Maria Andree focuses on an immigrant student whose error in a laboratory activity leads to a novel, colorful outcome that she excitedly shares with peers. After engaging in class activities for a few weeks she returns to her earlier dislike of science, saying: "I hate science, particularly Chemistry." The classroom activity system…

This interview was recorded in November 2012 in Jonathan Z. Smith's Hyde Park graystone. Professor Smith offers insights into how he thinks about his classroom teaching and his students' learning through descriptions of various assignments and classroom activities he has developed over more than forty years of teaching. The discussion…

This paper describes successful strategies based on research and practical applications used in the Greater Clark School Corporation in bringing many languages and cultures together. The most reasonable and correct course of action for teachers to take is to include the students in all class activities that will be enhanced by cooperative…

Peer-assisted learning as "de rigueur" is reverberating in medical institutions around the world. Anatomy classroom activities are challenging and different, and the stressful environment of dissection rooms poses a greater challenge than what can be addressed through peer-assisted learning. It is here that "near-peer role modeling" is not only…

Experiential learning has been defined as the process whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of the experience of the learner who is at the center of the learning process. Modern experiential learning theory begins with John Dewey and his "Experience and Education" (1938). Coleman (1976) describes traditional learning as…

In this article, findings from a recent one-year research project that investigated the use of games in a variety of school settings are described and discussed. The project involved four schools and 12 teachers designing classroom activities around specific games to support learners both within the formal national curriculum and in the context of…

School is sometimes framed as a place for preparing, a place for becoming college and career ready. At times this approach positions school as an important space "within" the world of college and careers, envisioned perhaps as Dewey imagined it, as a safe place to try things, a space where real work of participation in society could be done but in…

Autonomous language learning is justified by three arguments: the ideological, the psychological, and the economic. This paper discusses how teachers can use autonomous learning as an approach to the curriculum as a whole, bridging the gap between public classroom activities and private learning activity, and examining all practices from the…

Explores the mismatch between pedagogical intentions and learner outcomes and argues for learner centeredness as a central (yet relative) concept. Ways in which the relationship between teachers and learners and teaching and learning can be strengthened, e.g., experiential content, language content, and learning process, are explored, and examples…

Discusses the increased use of hands-on teaching activities that, while meant to engage students in learning, fail to teach them anything of importance. Explains why this trend started and why it is continuing to be used. Concluding comments provide questions teachers should ask during activity planning in order to make it an effective teaching…

Play allows children to make creative discoveries. This is a result of the fact that creation comes from tinkering and the absence of fear of failure, rather than from minds trained to follow what is already known. Suggestions for building a curriculum based on serious play are offered. (LB)

Spanish is the language recommended for "at-risk" students because of the correlation between the oral and written language. Students with dyslexia and other language problems can benefit from a suitable teaching method coupled with instructional materials and class activities that address their particular learning disorders. (four references)…

This guide offers suggestions for implementing active learning techniques in the community college classroom. The author argues that, although much of the literature on active learning emphasizes collaboration and small-group learning, active learning does not always involve interaction. It must also involve reflection and self-monitoring of both…

This book is intended for practicing or aspiring faculty who are interested in a learner perspective. It can be used individually or collectively in orientations, graduate teaching seminars, and faculty development seminars. Recognizing that most college faculty learned to teach using the lecture method, and that while the lecture method is not…

College and university students in English as a second language classes need to acquire an active and fairly extensive vocabulary rather quickly. Methods of learning such as analysis and memorization of word lists, word building, and dictionary use can be combined with methods of gaining vocabulary by becoming familiar with it and using it in…