The Jesuit encounter with the Amerindians of the St. Lawrence Valley in Th-century New France provides us with incalculable insights into the inner workings of the "colonial imagination" that believes the objects of instruction have everything to learn and nothing of value to teach. This article explicates how the Jesuits got to know their…

This article reports the development of an evaluation technique that uses adjective checklists as instruments for use by low-literate and marginally literate adults to provide assessments of their learning experiences in adult education and development programs. Vignettes of activities from three stages of the development process depict the range…

Over the last decade, researchers in physical education have turned to several theories to address student motivation and learning in physical education. Although several theories have been explored, Achievement Goal Theory has emerged as a prominent theory for effective interventions in fostering student motivation. The purpose of this feature…

In this article, the author offers advice for principals on working with teachers to change the instructional climate and on how to apply brain-friendly instructions to improve the effectiveness of one's teaching. To lead an entire district toward the use of brain-compatible instruction, the author suggests to start with a group of motivated…

In this article, the author describes seven movement-related areas of cognitive neuroscience research that will play key roles in shifting the current behavioral orientation of teaching and learning to an orientation that also incorporates cognitive neuroscience discoveries. These areas of brain research include: (1) mirroring system; (2) plastic…

Little is known concerning how subtypes of aggression (relational and physical) might be differentially related to preschool-age children's classification in peer sociometric status groups (popular, average, rejected, neglected, and controversial). Furthermore, associations between aggression and sociometric status might vary according to the…

Case studies provide a positive and engaging experience for students, but if not chosen carefully, they may not necessarily promote concept learning. The case study method of instruction in undergraduate science courses is a constructivist pedagogy that can address some of the problems currently facing higher education. The case method often…

A commitment to pursue problems from multiple angles, methods, and theoretical positions means that research teams require strategies to navigate the tensions and conflict that inevitably emerge, particularly when the intent is to find ways to integrate different disciplinary perspectives.

This chapter argues that the use of debates in a core world history course can foster both authentic learning in the discipline and progress toward intellectual and ethical maturity.

An Academic Practice Unit needs to work strategically and interact with other departments to place research-based teaching on the institutional agenda and support staff adequately for their roles.

Psychology recognizes the importance of educating students regarding cross-cultural issues. We designed a classroom exercise to give students a firsthand appreciation of a specific cross-cultural issue, that of acculturation. After a brief lecture on acculturation, we divided students in the class into 2 groups and helped each group to develop a…

We extended earlier demonstrations of the matching phenomenon (individuals choose romantic partners who tend to match them on a variety of traits) to demonstrate several relationship issues including contrast effects, the impact of alternative mates on relationship satisfaction, and social exchange and equity theories. Students first place playing…

We looked at the effects of teaching 7- and 8-year-old children morphological and phonological distinctions. Some of those given morphological training and some of those given phonological training were also taught how to represent these distinctions in writing. All 4 intervention groups did better than the control group in a standardized test of…

The renewal, modification, and ratification of the Individuals With Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA; 2004) produced a number of changes in legislation, particularly in the identification for children with specific learning disabilities (SLDs). In particular, the requirement that a child must evidence a severe discrepancy…

The purpose of this article is to underscore why we need to maintain the presence of comprehensive evaluations in the identification of students with specific learning disabilities (SLDs). Response to intervention (RTI) models hold great hope for early instruction, and the reduction of the overrepresentation of students in special education who…