The purpose of this qualitative study is to examine to what extent high school teachers' purported beliefs in contemporary science education goals are embedded in routine classroom practice. The context of this study is a learning community-based high school that belongs to the Coalition of Essential Schools and is sensitive to reform issues. The…

Early childhood educators are concerned with the most effective method of integrating whole language and phonics to maximize emergent literacy skills. In kindergarten, it is especially important to provide the students with a variety of institutional approaches to accommodate different learning styles. A study examined the effectiveness of Super…

Peer feedback by students, both positive and negative, has proven to be helpful to many public speaking educators. Asking students to design their own evaluation sheets can not only guarantee the numbers of evaluations they receive, but also assist them to do more audience analysis during the preparation process for their speeches. In designing…

This book presents one method for identifying mind-sets, learning styles, and motivation patterns, and using the patterns in planning instruction and other helping processes, with the objective of helping people find and use their strengths to ameliorate weaknesses. The approach presented is based on Carl Jung's ideas about psychological types, as…

An action research project developed a program for increasing student engagement in social studies. The targeted population consisted of fourth-grade students in a Midwestern suburban community. The problem of limited engagement was documented by interviews with third and fourth grade teachers, entries in the teacher's journal, and a series of…

The study of less commonly taught languages (LCTLs) presents challenges different from those faced by more commonly taught languages. LCTL educators are challenged by the unavailability of instructional resources and opportunities and lack of access to cultures. Only recently have LCTL teachers and researchers begun to identify problems and…

Many educational institutions have moved toward situated learning and problem-based learning (PBL) in which students, to learn, must rely on investigations of problems within an authentic professional context. A study examined and described how students read and learn in such a context. Results of a 1995 qualitative study showed that four out of…

This paper proposes the use of specific coaching strategies to facilitate students' use of expert-like problem-solving strategies while analyzing and solving instructional design case studies. Findings from an exploratory study, designed to examine changes in students' problem-solving skills as they analyzed case studies, suggested that students…

This book presents a collection of essays on building collaborative communities in which democratic principles of education may be recognized, focusing on learning and teaching through inquiry. After (1) "The Development of a Community of Inquirers" (Gordon Wells), there are three parts. Part 1, "Inquiries in the Elementary…

This digest discusses adult students in community colleges, focusing on their learning expectations and needs. In 1997, nearly a third of community college students were age 30 or older. Adult students often have realistic, practical goals for their education and bring valuable life experience to the community college classroom. However, adults…

This article discusses how three principals were able to transform their schools into communities of professional learners. It focuses on how the principals demonstrated their own learning and how they nurtured learning in their staffs. It offers a brief profile of each principal and how she incorporated continuous learning into her life. All the…

Research studies rarely describe teaching methods in enough detail for instructors to discern how these methods may be implemented in their classrooms. The essential elements of the mastery learning teaching method are considered in terms of how they can be adapted in the social work classroom. They can be implemented in whole or part and…

This book is a manual that enables teachers to formulate an effective program of environmental education across multiple grade levels and cultural settings. A section provides tips for using the book, followed by nine chapters dealing with different aspects of developing and implementing an environmental education program. Chapter 1 presents a…

This study examined the nature and extent of the applicability of Corno and Mandinach's (1983) self-regulation model in the new context of activities of searching the Internet. Data were collected from observations of 80 undergraduate subjects while they searched the Internet for information, as well as from survey information regarding their…

Children in primary education often encounter mathematics having picked up a general fear of mathematics from the society around them. This results in lack of confidence, avoidance of non-standard thought processes, weakness in problem solving strategies, and other negative consequences. This study offers an alternative approach: presenting…