One of my goals as an instructor is to teach students critical thinking skills. This paper presents an example of a student-led discussion of heat conduction at the first-year level. Heat loss from a human head is calculated using conduction and radiation models. The results of these plausible (but wrong) models of heat transfer contradict what…

This article describes a game used for teaching discussion skills to English as a Second Language (ESL) students. It was originally designed for students wanting to prepare for graduate study at U.S. universities has been since used for other ESL students wanting to improve conversation skills. The game focuses on common phrases helpful for…

The purpose of this study was to examine prospective middle and secondary teachers' preferences for unique versus relevant student responses during classroom discussions. Results indicate that, on average, prospective teachers (N = 70) preferred relevance to uniqueness in student responses. In addition, results of regression analysis indicate that…

This article provides an introduction to mentor, near-peer, and peer support as they apply to promoting the academic and career success of young people with disabilities. The authors discuss specific benefits of mentoring and document access challenges encountered by students with disabilities. They present a case study of a successful…

When they found themselves overwhelmed by the university experience of combining teaching, publishing, and service, the authors decided to meet regularly to discuss their experiences and frustrations with academic publishing in order to learn as much as possible from their pooled experiences. Here, they reflect on the obstacles they have faced and…

This paper argues for an action-oriented conception of learning in higher education: one which marries higher order learning (coming to understand) with apprenticeship in knowledge work. It introduces epistemic tasks, forms and fluency as constructs that are useful in giving a more precise meaning to ideas about collaboration in knowledge…

Over the last two years, the work of the CEE-GS has included the establishment of the organization, participation in the CEE leadership summit in May 2005, a panel discussion about PhD student issues at last year's NCTE conference, and the establishment of a CEE-GS executive committee. Potential future pursuits include the development of a CEE-GS…

Students obtain much misinformation from TV and movies. Teachers can use the analysis of science fiction to correct misconceptions about biology and spur students' interests in the subject. Suggestions for discussions and assignments based on literary-quality science fiction works are included.

How can the secondary Geometry course serve as an opportunity for students to learn to "be like" a mathematician--that is, to acquire a mathematical sensibility? In the first part of this dissertation, I investigate what might be meant by "mathematical sensibility". By analyzing narratives of mathematicians and their work, I identify a collection…

Background: The BSc Public Health and Health Promotion at University College Cork (UCC) aims to produce graduates who are passionate about their discipline. Teachers need to communicate this "passion" to students, but it can be difficult to know whether this has been achieved. The TFU framework makes such an outcome explicit, through…

Preparing "highly qualified" special educators that can effectively partner with the parents of students with disabilities is proving to be a daunting task, though widely acknowledged as essential in special education. This descriptive study examines the experience of instructors co-teaching a special education course focused on…

This paper discusses the limitations and potentials for dialogue in religious education (RE) classes on the basis of observations of Estonian RE lessons. I investigated how the way of asking questions contributes to the dialogue in the classroom. Additionally I investigated how students' readiness to engage in dialogue is influenced by others'…

Team-based learning (TBL) combines independent out of class preparation with in class small group discussion. We adopted TBL in teaching first year medical gross anatomy. In this study, we evaluated student perceptions of TBL by using a survey that elicited perceptions of both pedagogy and mode of learning. Anatomy lectures were replaced with…

The authors argue that conceptual and methodological limitations in existing research approaches severely hamper theory building and empirical exploration of teacher learning and collaboration through cyber-enabled networks. They conclude that new frameworks, tools, and techniques are needed to understand and maximize the benefits of teacher…

Education for citizenship is firmly on the policy agenda throughout Britain, and there is an expectation that teachers will create a participative, consultative ethos in schools. This paper identifies three main vehicles for pupil consultation: elected pupil councils, democratic and participative classrooms and opportunities for pupils to engage…