Science teachers today need engaging projects to help students build 21st-century skills (NSTA 2011). Contemporary young adult literature (YA lit) can form the basis of one such project. YA lit--a genre of fiction geared toward 2 to 20-year-olds--opens a powerful avenue to connect with students and cover science topics in greater depth. YA lit is…

Canadian preservice teachers (year one N = 180 & year two N = 241) in this survey study were compared to surveyed preservice educators in Turkey (N=163). Using a similar survey tool both Turkish and Canadian respondents agreed that cyberbullying is a problem in schools that affects students and teachers. Both nations agreed that children are…

The transformations that have taken place in the French "ecole maternelle" (nursery school) over the last 30 years may be characterised by a dual dynamic, internal and external, of scholarisation. Firstly, the analysis of its changing position with regard to primary school and within early childhood education and care shows a relative…

Twenty-two executives from the top 100 interior design (ID) firms in the United States completed a survey on the marketability of an advanced degree in ID and on the content areas of most interest to practitioners. Findings revealed that practitioners anticipate the demand for advanced ID degrees to increase considerably. Specialized knowledge…

Ten years ago, the authors of Knowing What Students Know proposed that large-scale and classroom assessment should be created from the same underlying model of learning. They suggested that, ideally, a model of learning should provide a developmental perspective, "laying out one or more typical progressions from novice levels toward competence and…

An increase in consumer interest in functional foods provides an opportunity for FCS educators to use this topic in Extension programming to promote current nutrition recommendations. The Functional Foods for Life Educational Programs (FFL) are a curriculum of six evidence-based mini-seminars that highlight specific functional foods that have the…

National curricula are being challenged and transformed by the impact of migration and European integration. This paper examines how cultural diversity and Europe are intertwined in geography, history, and citizenship education curricula in Greece, Germany, and England. This question is explored using quantitative and qualitative methods through a…

There is considerable national interest in STEM initiatives, but yet there is little discussion concerning what STEM means in terms of a curriculum concept to be applied to school programming. This article focuses on STEM as a curriculum concept. First, STEM programming is discussed in terms of separate subjects, correlated and broad fields…

This study examines physics teachers' views on factors that contribute to the declining interest in physics among school students. A total of 190 physics teachers from 91 secondary schools and nine junior colleges in Singapore participated in this study, which used a survey instrument to seek their views. Rasch analysis was used to analyze the…

This chapter explores how the framework of intersectionality can be used by faculty in course development and classroom teaching. An overview of intersectionality, highlighting core assumptions and tenets of the framework, is presented first. These assumptions and tenets are then applied to classroom dynamics and the practice of teaching in…

This article is written from the perspective of 4 current MA TESOL graduate students at the Monterey Institute of International Studies (MIIS). These students have written about their experiences by incorporating their theoretical and pedagogical English language-teaching knowledge into the growth and maintenance of a community-based ESL program…

This article presents the design and implementation of a complete review of undergraduate digital hardware design teaching in the School of Engineering at the University of Edinburgh. Four guiding principles have been used in this exercise: learning-outcome driven teaching, deep learning, affordability, and flexibility. This has identified…

This issue of "Assessment Update" presents the following articles: (1) Closing the Loop: How an Assessment Project Paved the Way for GE Reform (Joan Hawthorne and Anne Kelsch); (2) Value-Added? Committing to Quality: Guidelines for Assessment and Accountability in Higher Education (David C. Paris); (3) Creating a Cadre of Assessment…

Barry M. Franklin's new work uses the concept of community as a lens for interpreting urban school reform since 1960. Focusing on the curriculum and employing case studies, he applies the concept to reform initiatives in a number of city school systems. Included are compensatory education, community control, mayoral takeovers, educational…

Dwindling resources, the challenges of providing postsecondary remedial education, and an environment that emphasizes outcomes assessment are realities that confront the community college department chair. The role of the department chair is particularly challenging in the community college context due to accountability pressures, fiscal…