The ability to work in groups is fundamental to education and professional environments. Today's classrooms are predominately filled with Millennials who have been working in teams their whole lives. Millennials enjoy group work because it is perceived as more fun and gives them a sense of unity and collaboration; unfortunately, it also gives them…

This manual is designed to be used as a staff development instrument for educators to help them discover their personal cognitive and behavioral style and to aid them in using this understanding to become more effective teachers and administrators. Four personal styles are identified: (1) autonomy: solving problems, making decisions, getting…

To facilitate learning, teachers often employ varied teaching strategies and activities to accommodate different learning style preferences in students. This study explored elementary school students' preferences for learning environments, providing a pilot validation of the 40-question "If I Were in Charge of the Class" learning preference…

This paper criticizes traditional methods of science teaching for decreasing student interest in studying science. It describes cooperative learning and its usefulness in teaching biology so that the study of science becomes a social experience. The paper presents two methods used in biology lecture classes: the Introductory (Icebreaker) Workshop…

This paper presents the results of a study of the cognitive strategies in which ninth-grade science students engaged as they used a learner-centered dynamic modeling tool (called Model-It) to make original models based upon stream ecosystem scenarios. The research questions were: (1) In what Cognitive Strategies for Modeling (analyzing, reasoning,…

After reviewing the literature on interaction in distance education/online learning contexts, I offer some suggestions for balancing students' and teachers' needs for greater interaction with the economies of scale often achieved in such learning contexts. Specifically, I suggest that instructors' use of threaded online discussions and student…

This handbook details 28 specific learning strategies for diverse groups of middle school students, each cast as a prescription applicable for students whose diagnosis reveals certain "conditions" such as particular learning styles or high or low reading skills. Reproducible pages accompany most of the strategies. Following are the activities: (1)…