At a recent national conference, colleagues from different academic disciplines but all worked in college or university teaching-improvement programs found that the subject most frequently discussed was how to improve the teaching of "tired" faculty members. Tired faculty members are most often senior professors who have worked at their…

This article explores the idea that teachers can improve their practice through reflection and action research. The author discusses the constructivist and socio-constructivist roots of action research. The case study explores the use of a project to improve learner autonomy and cooperation. Students made key decisions about the project content,…

What happens when standards, teaching for understanding, research based strategies for improving student achievement, and teacher inquiry become a whole? Power Teaching results. A prototype in development at an urban, elementary school in the South, power teaching connects the dots of state standards, Harvard Project Zero's teaching for…

Although action research is a common feature of courses of initial teacher training, the evidence as to its efficacy, in encouraging reflection among trainees, is mixed. This article discusses cases of action research assignments carried out by three trainees into their own practice in relation to (a) behaviour management, (b) monitoring and…

The current study compared the effects of video-based reflection versus a memory-based reflection (i.e., no video) on scores for written reflections of preservice teachers who were completing a special education method course. The results of a counterbalanced design show that the use of a videotape was associated with slightly higher mean scores…

Including reflective practice in tertiary learning design is one way of working towards making effective learning possible for students. This article considers how elements of reflective practice in teaching delivery and assessment have been successful in satisfying principles of effective teaching in the context of the study of law at first year…

Standards-based education, including over-packed curricula and high-stakes assessments, is here to stay--at least for the next decade or so. If this approach to teaching and learning is a reality that everyone must deal with, how can everyone leverage what is positive and reduce some of the negative aspects? In this article, the author discusses…

The author's mother has taught advanced classes at a small Catholic elementary school. She also does private tutoring for at-risk students from neighboring high schools and colleges in an affluent suburban area. The author teaches at a large public, urban university. Her mother tutors Algebra through Calculus in a fairly traditional lecture-style…

This paper advances the thesis that high level thinking in classrooms happens when students become conscious of experience and knowledge realities and decide to pursue them flexibly and creatively. The specific research focuses on the author's conviction that effective stimulators of student reflection will accommodate knowledge encounters that…

The prevailing concern for teacher and student accountability in education and increasing problems with student discipline have led some schools to adopt a single model of classroom discipline. For example, in one district in Florida, Lee Canter's model of assertive discipline, a behavioristic approach to classroom management, was mandated for use…

The Impromptu Teaching Model was designed by the University of Central Arkansas for use by preservice teachers in laboratory teaching experiences. Two teaching exercises, microteaching and reflective teaching, form the basis for impromptu teaching. Microteaching provides teachers with the opportunity to master various technical skills of the…

When teachers view their mission as one to "save" children, the possibility then exists that they might not "save" them all. In fact, it is not uncommon that a teacher utters the words, "I can't save them all." The mission, however, of the teacher is not to "save." Rather, the mission of a teacher is to…

In an attempt to determine whether knowledge of teachers' conceptual systems can be used to predict teaching styles in handling information and applying sanctions, the teaching styles of 136 home economics student teachers from three midwestern universities were measured by coding tape-recorded lessons according to Joyce's system, and two…

This book speaks to all those teachers who teach the "gen ed" literature course that their students must take to complete a general education or core curriculum requirement. These students--the 95 percent who are not English majors--are the students educators hope will become active and reflective members of a reading public. Given this goal,…

Four kindergarten classes in an Ohio elementary school chose to study apples as a group project. Documenting the kindergartners' first experience with project work, this article discusses how the project evolved, and describes the three phases of the projectdiscussions of prior knowledge, fieldwork and visits from experts, and the culminating…