This study explored pre-service teachers' perceptions of "multicultural education" and types of activities considered to be "multicultural" in the context of teaching young children. The data were collected over a period of three semesters from three groups of students participating in a clinical seminar in a mid-western US university. The…

In this article, the author presents an activity which allows students to construct various rhythm patterns in 2/4, 3/4, and 4/4 meter by using M&Ms and pretzels as an extrinsic motivation. Rhythmic notation is a foundation for learning music concepts. Engaging students in representative modules helps them to learn and recognize note values and…

Teachers must be aware of the social needs that children have and create opportunities to help children learn the skills to interact with others. As teachers help children learn these skills, they are also helping children build important life skills. In this article, the author discusses an activity that she adapted from one of her first grade…

The Madagascar hissing cockroach (MHC) provides an excellent avenue to introduce students to the joys of inquiry-centered learning. MHC's are relatively tame, produce little odor, do not bite, and are easy to handle and breed. Because of these characteristics, they are ideal for classroom activities, science projects, and as pets. They also help…

There are many body therapies from which dancers may choose in order to gain and maintain strength, flexibility, and balance and to avoid injury or facilitate rehabilitation from injury. The questions are: which system is best for the given student, and how can educators incorporate the many somatic perspectives into their curriculums. This…

This article describes a lab activity conducted in an introductory manufacturing class. In this good, simple, mass-production project, the students designed and produced a small game composed of a piece of plywood and 14 glass marbles. In appearance, the game is something like Chinese checkers, but it involves jumping over marbles, then removing…

This article de-mystifies network patch cable secrets so that people can connect their computers and transfer those pesky files--without screaming at the cables. It describes a network cabling activity that can offer students a great hands-on opportunity for working with the tools, techniques, and media used in computer networking. Since the…

This article presents ten time-saving ideas for teachers. One great time-saving tip is to come in an hour early once or twice a week for grading papers. It is also a great idea if teachers will not give tests on Friday in order to reduce their weekend work.

Soil is a complex habitat for diverse biota. A significant challenge in teaching soil ecology is our inability to observe organisms as they live and interact in the soil. The objective of this article is to describe an interactive class project to help students visualize the sizes of different groups of soil organisms and to relate these to soil…

This paper deploys notions of emergence, connections, and designs for learning to conceptualize high school students' interactions when using online social media as a learning environment. It makes links to chaos and complexity theories and to fractal patterns as it reports on a part of the first author's action research study, conducted while she…

By their very nature, courses that contain a community-based component invite opportunities for the practice of empathy, whereby students come to identify with their community partners (such as the low-income children they tutor, the elders they interview). In fact, the building of empathy through the cross-dialogue often catalyzed by such classes…

This article describes the instructional process of helping students visualize irrational numbers. Students learn to create a spiral, called "the wheel of Theodorus," which demonstrates irrational and rational lengths. Examples of student work help the reader appreciate the delightful possibilities of this project. (Contains 4 figures.)

Recent research has demonstrated that active learning techniques improve student comprehension and retention of abstract economic ideas such as rent seeking. Instructors can reinforce the concept of rent seeking with a classroom game, particularly one involving real money. The authors improve upon a game first introduced by Goeree and Holt (1999)…

Students learning about professional communication are not often taught about assessment as indicated by its omission as a chapter topic in many major textbooks in the field. Nonetheless, students need to be educated on this topic because, increasingly, there is a push towards instituting assessment practices in business organizations.…

It is widely agreed that college students do not fully participate in the political process. The most commonly cited reasons are apathy, indifference, and ignorance. This article presents an activity that aims to help students learn about communication dynamics in the context of political campaigns and develop an appreciation and confidence about…