This chapter explores the extent to which project-based science (PBS) curricula designed with supports for students' inquiry into complex scientific data can help urban students make sense of such data and promote their deep understanding of standards-based content. We review qualitative and quantitative data from classroom enactments of a PBS…

A comprehensive project in which the students use computational chemistry to investigate a larger chlorine oxide, Cl2O4 is described. The students start the project by reading a scenario and then follow a series of hyperlinks to develop, along with their colleagues, a better understanding of the implications of the presence of Cl2O4 in the…

High school students working in a project-driven environment create "projects with a purpose" that give younger students technology-based activities to help them practice skills in reading, math, spelling and science. An elective semester-long course using the Macromedia suite of programs with the objective of learning the software skills of…

Citizens Working for Intersection Safety (CWIS) sought designs for improving dangerous intersections in the local area. It is proposed that when the teacher suggests the real world problem to students, the project or case study guarantees true student learning.

High school students can actually write for real audiences and also meet state and national standards. A high school teacher confronts the challenge of helping the students to do so by requiring students to complete a senior project, authentic writing assignment.

Speech recognition is an alternative to traditional methods of interacting with a computer, such as textual input through a keyboard. An effective system can replace or reduce the reliability on standard keyboard and mouse input. This can especially assist dyslexic students who have problems with character or word use and manipulation in a textual…

Academics in the field of entrepreneurship education are increasingly aware that, while class-based knowledge input is a vital component of learning, the traditional lecture-based, didactic methods of teaching and learning alone are insufficient. In an attempt to achieve 'real, active learning' various interactive techniques have been developed,…

Students analyze common characteristics of visual arts evident across time and among cultural/ethnic groups to formulate analyses, evaluations, and interpretations of meaning. One challenge in teaching tenth grade students who come from very diverse backgrounds is how to introduce them to a variety of artists within a five-month semester system.…

In this article, the author describes an individualized term project that is designed to increase student understanding of some of the major concepts and methods in multivariate calculus. The project involves having each student conduct a complete max-min analysis of a third degree polynomial in x and y that is based on his or her social security…

Ethical codes of practice have largely ignored student project work, although there has been some discussion that it ought to be treated as a special case and handled by less stringent ethical review. However, if ethical review is about safeguarding the interests and rights of those who volunteer to participate, then there can be no case for…

As the drafting instructor at Tri-County Career Center (TCCC) in Nelsonville, Ohio, the author is proud and pleased to give students real-life drafting experiences that apply learned theory. One of the best experiences his students have had involves taking part in building a custom home. Another is producing authentic house plans. The author also…

The Department of Engineering & Design at Eastern Washington University (EWU) offers a bachelor of arts degree in visual communication design and bachelor of science degrees in mechanical engineering technology, manufacturing technology, construction technology, design technology, electrical engineering, computer engineering technology and…

Information Technology brings about rapid changes in working environment, quickly rendering skills and knowledge gained in formal learning institutions obsolete. Even as they prepare students for their first career, institutions also need to equip students with skills necessary for lifelong learning. The Nanyang Technological University (NTU),…

Service-learning projects provide students with opportunities to put theory into practice in a real-world setting. Unlike community service, service-learning projects are intentionally linked to an academic course and incorporate specific pedagogical goals. Researchers have suggested that service learning is a great teaching tool that can…

Instructional strategies make a difference in whether students are engaged in learning and are profiting from their time in class. High schools, technology centers and middle grades schools are encouraging teachers to adopt new teaching techniques and are providing opportunities for teachers to work together to improve their instructional skills…