Traditional lectures generally force students to play a passive role in the classroom. In an effort to promote active learning, we added discussion sections to a large lecture hall course. Field trips, student journals, and group-based assignments, in particular, enhanced the learning experience. To ensure the success of the new format, course…

This book presents case studies of six "pockets of hope," democratic educational projects in which empowered students and their teachers actively engage with relevant academic and social problems. Although seemingly very different, the projects share a core commitment to democratic pedagogy and demonstrate practices consistent with…

In order to address concerns about the intellectual quality of students' work under various "active learning" formats appearing in education reform efforts, this study developed a model of authentic pedagogy and assessed its presence in 23 restructured schools. The proposed authentic pedagogy is consistent with an active learning perspective and…