This article discusses formative assessment--classroom strategies that ensure students are understanding music concepts. Unlike summative assessments (end-of-process evaluations like final exams, SATs, or auditions), formative assessments need to be non-threatening, helpful, and most of all, effective. The process starts with a teacher…

This study investigated the learning potential of the student experience of working with real clients in a final-year undergraduate unit that aims to develop professional skills. Students, working in consultancy teams, developed communication strategies for a not-for-profit organisation. A teaching intervention was trialled late in semester to…

Stories read aloud or written by students help science come alive and engage students as active participants in their learning. Students gain a sense of place by learning about their local ecosystem by listening to stories read aloud, doing prairie-related activities, and writing stories of their own. This article describes a prairie unit that…

Purpose: Chronic health conditions can cause children extended school absences, creating significant barriers for continued education. Out-of-school learning environments, such as hospitals, provide opportunities to maintain children's learning identities during school absences. This paper seeks to present an example of hospital-based teaching and…

The authors combined content-driven and inquiry-based lessons into the framework of problem-based learning (PBL). They did this in eight third- through sixth-grade classrooms--two each from grades 3-5, one from sixth grade, and one mixed-grade special education. These older elementary students explored a local problem of lobsters infected by…

Teachers often overrate the importance of their content and underrate their influence. However, students forget much of the content that they memorize. Thus, attempts to teach students all that they will need to know is futile. Rather, it is important that students develop an interest and love for lifelong learning. Inspiring and motivating…

The authors collaborated on hosting a "Spring Inspire Day." planned and delivered by preservice elementary teachers as a social studies/science methods project. Projects that have authentic application opportunities can make learning meaningful for prospective teachers as well as elementary students. With the impetus for an integrated…

This paper examines whether and to what extent data-driven learning (DDL) activities can improve the lexico-grammatical use of abstract nouns in L2 writing. A topic-based corpus was compiled to develop concordance learning activities, and 40 Chinese students majoring in English were randomly assigned to a control group or an experimental group. At…

The goal of the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) Practice Guide, "Teaching Academic Content and Literacy to English Learners in Elementary and Middle School," is to provide four recommendations for teaching complex content to English learners while simultaneously building academic language and writing and oral language proficiency. This…

Although Outcome-based Education has not been successful in public education in several countries, it has been successful in the medical fields in higher education in the U.S. The author implemented OBE in her Managerial Accounting course in H.K. Intended learning outcomes were mapped again Bloom's Cognitive Domain. Teaching and learning…

The time value of money (TVM) is required knowledge for all business students. It is traditionally taught in finance and accounting classes for use in various applications in the business curriculum. These concepts are also very useful in real life situations such as calculating the amount to save for retirement. This paper details a retirement…

This accessible teacher resource and course text shows how to incorporate strategy instruction into the K-8 classroom every day. Cutting-edge theory and research are integrated with practical guidance and reflections from experienced teachers of novice and struggling readers. The book describes the nuts and bolts of creating classroom contexts…

The purpose of this article is to describe the importance of, and recommendations for how best to promote, civic engagement among undergraduate psychology majors. In this article, we will describe how the goals of civic engagement are consistent with the specific curricular goals of undergraduate psychology programs. We also will (a) review the…

Sparked by the Common Core State Standards, teachers and literacy experts are arguing about the role of a time-honored pillar of English/language arts instruction: classroom activities designed to help students understand what they are about to read. The attacks on--and defenses of--"prereading" are unfolding largely in cyberspace, through online…

Society in the USA has become increasingly diverse, with schools across the nation serving student populations that are culturally and linguistically very different from the European-American majority of the past. It is imperative that pre-service teachers are effectively prepared for diverse learning environments. This article describes a…