Reports the development, delivery, and assessment of a project-based spiral curriculum for the first sequence chemical engineering courses. Technical proficiency of students under the spiral curriculum was equal to or better than that of students under a traditional curriculum. Attitudes toward chemical engineering and teamwork were better, and…

This chapter describes strategies for containing and reducing the costs of e-learning through cost identification, appropriate instructional roles, course development, program scale, and course redesign.

This paper examines the history, rationale, uses and abuses of writing journals in primary classrooms. We argue that writing journals form part of a pedagogy derived from an understanding of how children can be motivated to express themselves, independently of teachers. Moreover, they demonstrate the power of welcoming children's home cultures…

Beliefs, mandates, standards, understandings, essential questions, skills, knowledge, varied assessments, constructivist instructional methods and interactive strategies, time lines, resources: These are some of the basic elements of personalized teaching. Each is critical. All are intertwined. Personalized teaching takes students' individual…

Wood education programs across the nation, at and below the secondary levels of education, have declined in enrollment in recent years. To many, wood education means only carpentry or woodworking. A systematic approach to the subject, as a part of a materials science course, can reverse the material's negative connotation and make wood education…

The field of academic development emerged in the 1960s and 1970s as a result of student concern and unrest about poor teaching. This led to the creation of the first development units and a focus on course ratings which contributed to a thirty-plus year history of research emerging from a psychological perspective. In this article, the author…

This article traces the development of a contextual approach to the teaching of science (physics) subsequently called the Large Context Problem (LCP) approach. This approach is based on the general observation that learning could be well motivated by a context with one unifying central idea capable of capturing the imagination of the students. The…

E-learning describes electronically delivered learning, using tools like web conferencing, web-based tutorials, message boards, online assessments, and more. The term e-learning includes self-paced learning; asynchronous facilitator-led learning, where the students and instructors interact at different times; and synchronous facilitator-led…

This paper proposes the use of a key biological concept--broad classification--to teach the provisional and contested nature of science in school biology curricula. It also examines existing curriculum-related factors which might pose obstacles to implementing such a change. An investigation in South Africa highlights the problems regarding…

NCLB requires states to provide highly qualified educators for all students. Highly qualified educators should have content knowledge in the areas they teach and the pedagogical expertise to produce student educational gains. In this study, researchers examined the effects of an online mathematics methods class on preservice teachers' knowledge of…

This study examines patterns of literacy instruction in schools adopting three of America's most widely disseminated comprehensive school reform (CSR) programs (the Accelerated Schools Project, America's Choice, and Success for All). Contrary to the view that educational innovations seldom affect teaching practices, the study found large…

The amount of resources being poured by Western universities, companies, and governments into creating educational content to be exported (via the Internet) to other cultures is astounding. Those assigned to accomplish this task are left with the great challenge of meeting the needs of learners who come from cultures that are foreign to them, and…

In 2007, we offered an innovative blended graduate level rehabilitation counseling course. The course was delivered online and in Hong Kong. It included readings, PowerPoint presentations and discussion board features on Blackboard, as well as face-to-face lectures and guest speakers in a classroom context at the City University of Hong Kong.…

Leadership development has traditionally focused on administrators' responsibility for promoting and enhancing school improvement efforts. Today, there are a growing number of educators who believe leadership in the classroom plays an equally significant role in building a strong school culture. In Teacher Leadership, Elaine L. Wilmore offers a…

This paper outlines current theories of teacher practice that seek to promote equity from critical perspectives, and contributes to the empirical research on critical mathematics equity practice. Part of a larger study of equity and mathematics teacher practice in an urban public school, this paper reports specifically on the involvement and…