Instructors of physics courses face the demanding challenge of creating a safe, nurturing community in their classroom while maintaining sufficient rigor. First-day activities are especially important, because they need to both motivate their students and prepare them for the course. Experienced instructors happily share their successful first-day…

Teams of students in an upper-division undergraduate Usability Engineering course used a collaborative environment to carry out a series of three distributed collaborative homework assignments. Assignments were case-based analyses structured using a jigsaw design; students were provided a collaborative software environment and introduced to a…

This article by Jennie Marston provides a framework to assist you in selecting appropriate picture books to present mathematical content. Jennie demonstrates the framework by applying three specific examples of picture books to the framework along with examples of activities.

Lorraine Day provides us with a great range of statistical investigations using various resources such as maths300 and TinkerPlots. Each of the investigations link mathematics to students' lives and provide engaging and meaningful contexts for mathematical inquiry.

Out-of-school time programs that provide science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) educational content are promising approaches to develop skills and abilities in students. These programs may potentially inspire students with engaging hands-on, minds-on activities that encourages their natural curiosity around STEM content areas.…

Recent educational discourse is full of references to the value of critical thinking as a 21st-century skill. In music education, critical thinking has been discussed in relation to problem solving and music listening, and some researchers suggest that training in critical thinking can improve students' responses to music. But what exactly is…

The measurement and representation of the electrical activity of muscles [electromyography (EMG)] have a long history from the Victorian Era until today. Currently, EMG has uses both as a research tool, in noninvasively recording muscle activation, and clinically in the diagnosis and assessment of nerve and muscle disease and injury as well as in…

The purpose of this research is to know how Naïve Geometry method can support students' understanding about the concept of solving quadratic equations. In this article we will discuss one activities of the four activities we developed. This activity focused on how students linking the Naïve Geometry method with the solving of the quadratic…

The benefits of including the study of the history of mathematics in the education of mathematics majors have been discussed at length elsewhere. Many colleges and universities now offer a History of Mathematics course for mathematics majors, for mathematics education majors, or for general credit. At Hood College, we emphasize our commitment to…

Integration of the four language skills can be enhanced by focusing on back translating--translating an English text into the students' first language and then back into English. This article describes a three-step process for using back translation in reading classes as a way to help students identify gaps in their English competence.

Upon entering the social studies hallway in any middle or high school in the United States, you are likely to hear the sounds of a film or video emanating from at least one classroom. Though often perceived as a medium for low-level intellectual work, recent research has documented an increasing array of authentic and rigorous pedagogy with films.…

In this study, two researchers explored student learning preferences in online courses. They used the scholarship of teaching and learning process as a research model, and embedded a web-based survey and online focus groups in the online courses they were teaching. After collecting data, the researchers conducted multiple logistic regression…

Maria Montessori was one of the first special educators. In 1898, as an assistant instructor at the University of Rome's Psychiatric Clinic, Montessori visited an asylum for the "insane" and became interested in the children with special needs who were housed there. She noticed that the children were not being stimulated; learning was at a…

The author is a strong proponent of incorporating the Content and Process Standards (NCTM 2000) into the teaching of mathematics. For candidates in her methods course, she models research-based best practices anchored in the Standards. Her students use manipulatives, engage in problem-solving activities, listen to children's literature, and use…

In the past, teachers have used chalkboards for "chalk talks," a strategy where a teacher wrote words and drew images to demonstrate reflecting, document generating ideas, and explore knowledge. Out with the old-school version and in with the "Marker Sparker" method, which uses whiteboards or poster paper and colorful markers to achieve the same…