Many teachers experience the tension between using published curriculum materials and teaching in ways that are responsive to children. Teachers are often expected to use a particular mathematics curriculum series, but they still want to be able to build on and connect to children's multiple mathematical knowledge bases (MMKB).…

This paper presents an activity that engages students in model-based reasoning, requiring them to predict the behavior of the trp and lac operons under different environmental conditions. Students are presented six scenarios for the "trp" operon and five for the "lac" operon. In most of the scenarios, specific mutations have…

Social competence and social communication development can be concurrently supported through intentional thought and planning on the part of the early childhood special educator. In this article, we present suggestions for how teachers can effectively plan for and implement interventions to support these two areas, all within the context of play.…

This project introduces the idea of "flipped lecturing" to a group of second-year undergraduate students. The aim of flipped lecturing is to provide much of the "content delivery" of the lecture in advance, so that the lecture hour can be devoted to more in-depth discussion, problem solving, and so on. As well as development of…

"Mathematics is one of the greatest cultural and intellectual achievements of humankind, and citizens should develop an appreciation and understanding of that achievement, including its aesthetic and even recreational aspects" (NCTM 2000, p. 4). In addition to NCTM, many professional organizations such as the National Research Council…

Educating future scientists and citizens is more effective if students are guided to correctly apply what they learned in school to their daily lives. This experience-based work is focused on the study of a well-known commercial product: cat litter. This material offers different starting points for a critical examination. Questions related to…

Drawing structures, mechanisms, and syntheses is a vital part of success in organic chemistry courses. ChemDraw for iPad has been used to increase classroom experiences in the preparation of high quality chemical drawings. The embedded Flick-to-Share allows for simple, real-time exchange of ChemDraw documents. ChemDraw for iPad also allows…

As president of the California Council on Teacher Education from 1994-1996, teacher educator Grace Grant reflects on the first conference she attended of the then California Council on the Education of Teachers in 1976 at the Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite National Park. The keynote speaker was Gary Fenstermacher, the then-director of teacher…

In a typical chemistry instrumentation laboratory, students learn analytical techniques through a well-developed procedure. Such an approach, however, does not engage students in a creative endeavor. To foster the intrinsic motivation of students' desire to learn, improve their confidence in self-directed learning activities and enhance their…

This work describes the preliminary results of a tutoring program that provides personalized academic assistance to first-year undergraduates enrolled in introductory chemistry, physics and mathematics courses at Universidad Andres Bello (UNAB), in Concepción, Chile. Intervened courses have historically large enrolments, diverse student population…

Last year, 29 percent of New York City children were considered proficient in English and 35 percent in math on the state's challenging Common Core-aligned exams. For Success Academy students, the proficiency rates were 64 percent in English and an astonishing 94 percent in math. Success students in the city's poorest communities outperformed kids…

This paper details an inquiry-based approach for teaching the basic notions of rings and fields to liberal arts mathematics students. The task sequence seeks to encourage students to identify and comprehend core concepts of introductory abstract algebra by thinking like mathematicians; that is, by investigating an open-ended mathematical context,…

For more than 40 years, the international community has acknowledged the role education might play in environmental awareness and conservation. The last major initiative came when the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed a Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005-2014). In the final year of the decade, teachers still struggle to…

The COVID-19 pandemic has illustrated with vivid clarity how important it is for people to have digital literacy skills. From the workplace to the classroom and beyond, being able to use digital tools effectively is fundamental to success. To succeed in this rapidly changing environment, workers need broad-based digital problem-solving skills that…

One in four children in the state of Georgia is food insecure. In the city of Athens, 60 miles northeast of Atlanta, the number approaches one in three. More than 33 percent of residents have significantly limited access to healthy foods, living in areas of the city that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has identified as food deserts.…