Communities of practice are becoming more widespread within higher education, yet little research has explored how these social learning networks can enhance faculty development. The focus of this paper is to describe the first-year experience of a community of practice initiative at McMaster University that was designed to engage groups of…

Teaching students how to conduct research that helps them develop a scholarly work is often a daunting task. A fortuitous collaboration between faculty members in the School of Education and the academic library led to the development of strategies for teaching graduate students how to conduct quality research. Over the course of four years,…

In her 1970s research at Hunter College Elementary School, Gertrude Hildreth discovered that the best way to explore gifted children was by observing these children in the educational setting. Many researchers usually expound on what should be done for gifted students, yet Hildreth found that much can be learned by formally observing gifted…

Family Literacy Night is an exciting way to engage students and their parents in meaningful literacy activities while building community spirit and strengthening the partnership between school and home. It is an opportunity for students to show their parents what they do in school; how they create in the computer lab, how they work in the art…

A field trip for preschool children can be a rewarding experience, but if not properly planned and executed it can be a legal nightmare for teachers and owners. This article will take teachers through a hypothetical outing. If one spots mistakes before the authors highlight them, great, and if not, one will learn some fine points during this…

This article describes a 21st century how-to model for successful career and technical education (CTE) programs. The Geometry in Construction program is the brainchild of two educators, a CTE and a math teacher, who wanted to design a rigorous geometry course taught through a project-based curriculum. This article discusses how they did it, and…

Involve students in the design and construction stages of new schools?--"Are you serious?" "Leave it to the experts", "We don't have time--the programme is very tight", "What do they know?", "They'll get in the way!", "It's not our job!" are still responses from some involved with design…

An initial goal of chemistry laboratory courses is almost always the "proper" use of laboratory resources including glassware and instruments. The proper use of glassware encompasses many topics, such as laboratory safety, technical proficiency, and recognition of function. However, as many chemical educators can attest, at both the K-12 and…

This paper describes the ways that feminist theories, history and pedagogies can be infused into leadership preparation programs in educational administration. This work is situated with the larger movement of leadership for social justice. The authors describe the theoretical frame for this work and the organization of a feminist leadership…

In recent years, IUPUI has steadily acquired a considerable national reputation as an up-and-coming university. Some of the reasons for this recognition include the RISE Initiative and the large number of innovative degree programs recently started at IUPUI based on campus strengths and the priorities of the city of Indianapolis. Some specific…

Launched in 2006, the Georgia Work Ready initiative seeks to improve the job training and marketability of Georgia's workforce and drive the state's economic growth. Georgia Work Ready is a partnership between the state and the Georgia Chamber of Commerce. Comprised of three components, Georgia's initiative focuses on job profiling, skills…

Nearly all states have standards for student learning and they have assessment programs to measure students' proficiency on those standards. But schools within each state nonetheless are left to develop their own standards-based student report cards as the primary means of communicating information about students' performance. To address the…

In this article, the author talks about a student-initiated Initiative for Transformative Sustainability Education (ITSE) at Wageningen University in The Netherlands which has led to the development of an undergraduate minor called Sustainability-in-Action consisting of four interlinked courses. When formally approved, the minor will be offered…

It is quite common for Australian schools introducing Japanese as a foreign language to engage native Japanese volunteers to assist in the classroom using a collaborative team-teaching approach. These volunteer Japanese assistant teachers, commonly referred to as Japanese Assistant Teachers (JATs), are an indispensable asset to school language…

Lincoln University was founded in 1866 by the men of the 62nd and 65th United States Colored Infantries and their white officers for the special benefit of freed African Americans. Today, Lincoln University's role in the education of Missourians and others, and its service throughout the state, the nation, and across the globe, are…