Numerous studies emphasise the contribution of inquiry-based learning approaches to positive learning outcomes for students; however, in this study, we explore how a scientific methods assignment may qualify as a profession-oriented, inquiry-based learning approach in teacher education. The paper presents analysis of student teachers' reports on a…

This article discusses closed-loop systems, namely Cradle to Cradle and circular economy, in the context of sustainable education. These circular models, at least ideally, promise absolute decoupling of resource consumption from the economy. This article presents student assignments applying these models to Hennes & Mauritz, a clothing retail…

In this article, we discuss Micro Assignment Guided Inquiry and Collaboration (MAGIC), an active learning method that draws on the merits of inquiry-based learning in STEM courses. We describe the use of Micro Assignments (MAs) consisting of a series of short, instructive guiding questions that scaffold the course material. Students work through…

This article provides and reflects on an original lesson plan for engaging high school, undergraduate, or graduate students in learning fundamental concepts of environmental ethics. Implementation of this lesson plan effectively promoted critical analysis, reflection, and communication of environmental ethics issues in a seminar for second-year…

This Innovative Practices piece details the design of a scaffolded project in a public health course that paired a narrative inquiry assignment with an empirical health literature review assignment to highlight both the positivist and constructivist epistemologies of critical health research in public health. The authors discuss and reflect on the…

For 12 years, Denise Gillman has taught the course Science on the Stage at Christopher Newport University in Newport News, Virginia. The plays studied awaken intellectual curiosity and understanding of human nature and complex scientific ideas within the framework of a good story and can do so for students of every major. This article presents how…

In order to improve problem-solving dispositions, a section of an inquiry-based math sequence for first-year business students was linked with a section of our general education English sequence. We describe how the linked classes worked and compare some preliminary results from linked and unlinked sections of the math sequence.

Drawing from the importance of narrative inquiry in contemporary geographical reasoning and teaching, this paper focuses on some practices set around the relationship between maps and literature. Reader-generated maps, maps produced starting from the reading of a literary text, are at the core of a reflection on the potentialities of literary…

In the Spring of 2011, two of the authors of this paper taught number theory courses at their respective institutions. Twice during the semester, students in each class submitted proofs of two to three theorems to be peer reviewed by students in the other class. Each student wrote anonymous and formal referee reports of the submitted theorems,…

This article seeks to provide some modest insights into the pedagogy of higher-order thinking and metacognition and to share the use of color-coded drafts as a best practice in service of both higher-order thinking and metacognition. This article will begin with a brief theoretical exploration of thinking and of thinking about thinking--the latter…

Struck by his students' often hostile and apathetic responses to assignments and instruction and hoping to contribute to the knowledge of motivation, Dan LaSalle began to take an inquiry stance on his own practice. He studied his practice on three fronts with the help of an off-site teacher research group: (1) how his inquiry question changes as a…

The aim of this paper is to report on an ongoing experiment in an enquiry-based approach to feedback. Over the course of four years, almost 1800 students have studied a final-year undergraduate module involving a mid-term assignment and end of module examination. Feedback on the assignment is delivered through a process which involves the…

Empathy and interdisciplinarity are both concepts that are current and relevant--across professions, in research, and in academia. This paper describes a large, interdisciplinary, project-based assignment, the Empathy Project, which allows students to delve into and increase comfort and skill with interdisciplinary thinking and collaborative…

In this article, the author investigates the teaching and writing of poetry within public school spaces, illuminating how the work of poetry in an Academic Interventions classroom stirs new visions of who the students and the teacher can be. The study involves five teachers from a range of rural, urban, and suburban districts. These teachers…

Technology-enhanced mathematics tasks were introduced to elementary pre-service candidates (n = 84) and in-service teachers (n = 38), who then, either in partners or small groups, created and taught inquiry-based lessons incorporating technology, with individual reflections. The lessons were coded using the following criteria: (a) The students…