In American popular culture, the word "rural" invokes images of sunny farms and little red school-houses--while "urban" means drugs, poverty, and crime. But rural schools face many of the same challenges as their urban counterparts. The problems of rural schools are often invisible to the public and policy makers. The solutions…

A case is described of the development of a lesson plan for 10th grade (age range 15-16) chemistry classes on the chemistry of shower gels. The lesson plan follows a socio-critical and problem-oriented approach to chemistry teaching. This means that, aside from learning about the basic chemistry of the components making up modern shower gels in…

The aim of this study was to assess whether coping styles, social stress, and sexual sensation seeking were predictors of HIV/STD risk behaviours in adolescents. A representative sample of 4,456 female and male Spanish high school students aged 13 to 18 years participated. A stratified random sampling procedure was used. Self-report questionnaires…

A problem-solving template enables a methodology of instruction that integrates aspects of both sequencing and conceptual learning. It is designed to enhance critical-thinking skills when used within the framework of a learner-centered approach to teaching, where regular, thorough assessments of student learning are key components of the…

The multidimensional Curriculum Model (MdCM) helps teachers to better prepare gifted and able students for our changing world, acquiring much needed skills. It is influenced by general learning theory of constructivism, notions of preparing students for 21st century, Teaching the Future Model, and current comprehensive curriculum models for…

Important tools that schools need to support a 21st century approach to teaching and learning include the usual suspects: the Internet, pen and paper, cell phones, educational games, tests and quizzes, good teachers, caring communities, educational funding, and loving parents. All of these items and more contribute to a 21st century education, but…

Action Potential Science Experience (APSE) is a five-day summer camp offering science opportunities for K-8 students. The focus of the APSE curriculum is to teach science concepts and methods while challenging the participants to solve an overarching problem from the popular-culture context. The participants in the APSE entitled Burger 'N Fries…

This study applies social support theory to the question of whether four types of husband behavior (taking the wife's side, problem solving, ignoring conflict, and taking the mother's side) moderate the association between conflict with the mother-in-law and a Taiwanese woman's marital satisfaction. Data were collected from 125 married Taiwanese…

Certain learners are less sensitive to learning environments and can always learn, while others are more sensitive to variations in learning environments and may fail to learn (Cronbach & Snow, 1977). We refer to the former as high learners and the latter as low learners. One important goal of any learning environment is to bring students up…

Two exploratory studies assessed the effects of an intervention on the math problem solving of students with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). In the first study, students were assessed on a visual task in a high stimulation classroom analog setting with and without the use of a fine motor activity. Results showed that the fine…

This study investigated whether instruction that involves comparing the equal sign with other relational symbols is more effective at imparting a relational interpretation of the equal sign than instruction about the equal sign alone. Third- and fourth-grade students in a comparing symbols group learned about the greater than, less than, and equal…

Creativity often has been associated with the arts, although creativity also is essential for innovative discoveries and applications in science and engineering. In this article, a pilot study is presented about an investigation concerning how creativity is fostered in an art education course in conjunction with an undergraduate engineering…

This article traces the experiences of several outstanding teachers while explicating both the specific character of their teaching and how they were formed as teachers. These teachers' beliefs and the characteristics of their teaching style are examined in connection with the distinguishing features of the Russian schools in which they worked. In…

The aim of this paper is to investigate the ways in which the number line can function in solving mathematical tasks by first graders (6 year olds). The main research question was whether the number line functioned as an auxiliary means or as an obstacle for these students. Through analysis of the 32 students' answers it appears that the number…

This study examines the interactions between problem solving and conceptual change in an elementary science class where students build system dynamic models as a form of problem representations. Through mostly qualitative findings, we illustrate the interplay of three emerging intervening conditions (epistemological belief, structural knowledge…