College instructors should focus their teaching not only on content but also on how to learn content in the context of particular courses. Students need practice with a variety of learning strategies before they can understand why particular ones are most effective or be helped to improve their efficiency in using them. (Author/MSE)

Encourages classroom teachers to engage in collaborative research. Addresses role of theory in research design, ethical/legal aspects of data collection/treatment, ownership of data, and communication among team members. Describes one-to-one friendship, teacher team catalyst, and cruise ship research models. Discusses how to formulate research…

Every college teacher has a professional obligation to formulate and articulate a rationale for his or her instructional world. Faculty members' personal theories about teaching and learning are often implicit and likely to be inaccurate. When implicit theories become explicit, they can blend with formal theories to improve the practice of…

Promotion of an alliance between college teachers and students requires shifting from a perception of the teacher as an agent of student change to that of teacher as partner in the change process. Twenty-five guidelines cover mutual respect, shared responsibility and mutual commitment to goals, effective communication and feedback, cooperation,…

Practical suggestions and application of six principles from cognitive psychology can make learning more efficient now and produce learners who will be more self-sufficient in the future. This means redefining student and teacher roles, organizing the course and content in a way consistent with how learning occurs, and helping students learn how…

Suggests things teachers can tell their students about what may account for successful underlining experiences. (HOD)

This resource guide provides a theoretical and practical text for teaching character education. It allows educators to do their own in-depth teacher education and implementation of virtue-centered character education. With this information, teachers can move character education from theory to practice. Chapter 1 begins with a definition of…

This book recounts the story of the people who have studied and taught composition in American colleges since the early 19th century. It shows where many of today's teachers' practices and assumptions about writing come from, and it translates what theories and techniques of teaching have, over time, indicated about attitudes toward students,…

In this collection of 32 narrative essays, scholars and teachers of English and English education share their excitement as they reflect on their professional growth over the last 30 years. The firsthand stories in the collection represent "a study of theory and applied theory, grounded in personal experience and academic study over many…

When educators refer to "reciprocity" in Reading Recovery, most often they are referring to the connections that can be made across reading and writing through teaching and learning actions--each reading or writing act has the potential for providing a context for learning about the other (Clay, 1998), and in this way, influencing each…

The article discusses the use of action research as a means of professional development. After describing action research and its benefits, the article explains the cyclical, collaborative process of action research, notes its possible applications, and presents implications for school reform. (SM)

Students are motivated to the extent that they initiate and sustain meaningful involvement in learning. Theories of motivation suggest that appropriate attention to college students' needs and expectations for success will enhance their involvement and learning. (Author/MSE)

This Digest discusses Problem-Based Learning (PBL), a method developed by H.S. Barrows (1986), and originally created to prepare medical students for real-world problems by letting them solve medical problems based on real cases. The Digest contends that PBL can situate language learning in the real world by posing problems like those found in…

This paper describes efforts to develop a social studies methods course based on a foundation of critical theory in education. The literature concerning critical theory is discussed. Critical theory focuses on three areas of educational thought: (1) the relationship of school to society; (2) conceptions of knowledge and curriculum; and (3) the…

Compares cooperative learning with earlier educational reforms. Suggests that cooperative learning succeeds where others have failed because it incorporates well-developed theory and research with support for teachers over an extended time. Discusses the good fit between cooperative-learning approaches and social studies instruction. (SG)