The purpose of this study was to develop a valid, reliable, and brief measure of active learning in college classrooms that is cheap and easy to complete and yields results that faculty can easily use to inform their development as instructors. Initial construct and face validity was achieved by modifying existing instruments and creating a draft…

This post-professional development evaluation study (based on in-depth interviews) assessed the experience of ten educators who had participated one year earlier in workshops about the use of museum digital resources through the Smithsonian Learning Lab (SLL) for curricula development. The project focused on creating SLL collections to integrate…

Active learning spaces form an important part of university learning environments and have the potential to enhance student learning, yet studies on student and faculty perceptions of collaborative learning pedagogies indicate that many remain resistant. To overcome this resistance, an academic department developed and implemented an active…

Supporters of project-based learning (PBL) argue that outcomes from the model include better performance in academic (Bell, 2010; Thomas, 2000) and non-academic outcomes (Saunders-Steward, Gyles, & Shore, 2010). The New Tech Network (NTN) is a school improvement network that provides training and development for high school faculty who commit…

Purpose: The purpose of this two-year study was to assess the impact of the CORE program, a model that integrates technology and active learning modules in high schools by providing multi-disciplinary teams of teachers and administrators with professional development and resources to support the development of students' non-cognitive skills and…

Inquiry-based science interventions aim to improve students' science proficiency by helping them understand scientific processes. In these interventions, students conduct hands-on investigations of science concepts and everyday phenomena, construct explanations for what they observe, consider alternative explanations, and communicate and justify…

Inquiry-based science interventions aim to improve students' science proficiency by helping them understand scientific processes. In these interventions, students conduct hands-on investigations of science concepts and everyday phenomena, construct explanations for what they observe, consider alternative explanations, and communicate and justify…

Inquiry-based science interventions aim to improve students' science proficiency by helping them understand scientific processes. In these interventions, students conduct hands-on investigations of science concepts and everyday phenomena, construct explanations for what they observe, consider alternative explanations, and communicate and justify…

It has been determined that some 60% of wetlands worldwide have been destroyed in the last 100 years, and, for more than a decade, researchers have warned of a global freshwater imperative. In the context of these environmental deteriorations and ecological crises, teaching about environmental issues and ways to preserve the world's environment…

Project-based learning is an example of powerful social studies learning in which student engage in active inquiry. Action civics is a relatively new educational practice in which students "act as citizens" through a cycle of research, action, and reflection about problems they care about in their community. "Building Civic…

Researchers have found that middle school students undergo developmental changes that require unique educational structures and support. As a result, experts have suggested a number of specific strategies for organizing middle schools in order to best meet students' needs. This Information Capsule summarizes middle school redesign initiatives that…

We offered four annual professional development workshops called STAR (for Scientific Teaching, Assessment, and Resources) modeled after the National Academies Summer Institute (SI) on Undergraduate Education in Biology. In contrast to the SI focus on training faculty from research universities, STAR's target was faculty from community colleges,…

The following paper culminates a year of research conducted by researchers at E[superscript 3] Alliance and Texas State University and sponsored by the National Science Foundation. The following reports on promising practices observed and reported at Manor New Tech High School (MNTH), a Texas Science Technology Engineering Mathematics (T-STEM)…

The chapters in this book reflect the work of science and mathematics educators who have worked for many years at the international level. As members of the International Consortium for Research in Science and Mathematics Education, their work provides readers with issues, models, practices, and research results that have applicability and…

In this paper, we will review and critique a package of instructional materials developed by a southern education consortium. The materials package is called "Active Learning with Technology," and it is one of only a few instructional packages designed specifically for teacher educators. There is an old rock and roll song from the…