Community college strategic planning is becoming more learning-centered, grounded in the student experience, and open to change. As a result, facility planners are challenged to embody these notions in a college's strategic delivery plan: the systems and facilities needed to accomplish its mission and vision. This article proposes a new process…

Using multiliteracies and sociocultural perspectives on language and literacy learning, this article describes three Japanese as a foreign language (JFL) students' literacy development through involvement with Japanese popular culture. As part of a larger qualitative ethnographic study, the author interviewed JFL learners who have a particular…

Early childhood educators respect children's need to construct their own knowledge by supporting curricula that allow children to make choices and to be active learners. However, what everyone appears to want for students--a wide array of learning opportunities that engage students in experiencing, creating, and solving real problems, using their…

In this article, the author discusses the new role assessment is playing in the higher education (HE) arena. Highlighted are the feelings of higher education faculty who observe the lack of preparation of students entering HE, and the fact that in introductory courses they are often teaching the skills--writing, critical thinking, basic…

Citizenship enables young people to learn about their rights and responsibilities, to understand how society works, and develop knowledge and understanding of social and political issues. Through citizenship education young people are encouraged to take action on issues of concern to themselves and to play an active part in the democratic process,…

This book follows master educator Elizabeth (Betty) Jones as she teaches an introductory course in early childhood education. She actively engages the students, encouraging them to make decisions, ask questions, and engage in collaborative problem solving--herself modeling the behaviors that should be practiced by adults working with young…

The academically underprepared community college student may also be psychosocially underprepared for college, a condition contributing to the development of classroom-specific social phobia and to the high attrition rate at community colleges. The "Find Your Voice Program" uses individual and group cognitive-behavioral techniques to develop…

Dropping out of school is a universal problem, concerning fairly similar target groups in all countries. Several action plans to prevent dropping out and to activate the dropouts have been developed worldwide. The object of this study, the Activity School of East Finland, is an exceptionally comprehensive entity, within which alternative…

The article addresses the issue of whether student learning style has an impact on use of a learning technology such as a virtual learning environment (VLE). It is based on material from a broader research project at a UK university (Kingston University) on the use of VLEs in teaching and learning and explores the findings from the analysis of…

The use of geographic information systems (GIS) in the classroom provides a robust and effective method of teaching the primary spatial skills of identification, description, and explanation of spatial pattern. A major handicap for the development of GIS-based learning experiences, especially for non-GIS specialist educators, is the availability…

To be actively involved in their own writing requires that students make decisions. In order to build a new approach for our Technical/Professional Writing classes, we assessed our individual teaching practices and past experiences, studied current scholarship on teaching writing, and conducted research on technical writing in our local community.…

The present study examined the reliability of student evaluations of summer undergraduate research experiences using the SURE (Survey of Undergraduate Research Experiences) and a follow-up survey disseminated 9 mo later. The survey further examines the hypothesis that undergraduate research enhances the educational experience of science…

The chapters in this book reflect the work of science and mathematics educators who have worked for many years at the international level. As members of the International Consortium for Research in Science and Mathematics Education, their work provides readers with issues, models, practices, and research results that have applicability and…

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the research thesis as an educational tool and to propose the research practicum as an alternative to the thesis in rehabilitation counselor education programs. The research practicum has the potential to become an important learning opportunity which will provide rehabilitation counseling students with…

Drawn from a teacher-educator's experience in teaching a basic reading methods course and a Master's course for inservice teachers, this paper provides practical strategies for promoting active involvement, reflection, decision-making, and collaboration among preservice and inservice teachers. The paper first presents syllabi for the methods…