Describes how teachers can improve introductory soil science courses by applying concepts taught in the classroom to actual field situations. Presents a specific example of a field exercise designed to illustrate soil properties and processes with respect to their environmental settings. (11 references) (Author/MCO)

Evaluation of a metacognitive model designed to promote cooperative instruction among 10 regular education and 10 special education preservice teachers found slight changes in attitudes and perceptions. The model included opportunities for cooperative prelesson planning and postlesson evaluations by prospective teachers, and actual delivery of…

Uses a "teaching as problem solving" perspective to examine the components of metacognition underlying the instructional practice of seven experienced and seven beginning secondary-school mathematics teachers. Data analysis of observations, lesson plans, videotapes, and audiotapes of structured interviews suggests that the metacognition of…

Six research questions were posed regarding the process of developing a Web-based lesson to examine efficiency (time and effort), effectiveness (inclusion of specific instructional components and functionality of specific technical components), and appeal (anxiety, confidence, liking, usefulness and intended future use) of two Web-based lesson…

Senior secondary mathematics students could justifiably question the relevance of subject matter they are being required to understand. One response to this is to place the learning experience within a context that clearly demonstrates a non-trivial application of the material, and which thereby provides a definite purpose for the mathematical…

Teaching and learning science through the use of familiar contexts has been advocated for several decades. Many take the use of context in science lessons to mean the use of resource materials that involve common scenarios or themes, or activities. This paper reviews a lesson identified by a teacher as a lesson taught in context. The data…

The author has been teaching Introduction to Sociology for several years, and each semester new students bring their own perspectives to the study of sociology, making the content fresh and new. In order to help students understand sociological concepts in more experiential ways and to give them a glimpse into a culture that may be different from…

This study reports on student experiences in an inquiry-oriented elementary science methods course. Students in this course designed and conducted an independent investigation, and then adapted that investigation to develop an inquiry-oriented lesson and a corresponding performance assessment. Students' written reflections expressed increased…

A well-designed professional development (PD) program serves to deepen and extend teachers' subject matter knowledge and extend and refine their teaching practices. However, professional development programs often fail to achieve sustained change in teacher practices and improvement in student learning. In this study the authors attempt to find…

Teachers may be the most important element of an effective school, but does that mean that K-12 improvement must wait on the ability of schools or systems to recruit, nurture, and retain outstanding teachers? Such a strategy implies that widespread excellence hinges on the ability of publicly funded school systems to attract more than 3.3 million…

This practical, how-to guide makes it easy for teachers to incorporate the latest technology in their classes. Employing an informal workshop approach, the book avoids technical jargon and pays special attention to the needs of teachers who are expanding the use of computers in their classroom. The authors focus on what teachers do and how they…

This document Agency is designed to assist teachers and other school personnel in the planning and teaching of the first grade mathematics course. Contents include: (1) Overview of Grade 1 Mathematics (mission statement, purpose and philosophy, goals, National Council of Teachers of Mathematics' Professional Standards for Teaching Mathematics,…

This document is designed to assist teachers and other school personnel in the planning and teaching of the second grade mathematics course. Contents include: (1) Overview of Grade 2 Mathematics (mission statement, purpose and philosophy, goals, National Council of Teachers of Mathematics' Professional Standards for Teaching Mathematics,…

This document is designed to assist teachers and other school personnel in the planning and teaching of the third grade mathematics course. Contents include: (1) Overview of Grade 3 Mathematics (mission statement, purpose and philosophy, goals, National Council of Teachers of Mathematics' Professional Standards for Teaching Mathematics,…

This document is designed to assist teachers and other school personnel in the planning and teaching of the fourth grade mathematics course. Contents include: (1) Overview of Grade 4 Mathematics (mission statement, purpose and philosophy, goals, National Council of Teachers of Mathematics' Professional Standards for Teaching Mathematics,…