We present a case study to teach data visualization with Tableau in an introductory business analytics course. The case uses publicly available data sets from touringplans.com that record wait times for various attractions at Disney World in Orlando, Florida. In the case study, students use Tableau to clean, organize, and analyze wait time data,…

In recent years, video-based lectures have been increasingly used in education as part of flipped classroom approaches, adult education, distance learning, and other applications. Though approaches in video-based lectures have been widely studied, less has been reported in the development of approaches to teach relevant technical skills, such as…

In this article, three English Language Arts teachers draw on their teaching experiences of addressing sexual violence in assigned young adult literature. The authors use their experiences to guide a series of suggestions for other teachers who wish to teach these texts in their own classes. First, the authors offer suggestions for legitimizing…

The purpose of this article is to reflect on the events that occurred at Pulse nightclub and how a social justice camp collided to create opportunities for campers, preservice teachers, and faculty mentors to use creative activities to connect community members during a time of tragedy. The author begins with a brief introduction to critical…

As an instructional framework, Universal Design for Learning (UDL) can guide science teachers to purposefully apply evidence-based instructional practices to increase engagement and learning of students with disabilities (Israel, Ribuffo, and Smith 2014; Marino et al. 2014; Ok et al. 2016). This article describes how to use the Universal Design…

Global climate change and its effects are real and immediate. Students must gain an understanding of climate science so they can participate in public debate about how to reduce the emission of heat-trapping gases and how their communities can mitigate the effects of global warming. In this activity, students model these effects on Earth's oceans…

All classrooms are active social systems; the middle school classroom involves complex interactions between and among peers as well as between students and teachers. In the elementary years, attention is often given to nurturing students and fostering relationships, yet when young adolescents transition to the middle school, a focus on control and…

This paper explores the potential of collaborative interdisciplinary teaching as a mechanism for advancing feminist pedagogies. The authors, individually and collectively, engage in feminist academic work (e.g., scholarship and teaching) that challenges traditional academic expectations in their disciplines and at their institution. The authors do…

This article describes the use of project-based instruction in activities and labs intended to develop higher-order thinking skills with high school students and pre-service teachers through the use of soap making.

This article offers a contextual analysis of contemporary immigration issues impacting the institutions in the United States, in particular the school. It discusses the importance of addressing this theme in the classroom and presents its curricular value in the elementary and middle school social studies and interdisciplinary curricula. Using a…

Learning science vocabulary is an often tedious but important component of many curricula. Frequently, students are expected to learn science vocabulary indirectly, but this method can hinder the success of lower-performing students (Carlisle, Fleming, and Gudbrandsen 2000). We have developed an inquiry-based vocabulary activity wherein students…

Teaching the Declaration of Independence can be a challenge. This article presents a lesson plan based on an explication of the title and the first three lines of the Declaration intended to make the American founding era relevant to today's college students. Assuming civic education is a major goal of teaching American Government, assuming…

The VPK Learning Center Activities included with this guide are aligned with the Language, Communication and Emergent Literacy Domain within the Florida Early Learning and Developmental Standards for Four-Year-Olds (2011). Although the goal was not to create an activity to represent each and every standard and benchmark, most standards are…

"Building Institutional Capacity for Data-Informed Decision Making" is the third installment of the Cutting Edge series, which aims to help colleges engage faculty, scale successful interventions, and create a strong culture of evidence through use of data to strengthen their institutional change and student success efforts. Though the…

The purpose of this technical assistance paper is to provide a description of the procedures used to determine school grades for the 2014 school year. Florida's current school accountability system originated with state legislation passed in 1999 (the "A+ Plan") and has been revised periodically to reflect increased standards and…