Providing engaging, rigorous social studies education at the elementary level is a challenge faced by school districts across the country. In K-12 schools nationwide, social studies education is often neglected so that more time can be devoted to ELA and math, both of which have annual standardized tests associated with them that often carry high…

Purpose: Colleges and universities increasingly have the mandate and motivation to integrate sustainability into their curricula. The purpose of this paper is to share the strategy used at the University of Pennsylvania (Penn) and provide an evaluation of its success and guidance to others creating similar programs. Design/methodology/approach:…

This article examined the literature on best practices in content-specific professional development and then aligns this work with the practices of a citywide afterschool chess program run by After School Activities Partnerships (ASAP) in Philadelphia. School teachers, out-of-school time (OST) staff, and youth workers readied themselves to think…

The authors describe a vocational training course that was developed to give more than just an overview of how aircraft work, or a course on how to fly. This training course was a half-year course in aviation technology. Powered flight is an area of interest for many students, and the intent of creating a curriculum rich with science, technology,…

The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) call on science and social studies teachers to engage in literacy instruction that prepares students for the academic rigors of college. The Literacy Design Collaborative (LDC) designed a framework to address the challenge of literacy-content integration. At the heart of the intervention are fill-in-the-blank…

The Quakertown Community School District, or QCSD, is a traditional K-12 public school district in rural southeastern Pennsylvania, located in Bucks County, about an hour north of Philadelphia. QCSD has ten schools, including one high school, and serves approximately 5,500 students, 24 percent of whom are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch…

Requirements engineering is one of the fundamental knowledge areas in software and systems engineering graduate curricula. Recent changes in educational delivery and student demographics have created new challenges for requirements engineering education. In particular, there is an increasing demand for online education for working professionals.…

Our approach to teaching introductory artificial intelligence (AI) unifies its diverse core topics through a theme of machine learning, and emphasizes how AI relates more broadly with computer science. Our work, funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation, involves the development, implementation, and testing of a suite of projects that…

Research Findings: This study examined factors associated with process and content outcomes of the training provided in the context of Head Start REDI (Research based Developmentally Informed), a preschool curriculum designed to enhance the quality of interactions (social-emotional and language-literacy) between teachers and children. REDI…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of a student-centered faculty development model on the conceptions of teaching of participating US Arts and Sciences faculty members. "Student-centered learning models are widely accepted as catalysts for improved learning and psychosocial outcomes, and their use is especially important…

This mixed methods study focused on the perceptions of faculty currently instructing online. The sample was taken from the tri-state area of Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia, and consisted of a random selection of instructors teaching at least one online course in the fall of 2008. Of the 300 people surveyed via a web-based survey tool, 111…

This article presents an overview of three undergraduate-level statistical consulting courses being taught at institutions of different size (small, medium, and large). Topics that will be discussed include the evolution of these courses, thoughts on what makes such courses successful, potential pitfalls to watch for, the necessary minimal skills…

Intended to facilitate the improvement of industrial arts education in Pennsylvania, the guidelines for planning and development emphasize an interdisciplinary approach. They are aimed at professional personnel and are divided into general provisions which are applied (with changes in specific content where appropriate) to elementary, middle…

A project developed computer software based upon Interstate Distributive Education Curriculum Consortium (IDECC) competency-based materials to produce a new curriculum management system for Pennsylvania secondary marketing education programs. During the project, an advisory committee composed of secondary marketing teachers, business people, and…

Pennsylvania's guide to help school districts develop programs for limited English proficient (LEP) students outlines considerations in using two different approaches, bilingual education and English as a second language (ESL) instruction, at the elementary and secondary levels. The issues addressed include appropriate instructional methods,…