This article examines how teachers can navigate "difficult knowledge" embedded within digital stories, particularly those sourced from openly licensed literacy platforms. These platforms offer a rich tapestry of narratives reflecting diverse cultural contexts and experiences, but may also present challenging themes that require sensitive…

This study investigated the effect of place-based teaching practices on students' environmental literacy in the Life Science course of 3rd grade primary school students. The research was designed according to the mixed methods model. In this study, the experimental group was taught with place-based teaching practices for 10 weeks, while the…

Personal phone usage--from group messaging to social media scrolling to online window shopping--is widespread in university classrooms. Numerous studies have documented how the presence of cell phones in the undergraduate classroom is more harmful than beneficial. Nevertheless, many educators are reluctant to enact and enforce a phone-free…

Drawing on feminist new materialist theories, this article discusses changes in teaching practices in Higher Education classrooms related to Early Childhood Teacher Education in Norway. By implementing materials from a project where we were experimenting with teaching on the floor, the article seeks to challenge established understandings of…

The first part of this article describes in brief the Six Steps methodology for designing educational environments--be they K-12 schools, tertiary institutions, community centers, youth movements, or the like-- as set forth in my book "Educational Design in Six Steps: A Strategic and Practical Scaffold" (Routledge 2020). The second part…

This book focuses on the dynamic relationships among individual difference (ID) variables (i.e., willingness to communicate, motivation, language anxiety and boredom) in learning English as a foreign language in the virtual world Second Life. The theoretical part provides an overview of selected issues related to the four ID factors in question…

[This paper is part of the Focused Collection on Instructional labs: Improving traditions and new directions.] This study investigated the development of four new novice graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) and one nontenure track (NTT) faculty member assigned to teach an introductory physics laboratory course based on the investigative science…

Reflective teaching plays a crucial role in the field of education though its intricacies in particular cultural contexts like Vietnam are still little understood. This study aims to investigate reflective teaching practices in more detail within the context of Vietnamese education. This study used a qualitative methodology and semi-structured…

Students in the United States are not achieving in mathematics as indicated on the NAEP (2019) exams and other measurements of student achievement (NCES, 2019; OECD, 2019; O'Dwyer, et al., 2015). Mathematically gifted and promising students are especially impacted by this phenomenon, though it is not exactly known what factors contribute to…

With all the recent updates and advances in education and the cognitive sciences, it's crucial that we update and advance how we teach. It is time for our practices to reflect a focus on the way people think and learn rather than solely on the product of that learning. This new edition of the bestselling The Brain-Targeted Teaching® (BTT) Model…

The purpose of the experiment was to investigate whether using the summarizing strategy can further engage learners in a computer-based environment where different forms of finger tracing were incorporated. One hundred and fifty-six university students were randomly assigned to one of six conditions formed by a 3 (hand tracing vs. observing…

Does the societal disruption resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic compel our nation's educators to pause, step back, and ask: "For our part, how can we do things better?" As practicing educators, do we need to be reminded regarding which skills, proficiencies, and dispositions elicit and support students' academic engagement?…

Storytelling has been a part of our lives ever since humans made the first attempt to communicate with their fellow beings. In ancient times, before oral storytelling even appeared, humans drew pictures and symbols to communicate their stories. As a universal language which everyone can understand, stories have been passed on from generations to…

The focus of this teaching note is on the use of graphic novels in social work classrooms. The article first discusses the unique learning needs of today's digital native learners. It then provides justification for why these books are effective in reaching students who are well versed in image data because of heavy reliance on and use of the…

How can music educators create an engaging and supportive learning environment in ensemble classes? I propose using storytelling as a teaching tool to foster music learning and musical engagement in a relaxed, inviting, and focused atmosphere. Although storytelling cannot replace traditional teaching methods, it can help students understand…