This article describes strategies specific to teaching German film courses at American universities, particularly how to capture the interest of students who have not studied film previously and have little understanding of German culture, history, or the language. I suggest starting with discussions on the interrelatedness of "foreign…

This article challenges the traditional model for teaching computation in the primary grades. It describes a model in which students are encouraged to invent and use alternative computation procedures.

Math anxiety is an affliction that causes several intelligent students to believe, mistakenly, that they lack the ability to master the subject. Professors are starting to question their teaching tactics in hopes of tackling math anxiety, with some educators looking at ways to make their classes more interactive, while others are considering…

Many orchestra teachers have experienced feelings of panic when they first read the National Standards and realize that the coalition standard is for performance ensembles as well as general music classes. Teachers who are responsible for starting beginners or who teach intermediate players may wonder about the feasibility of teaching composition…

Young children are natural-born musicians and rhythm instruments provide a wonderful bridge between a toddler's innate need to make noise and a child's true musical awareness and expressiveness. Rhythm instrument activities are so easy. With most of them, the child is simply copying one motion at a time. There is nothing to remember. Another…

Standards 3 and 9 of the National Standards for Music Education charge teachers to teach improvisation as well as music of diverse cultures. Jazz is a musical style that is perfect to cover both content areas. Until now, however, jazz repertoire and improvisation have not played a major role in the education of string students. One reason is that…

In this article, the author discusses how computer games can be used successfully in classrooms. The author also relates how one of his struggling students has become excited about learning when he introduced computer games as part of his lessons. The author also cites the factors that make computer games better in inspiring students over…

Nationally, public education prepares to meet increasing federal and state accountability requirements. This article examines the history of math education reform and concludes that many present national trends do not provide substantive, valid alternatives to past failed practices. The evidence documents a failure to apply fundamental research…

The purpose of this study was to compare the beliefs and attitudes of teachers in conventional schools versus teachers in schools with implementations of Direct Instruction (DI). Teachers were asked to take sides on statements about classroom practices as well as related educational and professional issues. The results revealed statistically…

The complex nature of written expression presents difficulty for many students, particularly those with learning disabilities (LD). The literature in the area of written expression and students with learning disabilities indicates that explicit, rule-based instruction can enhance the writing skills of struggling students. Research in Direct…

There has been renewed discussion of the scientific method, with many voices arguing that it presents a very limited or even wholly incorrect image of the way science is really done. At the same time, the idea of a scientific method is pervasive. This article identifies the scientific method as a simple model for the process of scientific inquiry.…

College students often struggle to understand complex technical language inherent in scientific communication. In some cases, this struggle leads to plagiarism. We performed a statistical analysis to find which teaching strategies are best suited to significantly reducing plagiarism in science courses. (Contains 1 table and 7 figures.)

Case studies challenge students to think, to process ideas at a higher and more complex cognitive level, and to experience science as a process rather than as a collection of facts. This article describes an introductory biology course sequence that makes regular and frequent use of case studies, which the author has found has synergistic…

This article recommends that teachers create a Personal Teaching Record as the first step in getting (and staying) organized. The author suggests that teachers create a page that can be duplicated for each week of the school year, listing each of the teaching areas (math, reading, social studies, art, music, etc.) and placing the date at the top.…

A Professional Development Schools partnership between the University of Maryland and other elementary schools in the district worked together to explore, discuss and reflect on the challenges of helping students to write about mathematics. Finding ways to help students effectively communicate their mathematical thinking is a challenge for…