"Citizen science" gives students a unique opportunity to engage with their own research, as well as data collected by other citizen scientists. Often, citizen science projects focus on students collecting and submitting data for scientists, which can sometimes limit opportunities to engage in the entire scientific process. This article…

Common Ground High School in New Haven, Connecticut, has made student voice and leadership not only a philosophy, but a universal principle. The single-site charter school sits on 20 acres of land and houses an urban farm that produces more than 10,000 pounds of local food each year. Students are encouraged to become local changemakers by serving…

Virtual environments have the potential to be an important teaching tool for emotionally sensitive issues capable of producing a sense of presence, perspective-taking and introspection in users in a risk-free, rapid feedback experience. In designing such experiences, it is essential that users are regularly engaged in a collaborative design…

Current thinking within education circles suggests that if students are not engaged in class discussions they might not be learning. And if they are not learning--students and teachers--are wasting their time. The Teacher Effectiveness in Language Learning (TELL) Project spells out within its planning domain that teachers should plan lessons…

In this article I outline how and why I have established a self-assessment system for class participation scores in an English-speaking skills course at a Japanese university. I explain how my experience with one particular student, who personally admitted to having abused the system, led me to realize that elements from Yin and Yang have been…

Policymakers and educators emphasize science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) instruction as key to individuals' and nations' future economic prosperity. It can be considered to be of particular value to students in developing countries and for disadvantaged students in developed countries. As families play a critical role in a…

Attending a professional conference is an effective way to explore and advance knowledge, skills, and careers. For graduate students, attending a conference is an effective way to explore academic fields and new professions. However, attending a professional conference requires precious resources--time and money--so the decision to attend, or not,…

Teachers are forced to use state-adopted texts, approved materials and methods in order to facilitate learning. The creativity of designing a lesson plan that meets the needs of each student, while fostering the imagination and creativity, can be all but lost when constrained by such parameters. So what can teachers do to enhance the learning…

One of the key features that draws many people to play video games is the fact that they are interactive. Video games allow the user to be actively engaged and in control of the action (Prensky, 2006). Seventh grade students at Canonsburg Middle School are actively engaging in the creation of video games. The students are engaged at a much deeper…

For six years the Food Security Research Network at Lakehead University, Canada, has been engaged in an interdisciplinary theme-based service-learning initiative focusing on food security. Informed by complexity theory, the contextual fluidity partnership model brings community partners, students, and faculty into a nexus through which new…

This handbook was written within the framework of a European project called "QUEST for Quality for Students" (QUEST), whose primary aim is to empower student unions to lead discussions on the quality of education at a local level and to help students who are participating in quality reviews. Students, in particular student…

Many schools use service-learning on their campus to enhance their classroom content. According to Learn and Serve Clearinghouse, "Service-learning is a teaching and learning strategy that integrates meaningful community service with instruction and reflection to enrich the learning experience, teach civic responsibility and strengthen…

In addition to building student knowledge and skills, educational strategies for all students should be aimed at increasing school engagement, motivation, and learner independence. Innovative technological tools, programs, and software can be used to promote student engagement, motivation, and ultimately enhance the quality of the learning…

Today, there are more program options in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) than ever before. Because people are living in an age of increasing globalization, advocates of gifted children must understand that involvement in STEM fields is paramount for the children to be competitive in the job market and for the nation to…

In this article, the author describes how she used integrated course design to design a course that would help special education teachers satisfy the "Highly Qualified Teacher" (HQT) requirement established by No Child Left Behind (NCLB) in the area of English/language arts. The approach she chose was based on principles advanced by Fink…