In this descriptive case study, project-based learning is presented as a teaching model that combines elements from other learning strategies. High school students participating in an intertidal monitoring project built around this model increased their content knowledge related to the ecology of the intertidal zone and improved their scientific…

Information gap activities are partner tasks that improve interpersonal communication skills. One student has information the other student needs, hence a "gap" exists that students seek to close through communication. As students gain experience and language skills, they create language that is more meaningful. These are activities that…

Teaching innovation in university education, especially when based on the use of information and communication technology (ICT), is a long process and is strongly conditioned by many variables such as the specific cultural context, the availability of resources (human and technological), the level of knowledge the faculty members possess on the…

A comprehensive approach for integrating technology into a TESOL teacher preparation program is described. Ten specific ways to assure constructivist technology use in teacher education are highlighted. These techniques have been synthesized into a compact model with three pillars: (a) electronic assessment system (e-portfolios for individual…

In 2009-10 Wake County Public Schools System (WCPSS) exited District Improvement in reading and remained in level one for mathematics. All District Improvement efforts gained momentum. The Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP®) continued as the primary focus to meet the needs of limited English proficient (LEP) students in elementary…

In this article, the author explains how the work of a growing number of educators is changing as a result of initiatives designed to manage the practice of college teaching. Specifically, the author presents the case of the Worldwide Instructional Design System (WIDS) to demonstrate how the work of college teachers is undergoing a deskilling…

Colleges and universities across the country are struggling with the issue of accountability, especially with regard to student learning. One attempt to revitalize undergraduate education and to respond to the calls for change is defined by a shift in the dominant pedagogy to a learner-centered focus. If academic administrators are to promote and…

With the reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA 2004) and No Child Left Behind legislation (2001), the call for collaboration is omnipresent. A review of the current landscape makes this imperative obvious. With the mandate for inclusion and the necessity for special education teachers to collaborate with their…

The intent here is to describe an "in-the-trenches" model for preparing teachers for service in a rather specialized field. It is presently operating successfully at the University of Winnipeg, in the Province of Manitoba, Canada and is offered to stimulate and guide enrichment and talent development efforts for pre-service teachers in…

Genetic concepts have significantly evolved over the last ten years, and are now less connected to innate ideas and reductionism. Unique reference to genetic determinism has been replaced by the interaction between the genes and their environment (epigenetics). Our analyses relate to how current school biology textbooks present this new paradigm…

Since the World Conference on Higher Education organized by UNESCO in 1998, higher educational institutions around the world have been called upon to produce educators (teachers) who are able to motivate their learners to: (1) develop an awareness about, and a valid understanding of the Nature of Science (NOS); and (2) relate such knowledge to the…

This paper calls attention to the vital need to reexamine the role of the students' first language in foreign language teaching. It provides a brief snapshot of the views concerning L1 use in L2 classes put forward by different methodological schools of thought over the last century. Through the presentation of potential uses of the first…

Much research has been done and reform is suggested relating to teachers' implementation of student-oriented learning environments, yet research on the role, beliefs, pedagogy, and knowledge of teachers simultaneously in classroom environments has been minimal (Kyle, 1994, "Journal of Research in Science Teaching", 31, 785-786). This…

This study examines the evidence for the effectiveness of professional development using a sample of ten elementary school teachers. These teachers were part of a larger intervention study that investigated the impact of a teaching model, Dynamic Pedagogy on student mathematics achievement. Positive results were obtained from the analysis of three…

While the need for certified elementary foreign language teachers is on the rise, foreign language teacher educators frequently encounter difficulty in securing good elementary field experiences for their student teachers due to the dearth of fully developed programs of foreign language in the elementary schools (FLES). This article presents a…