The purpose of this study was to advance understanding of how to facilitate higher levels of learning when using asynchronous text-based Internet communication technology. The framework used to guide this study is based on the community of inquiry model developed by Garrison, Anderson, and Archer (2000). Crucial methodological constructs congruent…

In this article the authors develop and implement a collaborative model of action research. An academic and a teacher collaborate with the purpose of improving the teaching practice and the teaching abilities of the teacher in mixed ability classes, and the collaborative ability of both academic and teacher. After a year of collaboration certain…

One question of interdisciplinary education is how to encourage students to draw connections between disciplines and to engage in critical thinking. The authors developed a team-taught interdisciplinary course examining the history and literature of modern revolutions. The first time the course was given, students had difficulty making…

Student motivation for achievement is a particular concern in college teaching. The desire for students to learn for the sake of learning is strong, yet this often leads to "dumbing down" the curriculum. In this article, I present a case analysis of motivational dimensions of instructional practice in college classrooms using a social cognitive…

Young learners need activities that engage them mentally and physically in processing new information. It is easy to accept such ideas intuitively, but matching the curriculum content to meaningful activities is a challenge. The authors believe that following a learning cycle is a satisfactory way to meet that challenge. A learning cycle is a…

In recent years, critics of the social studies have complained that instead of studying history, elementary and high school students take other social science courses, sex and health education, or driver training. Seeking to explain the origin of that supposed shift, many authors concentrate on the period from 1892 to 1937, arguing that it was…

When literature in the form of picture books was introduced to the social studies curriculum in the author's classroom, she wondered what her second-grade students would learn from it. She decided to investigate and ascertain whether the children learned geographic concepts when they were taught through a literature-based approach. Given the…

Simple examples are really encouraging in the understanding of rearrangements of infinite series, since many texts and teachers provide only existence theorems. In the absence of examples, an existence theorem is just a statement and lends little confidence to understanding. Iterated sums of double series seem to have a similar spirit of…

Time delays are an important aspect of mathematical modelling, but often result in highly complicated equations which are difficult to treat analytically. In this paper it is shown how careful application of certain undergraduate tools such as the Method of Steps and the Principle of the Argument can yield significant results. Certain delay…

Everyone has heard about online courses, and how they are good for students because they offer schedule flexibility or opportunities to take courses that a school would not normally provide. After all, students can take and complete these courses anytime, anywhere. As their popularity grows, several states have added online learning to their…

Teachers of core middle level classes are now expected to play a larger role in supporting students' reading of course materials than has traditionally been the case. University courses and high-quality professional development emphasizing content literacy can equip teachers with important insights about reading and can provide them with a…

Many institutions have structured processes for gaining the necessary internal and external approvals for initiating academic programs. Unfortunately, program planners often lack the data required to develop a full understanding of the systemic implications caused by such changes. This article provides both a framework and an interactive data…

Program theory plays a prominent role in many evaluations, not only in theory-driven evaluations. This paper presents a case study of the process of developing and refining a program's theory within a user-oriented evaluation. In user-oriented (or utilization-focused) evaluations, primary users can play a role in defining their own program theory.…

Although the use of computers in secondary school writing centers has been pioneering in some instances, it has at other times been problematic. It is important to be clear at the outset that using particular technologies for the sake of those particular technologies is a bad idea. While technologies are always present in our lives, they are…

The enzyme orotidine-5'-monophosphate decarboxylase is an attractive choice for the central theme of an integrated, research-based biochemistry laboratory course. A series of laboratory exercises common to most instructional laboratories, including enzyme assays, protein purification, enzymatic characterization, elementary kinetics, and…