Case-based approaches are effective for teaching and learning science, encouraging student-directed collaborative learning and active engagement. This paper looks at using cases in science teaching and learning at the secondary and undergraduate levels and the impact these approaches have on teachers, students, curricula, and classroom…

A program of faculty development was designed and implemented at Andrews University (Michigan). The training design included presentation of instructional theory, demonstration of instructional strategies, practice of the strategies by participants, feedback on practice sessions, and on-going peer- and instructor-support. The following topics were…

This longitudinal study was designed to ascertain if those teacher candidates (N=388) having failed to make or having made a more or less successful transition into the teaching field 7 years after the commencement of teacher preparation differed in academic aptitudes and academic abilities assessed upon commencement of teacher preparation. MANOVA…

This longitudinal study was designed to compare the academic, personal, and family characteristics of those teacher candidates persisting and not persisting through teacher preparation and the early years of classroom teaching. The candidates' (N=551) personal, family, and academic characteristics were collected upon commencement of teacher…

This article aims to: (1) improve novice and experienced science teachers' understanding of contemporary pedagogical research, its value in improving classroom practice, and how to effectively communicate this in an interview; (2) improve administrators' interviewing practices so that exemplary candidates stand out from other candidates; and (3)…

This article reports the process two professors have begun in an effort to develop a course of study for undergraduate teacher education students at Armstrong Atlantic State University (Georgia). From data collected through graduate surveys and other sources, a pilot survey was constructed and administered to students attending six high schools in…

Ten strategies used to facilitate use of research to inform practice in urban schools are reviewed in this digest. The strategies are: (1) using ongoing, building-based staff development (SD) programs to translate instructional research into practice; (2) planning SD programs collaboratively with district personnel to ensure their relevance to…

Single parents face not only the challenge of raising their children alone, but also the negative messages about their lifestyle. This book emphasizes the strengths of single parents. It provides counselors with techniques to empower these clients, whether they are single due to divorce, death, or because they never married. Included are…

This book presents a series of case studies in higher education which demonstrate how teams of academics have improved their practice, skill and conditions of learning and teaching through "action research." Action research is defined as collaborative critical enquiry by academics themselves into their own teaching practice, into problems of…

The purpose of the conference reported in these proceedings was to help enrich the field of critical thinking through the perspectives of scholars and professional practitioners in a variety of academic disciplines. The papers included in these proceedings reflect the thoughts of 49 authors representing 10 academic fields. After the presentation…

"This paper addresses the need to open opportunities in educational research so that more minority researchers can contribute their personal experiences and acquired expertise to the development of excellent, equitable, and effective school programs and practices for all children. It captures the perspectives of a young minority (African…

Poor preparation of adult literacy educators is often blamed for the failure of adult literacy students. Four critical issues related to developing the adult literacy professional work force are as follows: how literacy is learned in adulthood; how practitioners learn and improve their practice; how new knowledge is generated in and for the field;…

Inquiry-based staff development is a promising direction for rethinking practice and research and for generating knowledge from a field-based perspective for adult literacy. Rethinking staff development entails investigating a number of current assumptions: the nature and function of literacy learning in adulthood; adult literacy practitioners as…

On the premise that all children can learn, Reuven Feuerstein developed a classroom curriculum designed to build the cognitive functions of students diagnosed by others as incapable of learning. His program, Instrumental Enrichment (IE), provides students with the concepts, skills, strategies, operations, and techniques necessary to become…

The 55 conference papers, the annual review of research, and the student-award-winning paper in this yearbook cover such diverse topics in the field of reading as assessment, content-area reading, early literacy, teacher education, teacher behavior, and construction of meaning through writing. The yearbook opens with the presidential address to…