This paper describes a method aimed at pointing out the quality of the mental models undergraduate engineering students deploy when asked to create explanations for phenomena or processes and/or use a given model in the same context. Student responses to a specially designed written questionnaire are quantitatively analyzed using…

Engineers commonly use rules, theories and models that lack scientific justification. Examples include rules of thumb based on experience, but also models based on obsolete science or folk theories. Centrifugal forces, heat and cold as substances, and sucking vacuum all belong to the latter group. These models contradict scientific knowledge, but…

Writing-to-learn (WTL) is an effective instructional and learning strategy that centers on the process of organizing and articulating ideas, as opposed to writing-to-communicate, which centers on the finished written product. We describe a WTL model that we have developed and tested with various student groups over several years. With effective…

Active participation of community partners in research aspects of community-academic partnered projects is often assumed to have a positive impact on the outcomes of such projects. The value of community engagement in research, however, cannot be empirically determined without good measures of the level of community participation in research…

This article addresses global postsecondary ranking systems by using critical-theoretical perspectives on power. This research suggests rankings are at once a useful lens for studying power in higher education and an important instrument for the exercise of power in service of dominant norms in global higher education. (Contains 1 table and 1…

In today's hypermedia landscape, youth and young adults are increasingly using social media platforms, online aggregators and mobile applications for daily information use. Communication educators, armed with a host of free, easy-to-use online tools, have the ability to create dynamic approaches to teaching and learning about information and…

This article presents a model and case study used to teach crisis leadership as a management education topic. The materials emerge from studies of U.S. Army leaders (company commanders and platoon leaders) working in Iraq and Afghanistan. The authors explain how examples and cases from military combat provide tools to teach about crisis…

Technology provides exciting possibilities to the challenge of professional development in correctional education. Virtual induction strategies that include mentoring and immediate feedback during instructional delivery are now viable, low-cost, and secure options for correctional settings. Readers will become familiar with essential components of…

Teachers are one of the key elements in any school and effective teaching is one of the key propellers for school improvement. This review is concerned with how to define a teacher's effectiveness and what makes an effective teacher. It draws out implications for policymakers in education and for improving classroom practice. Teacher…

Teacher evaluation systems are being overhauled by states and districts across the United States. And, while intentions are admirable, the result for many new systems is that good--often excellent--teachers are lost in the process. In the end, students are the losers. In her new book, Linda Darling-Hammond makes a compelling case for a…

This study was designed to inform professional development in early childhood education (ECE) by examining the use of coaching to improve teacher performance in the classroom. Professional development programs that include coaching, a relationship-based method of enhancing application of newly acquired knowledge and skills, have received…

Although universities often teach ethics courses, they do not always teach students how to apply ethical course content to ethical dilemmas they encounter on a day-to-day basis. The Awareness-Investigation-Responding (AIR) model of ethical inquiry bridges this gap by scaffolding the reflective process and empowering students to make more caring,…

The purpose of the research was to study the performance of the supervisors in the aspects leadership, communication, and task managing by the "360 degree feedback" method. A qualitative research was used to carry out the research study. The researcher formulated three questions that guided the study. An opinionnaire which included 23…

Multisensory Structured Language Instruction has been used for decades by clinicians and practitioners as an intervention for teaching students with dyslexia. Multisensory Structured Language Instruction uses the integration of multiple senses (visual, auditory, and kinesthetic/tactile) simultaneously to teach literacy. Although the anecdotal…

The goal of this study was to examine types and patterns of reading strategies that proficient adolescent readers used while reading on the Internet. Informed by research related to reading comprehension, intertextuality, and new literacies, I drew upon the model of "Constructively Responsive Reading" that had evolved from print reading to…