Technology can be a powerful tool to increase motivation, engagement, and achievement (Park, Khan, and Petrina 2009). In this article, the authors describe their collaborative approach to integrating technology with a lab on bacterial transformation. Students view websites and create videos to increase their conceptual understanding. Although the…

One aspect of scientific inquiry that appears to be particularly challenging to learn is how explanatory models are developed and used in science. It is even more challenging to learn to teach through methods that engage young students in building and using explanatory models. In part, this is because to do so requires that teachers make real-time…

This article examines the design of a professional development model that aims to improve student achievement. This model has been designed by combining and supplementing elements from school-improvement literature and existing professional development models. Existing models from two largely independent approaches to professional development of…

The American Psychological Association's "Learner-Centered Principles" provide empirically-based approaches to improving teaching and learning. However, in order to facilitate learner-centered, technology-rich instruction to K-12 students, teachers must be afforded opportunities to develop key understandings and skills, rarely evident in most…

This study evaluated the Enhancing Relationships in School Communities (ERIS) Project which aimed to promote constructive conflict resolution (CR) in Australian primary school communities through professional development for core teams of three-five staff (n = 33 teachers). Twelve schools were randomly assigned to a full intervention (FI) group or…

The struggle to reach the Millennium Generation, known as the Millennials, is evident in the concentration of professional development courses focusing on methods of educating these high-tech students, many of whom have short attention spans and very little interest in their teachers' "antiquated" teaching practices. The ultimate goal of these…

Scripted instruction (SI) programs, which direct teachers to teach, even to talk, from a standardized written script, are roundly criticized for inhibiting teacher creativity and teacher learning. In fact, such programs utilize scripting for exactly that reason: to reduce teacher interference with (and presumed weakening of) the prescribed…

This article discusses how the author, together with his fellow teachers at Gilbert Public School District, effectively links professional development to teacher practice and student learning. With the help of the team at My Learning Plan Inc., a professional development management and evaluation system, they are taking initial steps to gauge the…

In June 2018 the Canadian Mathematics Education Study Group/Groupe Canadien d'étude en didactique des mathématiques (CMESG/GCEDM) held its 42nd meeting in the idyllic setting of Squamish, British Columbia. This meeting marked the first time CMESG/GCEDM had been in British Columbia since 2010 and the first time it had been held at Quest University.…

Portfolios have been used for the past three decades in higher education for assessment of student competency and also as a reflection tool to assist student learning. Electronic portfolios, or ePortfolios, have additional benefits compared to paper portfolios in that they are easily accessible, portable, and sharable, and they are more…

This paper reports on a study of the current state of the art in teaching assessment. The major goal of the study was to examine a sample of assessment systems and then develop a specification for a state-of the art performance assessment system to be used for human capital management functions. The authors hope was that this specification would…

For those who are committed to Lesson Study as a means of developing teacher capacity and bringing about innovation of mathematics teaching and learning, there is value in looking at related strategies, now widely in use in several countries, which aim to achieve similar goals. In this paper, three related strategies will be examined alongside…

Using occupational socialization theory, this investigation describes the socialization of Janet, an induction phase physical education (PE) teacher. Special attention was given to the forms of induction assistance Janet was exposed to during her first two years at Liberty Middle School. Data were collected through seven interviews with Janet and…

Teacher collaboration has been recognized as a vital component to student success. This project represents an evaluation of the researchers' initial efforts toward providing in-service education for teachers focused on collaboration between math and CTE teachers. The purpose of this study was to (1) describe selected characteristics of secondary…

To disclose the inner process of teacher educators' dealing with their different roles and their coping with conflicting demands, the study of dilemmas encountered in practice may offer a promising perspective. Building on previous research on teaching dilemmas, this study uses a comparative approach to disclose teacher educators' views on…