Slow looking is the art and practice of learning through observation. Using object-based learning strategies provides instructors with innovative opportunities to pique curiosity while providing scaffolding for creativity skills needed to generate new clothing and apparel designs. This paper aims to identify how an FCS educator can use a slow-…

In the STEM classroom, students can work in collaborative teams to build those essential skills needed for the 21st-century world. In project-based learning (PBL), teams of four to six students are often randomly selected to describe a realistic situation that may occur in today's workplace; this may be done by counting off in fours, fives,…

This classroom narrative proposes a process for reinventing academic research and writing in secondary schools for the 21st Century. We build on Macrorie's (1988) I-Search paper, drawing on affordances of Web 2.0 technologies and culture, to initiate the iSearch 2.0 process. iSearch 2.0 consists of four phases: 1) messing about and trying on…

To increase the efficiency of exploratory learning on the Web, we previously developed a free-hyperlink environment that allows adaptive link generation. In this environment, learners can make new hyperlinks independent of static hyperlinks and share them on the Web. To reduce hyperlink overflow, the adaptive link generation filters out sharable…

This paper describes an approach for pre-service or in-service mathematics education that teaches sophisticated mathematics using only the tools of high school mathematics. The idea is to start with a standard problem from high school mathematics and let the solution to this problem serve as a platform for asking good mathematical questions and…

In this era of high-stakes testing, many teachers feel forced to aim instruction toward what will be assessed and ignore what students really want to learn. Publishers create materials guaranteed to boost students' test scores, but they neither broaden students' understanding nor increase their interest in learning. When the textbook becomes the…

Describes one teacher's attempts to move her students from rote learning to reasoning. Elaborates on the use of a standardized multiple-choice test as a basis for evoking students' arguments concerning defensible answers and reasons they are defensible. (JAD)

This paper discusses how museums, adventure programs, and discovery activities can become an intrinsically differentiated gifted curriculum for gifted learners. Museums and adventure programs are a forum for meaningful learning activities. The contextual characteristics of effectively designed settings for learning activities can, if the…

Although logotherapy has been generally seen as a therapeutic technique, its usefulness in other areas cannot be underestimated. This paper examines museum education from a theoretical "logos" perspective and from a practical application of effective museum utilization for students. While museums will never replace schools in the formal…

Children should be prepared to use all five senses when experiencing the environment. Suggestions are offered for helping stimulate children to observe, investigate, and discover their world. (DF)

Discussion of educational games that can be configured to accommodate changes in the structure of the game focuses on MANAGEMENT 500, a microcomputer-controlled prototype business simulation game. Three modes of learning that can be emphasized through a configurable simulation game are explained: learning by discovery, by perseverance, and by…

Explaining new ideas to oneself can promote transfer, but how and when such self-explanation is effective is unclear. This study evaluated whether self-explanation leads to lasting improvements in transfer success and whether it is more effective in combination with direct instruction or invention. Third- through fifth-grade children (ages 8-11;…

Describes how to organize learning expeditions, based on wilderness expedition principles, to benefit schools and campuses. Outlines the principles for designing learning expeditions, how to apply the wilderness expedition model, and how the process can be put into effect. Emphasizes the importance of faculty training in making learning…

Describes one teacher's approach to teaching science in preschool and discusses the advantages of experiential learning in preschool science programs. (RJC)

Describes a "thinking strand" in social studies instruction in a New Jersey school district. An inservice training program enables teachers to apply critical thinking skills in the classroom, actively engaging students through the use of debates, case studies, and problem-solving activities. (TE)