In the twenty-first century, many employers prefer candidates whose soft skills exceed their hard skills. In this article, the researcher compares project-based learning models and direct teaching, for welding skills and teamwork skills among vocational high education students. Welding skills are seen as hard skills and teamwork skills are viewed…

There is a growing interest in conceptualizing, defining, and assessing what are often called 21st century skills or deeper learning competencies. The purpose of this literature review is to explore the conceptualizations, definitions, and understandings in the research literature related to collaboration. Key initial questions include: What is…

"Micro-contos," or micro-fiction, are very short and concise literary texts that require close-reading and inference from the reader. In this case study, I will describe how I have used these widely available texts in a Portuguese A2/B1 language module to develop analytical and other soft skills. I will demonstrate how this activity…

Computers are problem-solving tools at heart. Without an operating system though, they would be rendered useless. Most computer users are unaware of the inherent capabilities of the bare OS and the problems it can solve for them. This comes naturally in an era of commercialized solutions in the form of apps and software packages. However, gaining…

In this feasibility study, we present a newly developed observational system, Optimizing Learning Opportunities for Students (OLOS). OLOS is designed to elucidate the learning opportunities afforded to individual children within early childhood classrooms and as they transition to formal schooling (kindergarten through third grade). OLOS records…

Culture can be understood as systems that produce and reproduce meaning, or as stable sets of meanings within a community. The authors illustrate how educational games produce and reproduce meaning, both related to the content being addressed and about the educational process itself. Educational games also rely on shared meanings and norms, which…

Civics education shouldn't be confined to dusty textbooks, as evidenced by this assortment of projects. In one unit, elementary students play out the presidential election--from campaigning to inauguration day--using the Storypath approach. In another project, 5th graders explore the controversy about Confederate monuments by studying a local…

Flipped classrooms refer to the practice of assigning lectures outside of class and devoting class time to a variety of learning activities. In this review, we discuss the range of approaches to the flipped classroom and focus on activities frequently used in these settings. Amongst these, we examine both out-of-class activities (e.g., video…

With recent increased interest in and efforts to reform and revitalize general education curricula to make an educational experience more vital and germane, many institutions have become interested in incorporating interdisciplinary learning opportunities, or even in creating fully interdisciplinary programs. In order to address the growing need…

Historically an elite, formally-trained, and Western-centric population has dominated technology development, creating an inequity in who decides what roles technoscience will play, and how it will affect different publics. More recently, tactics to counter observed inequities have taken the form of citizen science, "civic science",…

This paper aims to review the role of recipient design in interaction (speaking and writing) in second language classrooms and how the review can be used to offer some practical applications in second language classrooms will be discussed. Context and language are in a reflexive relation in communication (Vaez-Dalili, Morsagh, & Shirzade,…

The purpose of this article is to describe a tested teaching idea that can be implemented in elementary schools to introduce young children to fruits and vegetables that they may not be familiar with.

Crises threaten high-priority goals of impacted organizations. In the field, trainings range from overviews of crisis plans to full-scale exercises that simulate a crisis. In the classroom, simulations engage multiple learning styles, and allow students to reflect on observations and provide recommendations. The objectives for this unit activity…

In this article, the author describes an exercise in which two pricing problems (product bundling and the sharing of digital information goods) can be understood using the same analytical approach. The exercise allows students to calculate the correct numerical answers with relative ease, while the teaching plan demonstrates the importance of the…

Bill Robertson is the author of the NSTA Press book series, "Stop Faking It! Finally Understanding Science So You Can Teach It." In this month's issue, Robertson describes and explains the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle. The Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle was discussed on "The Big Bang Theory," the lead character in…