According to Jim Knight, learning something new--such as a new instructional approach or other innovation--and applying it in practice is complex and involves adaptations that take time. Knight describes the five stages he believes people go through in learning and practicing any innovation, from "non-use," gradually up to the stage of…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to review the variation in methods used to analyse lessons in order to improve teaching and learning. Design/methodology/approach: It addresses the question of how observations of lessons can be analysed, and what approaches and methods are applicable in the analysis of collected data in lesson and learning…

Given the wide range of ability (academic, linguistic and cultural) in classrooms differentiated instruction is often difficult to manage. District and building level leadership can play an important role by providing the vision and support needed to implement Whole School Cluster Grouping (WSCG), the innovative scheduling approach described in…

In this article, the author explains how a writing center can be a potential host for housing writing instruction across the disciplines. She recommends writing centers act as hosts for various faculty development opportunities throughout the semester, and states that these centers can also hold faculty development resources and collaborative…

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…

A Number of good ideas can help improve the achievement of low-performing students and close the achievement gap, including determining the placement of veteran teachers, purchasing new curricula, and providing after-school tutoring. However, it is the teacher--and what the teacher does in the classroom--that makes the most difference for…

Teachers progress through stages of professional development chronologically and sequentially. To provide continuous professional development, these stages should be identified and programs effective for each stage offered. The pre-education student needs introductory and experiential programing. This presents an opportunity for assessing the…

An interdisciplinary futures program was established as part of the core curriculum at Davis and Elkins College to prepare students for the variety of personal and social changes they are likely to experience during their lifetimes. Courses in the program are taught sequentially during each of the undergraduate years. At the freshmen, sophomore,…