Engineering is a practical discipline, dedicated to the solution of problems through the sound application of principles derived from the natural sciences and mathematics. Engineering pedagogy has therefore to balance the need for learners to gain a deep understanding of the theoretical basis of the problem domain whilst grasping its practical…

The determination of kinetic data is central to reaction mechanism; science courses usually include experiments on chemical kinetics. Thanks to PC-controlled data acquisition and availability of software, the students calculate rate constants, whether the experiment has been done properly or not. This contrasts with their experience in, e.g.,…

Developing pre-service teachers' (PSTs') knowledge of pedagogical practices can be particularly challenging within university classrooms. Teacher educators are well placed to provide PSTs with theoretical perspectives on pedagogical practices; what is particularly challenging, however, is linking theory with practice and developing PSTs' breadth…

In the domain of discourse processing, it has been claimed that older adults (60-0-year-olds) are less likely to encode and remember some kinds of information from texts than young adults. The experiment described here shows that they do make a particular kind of inference to the same extent that college-age adults do. The inferences examined were…

Despite all the speeches, articles, and meetings about data-based instructional decision making, the author's observation after more than 20 years of working with middle and high school teams is that teachers and administrators often make important instructional decisions on the basis of historical precedent, anecdotal information, experience, or…

Offering training to promote positive change seems easy, but getting teachers to implement real change in their classrooms is not. Many administrators are using action research--which many teachers use to improve teaching--to address training issues and to facilitate problem solving. In this article, the author shares her experience with using…

Existing research identifies that students' approaches to assignments are related to their general approaches to study. It is suggested that students need to better understand the requirements of assignments and acquire new concepts such as "argument". This fine-grained study proposes four qualitatively distinct assignment pathways: gathering,…

This article is written from our perspective as both researchers and mathematics teacher educators, and describes how our knowledge has grown as we engage concurrently in both teaching and research. Reflection-on-action is a means for us of approaching the relationship between theory and practice that comes out of the development of our work as…

Examines the problems business communications students have with summarizing written information and offers a sequential method for teaching students how to summarize well. (JC)

Focuses on two philosophical views of reading, the traditional ("bottom-up") view and an alternative ("interactive") view, along with the implications they hold for shaping reading instructional programs. The differences these two views make in decisions that shape the reading program are illustrated in a kindergarten and…

There has recently been increased attention given to the widely perceived gap between research and practice in school psychology and education. The purpose of this article is to describe how Centennial School of Lehigh University, an alternative day school for students with emotional and behavioral disorders, was able to successfully implement and…

Discusses the nature and sequencing of decisions involved in designing a game, simulation, or workshop from the theoretical perspective of course and curriculum design. A model for design is presented that incorporates objectives, teaching/learning methods, content, and assessment/evaluation, and other models are also discussed. (Author/LRW)

In the last edition of "Teaching History", Maria Osowiecki described in detail the fourth lesson in a five-lesson enquiry entitled: What was remarkable about the Renaissance? She also shared her resources for two lively, interactive activities--the Renaissance Party and a balloon debate. Here she complements that piece with a full…

This article considers the development in understanding of aspects of formative assessment of students' writing at Key Stage 3 (11-14 years) by a group of trainee English teachers. An "analysis and application" approach to writing development, which requires students to master categories and processes then apply them, is outlined and…

We have designed model-development sequences using a common context to provide authentic problem-solving experiences for first-year students. The model-development sequence takes a model-eliciting activity a step further by engaging students in the exploration and adaptation of a mathematical model (e.g., procedure, algorithm, method) for solving…