Career and technical education (CTE) has a promising future at Darlington (WI) High School. In this article, the author describes how a class bridge project became a real-world, project-based learning opportunity involving higher-level thinking skills that are at the core of CTE at his school. It began when a local citizen approached him at the…

In this article, the author discusses how it is time for higher education to think seriously about alternatives to the traditional undergraduate "major," which, in the large majority of cases, tends to be focused on just a single field of inquiry. The author observes that the current idea of a major (or minor) subject may have made more sense in a…

An increasing variety of professional educational and training disciplines are now problem based (e.g., medicine, nursing, engineering, community health), and they may have a corresponding variety of educational objectives. However, they all have in common the use of problems in the instructional sequence. The problems may be as diverse as a…

This study investigates fourth-year pharmacy students' experiences of problem-based learning (PBL). It adopts a phenomenographic approach to the evaluation of problem-based learning, to shed light on the ways in which different groups of students conceive of, and approach, PBL. The study focuses on the way students approach solving problem…

Students get very excited when confronted with problems that they find meaningful. Problem-based learning lets students solve problems using the strategies and tools that scientists use. While developing solutions via technological design and construction, students experience firsthand the relationship between science and technology. To capture…

The "Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge" (TPACK) framework has been used to prepare pre-service science teachers at the Public Authority of Applied Education and Training in Kuwait for ICT integration in education. Pre-service teachers worked in teams to design an ICT solution for an authentic problem they faced during in-school…

Despite of much focus on professional development aimed specifically at developing teachers' technology integration skills, rigorous studies of effective PD (professional development) are lacking. Evidence is also lacking on how these skills can best be integrated with pedagogical and content knowledge to improve student learning. The purpose of…

One of the greatest needs of faculty in adult and higher education today is to understand how to design distance learning courses which address the needs of their current and prospective students while upholding academic excellence and remaining feasible to develop (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek, 2009; Palloff & Pratt, 2004). This…

This paper outlines the context and focus of the late 2008 survey of 45 early career nursing graduates working in public hospitals in an outer-urban area of Sydney who were identified by their supervisors as performing successfully. It gives an overview of the key quantitative and qualitative results for 2008 compared with the results of earlier…

The purpose of this dissertation study was to determine if a relationship existed between problem-based learning (PBL) content acquisition and academic achievement on teacher-made tests in Career and Technical Education (CTE) courses at the middle school level. The study sample consisted of 20 seventh-grade students enrolled in a CTE keyboarding…

The purpose of this article is twofold: (a) to describe a unique teacher licensure program for grades 7-12 that integrates mathematics, science, and technology education and (b) to explore the attitudes and perceptions related to the integration of mathematics, science, and technology education of three cohorts of preservice teachers enrolled in…

The topic of alternative energy is not only relevant to a multitude of issues today, it is also an effective vehicle for developing instruction that applies across a variety of content disciplines and academic standards. Since many of the issues associated with alternative energy are open-ended, alternative energy also lends itself to…

Previously, we reported qualitative findings showing that students who experienced a problem- or enquiry-based course (EBL) in a first-year seminar program had greater confidence in their academic abilities, were more engaged, and were better prepared for upper-year courses. In the current paper, we provide quantitative data to substantiate the…

Researchers increasingly embrace online courses to compensate for lack of access to educational opportunities otherwise available in traditional school settings. Researchers also recommend alternatives to traditional AP coursework to better meet the diverse learning styles and needs of advanced learners. These recommendations have particular…

Problem-based learning focuses on small groups using authentic problems as a means to help participants obtain knowledge and problem-solving skills. This approach makes problem-based learning ideal for teaching lean manufacturing, which is driven by a culture of problem solving that values learning as one key output of manufacturing production.…