When students learn, they activate, use, revise, and acquire knowledge. As such, knowledge is a fundamental asset. We advocate for an asset-based approach which capitalizes on students' knowledge through prompts and activities that invite learners to leverage what they already know. Considering knowledge as an asset means that educators must…

In addition to the continuing need for citizens who can address the challenges of "human" communities, growing concerns have arisen regarding "all" life on the planet. Indeed, one of our most urgent conditions is the decline of the environment upon which all life depends. Yet, despite our concerns, there remain vastly differing…

After 30 years of practicing, researching, and teaching project-based learning (PBL), Steven Wolk offers insight into what he has learned. He discusses what PBL is and responds to common misunderstandings about how it works. He describes how PBL units are structured, the role of direct instruction in PBL, how students learn content and skills…

In order to succeed in biochemistry, students must transfer and build upon their understanding of general chemistry and introductory biology concepts. One such critical area of knowledge is bioenergetics. Student misconceptions around energy and free energy must be addressed prior to learning more advanced topics, such as energy flow in metabolic…

Although teachers are eager to facilitate community of inquiry (CoI) in their classrooms, they also fear being unable to convey the necessary knowledge to their students in an inquiry due to the inherent involvement of conflicting views, confusion, and a lack of strict definitions about the concepts. The author argues that the banking model of…

In this article, we describe some of the common misconceptions guests have expressed while visiting a Museum of Natural History and Science, along with ways in which museum educators had reacted to and/or responded to guests' misconceptions. Correcting commonly held misconceptions can be difficult, especially when guests are emotionally invested…

For many students biochemistry is a demanding course because they are expected to apply previously learned foundational concepts to new biological contexts. These foundational concepts serve as a scaffold onto which to build threshold concepts such as the physical basis of interactions. Unfortunately, many students possess misconceptions or gaps…

In this article, the authors--university faculty members working across college and school contexts in the United States--detail how teacher educators might address two challenges facing the teacher education field: (a) the long-standing critique of traditional teacher preparation in the United States as an isolated, questionably relevant ivory…

In an era where claims of "fake news" abound and more people turn to social media for their daily updates, knowing how to find and critically appraise information is more important than ever. The workshop discussed in this article aims to provide college students with the news literacy needed to make educated decisions about the…

"Whole-child development" can mean different things to educators, researchers, other child- and youth-serving professionals, and policymakers. Multiple bodies of research and methods of analysis affirm that child development (and human development in general) is dynamic, bi-directional (i.e., the child and context influence each other),…

The original working definition of competency-based education was developed in 2011 at the National Summit for K-12 Competency-Based Education (Sturgis, Patrick, & Pittenger, 2011). The Summit was hosted by the Aurora Institute (formerly iNACOL) and the Council of Chief State School Officers, with more than 100 education innovators and…

Today's traditional-aged college students are avid users of mobile technology. Commonly referred to as the Net Generation, today's college students spend several hours each day using their smart phones, iPads, and laptops. Although some scholars initially opined that the Net Generation would grow into technologically savvy digital natives who…

Misconceptions about climate change are common, which suggests a need to effectively address the subject in the classroom. This article describes a project-based science activity in which students report on the physical basis, adaptations, and mitigation of this global problem, adapting the framework of the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel…

Acquaintance with various ways of inculcating concepts in any studied area of knowledge is one of teachers' duties, particularly mathematics teachers. Studies indicate errors and difficulties when inculcating concepts in mathematics and learning them. Many concepts have different meanings in different contexts. Hence, teachers should deal with the…

This simple inquiry-based lab was designed to teach the principle of osmosis while also providing an experience for students to use the skills and practices commonly found in science. Students first design their own experiment using very basic equipment and supplies, which generally results in mixed, but mostly poor, outcomes. Classroom "talk…