This guide is part of a series of curriculum guides for the middle grades that use a special framework to examine and implement standards-based curricula. In this guide, for developing science curricula for the middle grades, a set of critical questions is posed for curriculum decision making that corresponds to a framework of three components of…

This lecture addresses the exploration of algebraic fundamental competence by examining the Austrian Computer Algebraic Systems (CAS). Data are used to support answers and conclusions related to two questions that explore the role that instrumental understanding plays in supporting a high level of relational understanding and the idea that…

SCALE-UP is an extension of the highly successful IMPEC (Integrated Math, Physics, Engineering, and Chemistry) project, one of North Carolina State's curricular reform efforts undertaken as part of the SUCCEED coalition. The authors utilize the interactive, collaboratively based instruction that worked well in smaller class settings and find ways…

These newsletters focus on teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) to adult learners. One article, "10 Strategies for Teaching Adult English Language Learners," includes such suggestions as the following: get to know the students and their needs, use visuals to support instruction, use authentic materials, model tasks before asking…

This study examined learning communities at two community colleges, North Idaho College (NIC) and Spokane Falls Community College (SFCC) (Washington). Recent emphasis on learning outcomes and transforming the curriculum to be more learning centered has often come into direct conflict with operating under tight budget constraints. Learning…

In their attempts to help educators improve student achievement, researchers have identified hundreds of effective school practices. However, there is no accurate picture of the relative effectiveness of effective practices or the ways various practices interact to produce results. Nevertheless, the data are plentiful enough to permit informed…

This study investigated skills that lead to generation of facilitative visualizations during study time for college age students. Specifically, the study examined the effects of teacher encouragement to generate visualizations, the effects of teacher encouragement and orientation to visualization, and the effects of the use of each of four…

This paper outlines a way of connecting theory and reflective practice in mathematics teacher education. The construct of personal theories is put forward as an innovative pedagogical tool for connecting theory to practice through reflective writing. The cognitive process of "noticing and naming" emerged as way of theorising practice and helped to…

Attention to professional community has increased markedly over the last few years as part of both practitioner and scholarly efforts to promote improvements in student learning. Interest in this area joins two previously distinct literatures--one dealing with the benefits of communal school organization, another with enhanced teacher…

From 1990 to 1995, the Center on Organization and Restructuring of Schools at the University of Wisconsin-Madison examined questions about the effects of school restructuring on student performance. Center researchers analyzed data from more than 1,500 elementary, middle, and high schools throughout the United States and conducted field research…

This simulation allows students to learn about the struggle of daily life in Plymouth Colony. Students experience the hardships of life in the New World as they make decisions and face consequences as the Pilgrims did nearly 400 years ago. The unit is divided into nine phases with each phase taking approximately one hour of class time. Students…

Selecting appropriate teaching strategies to optimize learning of a particular body of knowledge presents a challenge to adult educators. There has been little emphasis, however, on the role that subject matter plays in the learning process. From a literature review, a model that relates teaching methods to subject matter and learner dependence…

This document is a collection of six mathematics lesson plans for use with students with learning disabilities or mild mental retardation. The lesson plans utilize the Essential Elements of Instruction (EEI) 5-Step lesson design model developed by Madeline Hunter. The lesson plans and their authors are as follows: (1) "An EEI Lesson for 1st…

The purpose of this study was to determine: (1) how different types of dynamic visual facilitate the achievement of specific types of educational objectives; (2) whether the use of dynamic visualization influenced the amount of time needed by learners to process the information; and (3) whether there is an interaction between the amount of time…

The purpose of this paper is to provide guidance for instructional sequencing in emotional literacy curricula. First, the concepts of instructional sequence and the problems involved with instructional sequence in the affective domain of learning are addressed. Then, through the analysis of the emotional literacy curriculum, Promoting Alternative…