Since 1988, the National Resource Center has conducted a national survey every three years to gather information about the nature and extent of first-year seminars on American college campuses. The findings from the 2006 survey administration have been reorganized to make it easier to find information of interest with major chapters focusing on…

The availability and use of electronic student data systems for instructional improvement are rapidly changing. Federal, state, and district efforts to promote the use of data to improve instruction and student achievement are being accompanied by changes in teacher access to student data systems and data use. Nearly three-quarters of all teachers…

This article describes a service-learning project implemented at Colorado State University to assist a South African non-profit organization in enhancing their music education program, while at the same time advancing the international perspectives of American students in a senior capstone course on program development and grant writing. In the…

Educators face a major challenge in providing programs that make a lasting impact on the health and well-being of their students. It is important for students to gain a degree of knowledge and confidence that will lead them to maintain an active lifestyle well beyond their school years. The purpose of this article is to describe strategies for…

Kansas State University converted its introductory biology course, previously taught as an audio-tutorial (A-T), to a studio format in 1997. We share with others information about the process involved and present assessment data for the studio format course that address 1) student exam performance in A-T and studio; 2) student course grades in A-T…

For nearly four decades, school finance has become progressively more central in school reform efforts aimed at improving student performance. At the same time, the focus of many school business officials and policymakers has turned to efficient uses of current resources in lieu of uniform increases in school funding. With regard to improving…

This article offers practical guidance for educators as they prepare specialists to enhance the lives and communities of older persons through the strategic use of visual media in age-related courses. Advantages and disadvantages of this learning innovation are provided as well as seven approaches for enriching instruction. Resources are included…

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…

In 1937, the Ministry of Education in Ontario published a document entitled "Programme of Studies for Grades 1 to VI of Public and Separate Schools" that became known amongst teachers as the "little gray book". The curriculum and pedagogy in the document enunciated a rupture or mutation in pedagogical discourse that broke with…

The author begins this article by suggesting that in the United States late 20th century immigration patterns have been perceived by some who consider themselves American natives because they were born in the country (even though their ancestors are of European stock) as threatening to soften the glue that preserves their vision of the right and…

The educational value of Immersive Virtual Worlds (IVWs) seems to be in their social immersive qualities and as an accessible simulation technology. In contrast to these synchronous applications this paper discusses the use of educational machinima developed in IVW virtual film sets. It also introduces the concept of media intervention, proposing…

Although professional learning communities are often promoted as unique learning opportunities, little is known about how they get started and how they are sustained. For this reason, group members are often unprepared, and then frustrated, by inevitable group tensions. With this in mind, Karl Weick's [(1979). "The social psychology of…

One of the great strengths of Jim Kaput's research program was his relentless drive towards scaling up his innovative approach to teaching the mathematics of change and variation. The SimCalc mission, "democratizing access to the mathematics of change," was enacted by deliberate efforts to reach an increasing number of teachers and students each…

A human anatomy teacher-scholar is a scholar whose area of expertise includes content knowledge of the anatomical sciences (gross anatomy, histology, embryology, and/or neuroanatomy) and whose research interests and focus are centered in medical educational outcomes. The projects described in this dissertation represent endeavors I engaged in to…

For the past several decades, Asian teachers of English have been traveling to English L1 countries to do graduate work and return home ready to try new teaching approaches (Golombek & Jordan, 2005; Liu, 1999; Major & Yamashiro, 2004). Among these approaches, Communicative language Teaching (CLT) of English is a teaching innovation that…