensic chemists (criminalists) who have some background in forensic experimental techniques. This article describes modern forensic experimental approaches designed and implemented from a unique instructional perspective to present certain facets of crime scene…

John McNamara shares his wisdom and humbly credits Camillo Grazzini, Jenny Höglund, and David Kahn for his growth in Montessori. Recognizing more than what he has learned from his mentors, he shares the lessons he has learned from his students themselves. Math, science, history, and language are so integrated in the curriculum that students…

This article was adapted from "The LEAP Challenge: Education for a World of Unscripted Problems," a folio distributed at the opening plenary session of the 2015 annual meeting of the Association of American Colleges and Universities at which the LEAP Challenge was formally launched. Liberal Education and America's Promise (LEAP) prepares…

"Who has been to Dairy Queen® and purchased a Blizzard?®" Ms. Bosetti asked her students. During the summer, Bosetti had seen many of her former and future students at the local Dairy Queen enjoying Blizzard desserts and wondered, "Which Blizzard size is the best value?" She used this context for a ratios and proportions task…

In 1984, James Buffer and Michael Scott produced the book "Special Needs Guide for Technology Education" (Buffer and Scott, 1984). This was a pivotal offering insofar as it set the stage for technology education educators, at the time, to think about and be provided with information regarding students with special needs in their…

Geometry students need challenges. They need to apply what they already know to new contexts. As a result, high school teacher Wayne Nirode is always looking for groups of related problems of theorems to challenge his geometry students. He came across one such group or problems when reading Jun's (2012) one-page abstract posted online for the 12th…

Technology alone won't be enough to improve teaching and learning to where it needs to be for 21st century skills. Where it is being done successfully, teachers collectively share a vision of promoting deeper learning in all their students, and have collaboratively redesigned the role of the teacher to that of facilitator who uses technology as a…

This article describes a new and innovative open co-op program for MIS/IS students. The program, Global Enterprise Technology Immersion Experience (GET IE), has a global enterprise focus that is integrated with hands-on experiential work-based learning to provide a context in which students are stimulated to utilize their classroom knowledge. The…

Of the many inequities in the education system, gaps in access to strong teaching have proven to be among the most stubborn. That is not to say that there are not excellent teachers in high-poverty schools. Research shows an indisputable and wide-spread pattern in schools and districts across the country: Low-income children and children of color…

One of the biggest obstacles to overcome in creating and sustaining an administrative professional learning community (PLC) is time. Administrators are constantly deluged by the tyranny of the urgent. It is a Herculean task to carve out time for PLCs, but it is imperative to do so. In this article, the authors describe how an administrative PLC…

It is well documented that when solving problems experts first search for underlying concepts while students tend to look for equations and previously worked examples. The overwhelming majority of end-of-chapter (EOC) problems in most introductory physics textbooks contain only material and examples discussed in a single chapter, rarely requiring…

In this article, the author reports on a seminar for first-year college students that weaves mathematical proof and problem-solving together with discussions of cultural, philosophical, and aesthetic issues surrounding mathematics. The author's goal is for students to learn some mathematics, and--just as important--to think about the nature of…

Design thinking is about using design to improve the human experience. It combines collaboration, systems thinking, and a balance of creative and analytical habits. It also fuels what the students want for themselves: making an impact on the real world in real time and having adults take their passions seriously. The process essentially comes down…