Middle school mathematics teachers face unprecedented challenges. Foremost among those challenges is being able to systematically adapt instructional practices to advance student achievement relative to rigorous math standards. These challenges are not likely to be overcome by individual teachers. That said, it is widely argued that collaborative…

Constructivism has been widely considered the most influential perspective in science education research for some decades, and has been the basis of widespread pedagogic advice in many educational contexts. Yet it has been claimed in this "Journal" that the philosophical basis of constructivist thought in chemical education is confused, and…

In an activity sequence that took place over several days, the class learned about sound and how people hear sounds. Following each activity, students engaged in whole-group sharing sessions and individual journal-writing sessions that were designed to help them see the patterns that emerged from their explorations. The activities were carefully…

Chemical bonding is one of the key and basic concepts in chemistry. The learning of many of the concepts taught in chemistry, in both secondary schools as well as in the colleges, is dependent upon understanding fundamental ideas related to chemical bonding. Nevertheless, the concept is perceived by teachers, as well as by learners, as difficult,…

The importance of creativity in technological design education is now clearly recognized, both in everyday understanding and also in formal curriculum guidelines. Design offers special opportunities for creativity because of the "openness" of problems (ill-defined problems, the existence of a variety of pathways to the solution, the absence of…

University administrators and educators continue to explore and implement new approaches for delivering coursework. Ultimately, they are attempting to achieve the same goal; increasing the level of student engagement and retention of knowledge while maintaining educational quality. Various contemporary learning approaches can provide a…

This article develops the familiar metaphor of teaching as performance towards a definition of "teaching as performative act," where words and actions aim to effect cognitive, affective, and behavioral changes in learners. To what extent, however, are the consequences of pedagogical actions commensurate with their intended effects? Can a science…

This study presents findings from an evaluation of the Developmental Designs classroom management approach and professional development model during its first year of implementation across 22 middle schools in a large, Midwestern school district. The impact of this professional development model on teaching and learning as related to participants'…

This article, the second of a two-part series, features 11 teaching innovations presented at the 2014 Association for Business Communication annual conference. These 11 assignments included leadership and other-focused communication--detecting communication style, adaptive communication, personality type, delivering feedback, problem solving, and…

Providing chemistry graduate students with opportunities to learn about evidence-based teaching and to practice teaching skills in a mentored environment is crucial to their professional development. Herein is described the model for a graduate-level teaching practicum course specifically focused on the chemistry discipline. This course addressed…

This action research study explored the change in face-to-face teaching practices as a result of faculty professional development for online teaching. Faculty's initial teaching model is typically born from that of their own teachers, and they teach as they were taught. However, few have any online experience as a student or a teacher. Learning to…

Student perceptions and ideals of teaching influence the quality of classroom interaction, student attendance, student learning, and perhaps even career choice. However, students are not singularly impacted by their perceptions and ideals; their preferences also affect faculty and adjunct performance reviews, tenure and promotion, departmental and…

This paper will provide a review of research--regarding explicit grammar instruction--that groups recent studies into three main categories and then sub-categorizes these studies under key terms in second language acquisition (SLA) research. The overall purpose of this paper is to argue that in light of these issues, recent studies have shown that…

This study explored innovative alternative processes of living, learning, and knowledge sharing of a loosely knit community of anarchist, anticapitalist "Do-It-Yourself" (DIY) activists. Generated through participant observation and interviews, findings reinforced adult education theories--that adults can diagnose their own learning…

Founded in 1967, The Lab School of Washington (LSW) has been educating students with learning disabilities using an arts-based curriculum for over 50 years. Sally Smith originally started the school out of frustration with the inability of traditional educational environments to reach her intelligent, but learning disabled, young son and others…