How is it that mentors teach--that protégé's learn--that wisdom is shared between a mentor and protégé? This exploratory, qualitative study responds to a call in the literature to better understand what occurs in mentoring interactions by examining storytelling as a mentoring tool. The focus is on how stories can convey meaning, inspire listeners,…

This article presents a teaching intervention where programming was used to facilitate preschoolers' learning of mathematics, especially in their development of spatial thinking. In the intervention, the programming was made with a small programmable robot especially designed for young students. The results indicate that the children developed…

If you've ever asked yourself whether problem-based learning (PBL) can bring new life to both your teaching and your students' learning, here's your answer: Yes. This all-in-one guide will help you engage your students in scenarios that represent real-world science in all its messy, thought-provoking glory. The scenarios will prompt K-12 students…

Purpose: This qualitative case study explored the best practices of differentiation of Tier 1 instruction within a multi-tiered system of support for English Language Learners who were predominately Spanish speaking. Theoretical Framework: The zone of proximal development theory, cognitive theory, and the affective filter hypothesis guided this…

Learn the most effective ways to teach elementary math, no matter how much experience you have with the subject. In this book, Fuchang Liu takes you through many common mistakes in math instruction and explains the misunderstandings behind them. He points out practices that should be avoided, helping you to adjust your lessons so that all students…

This paper reviews a few applications of the exponential function used primarily in business courses. It shows that translating time units in which queuing problems are measured can be used to overcome some apparent differences between queuing (arrival) problems and survival (decay) problems. There is a cautionary note concerning the limitations…

Engineering educators are being challenged to create learning environments that not only teach technical skills, but also foster higher-order thinking skills and instill professional attributes. Problem-based learning has been proposed as an effective method to prepare our future engineers. However, pedagogical innovations, like PBL, disrupt…

Assimilating an algorithmic course is a persistent problem for many undergraduate students. The major problem faced by students is the lack of problem solving ability and flexibility. Therefore, students are generally passive, unmotivated and unable to mobilize all the acquired knowledge (loops, test, variables, etc.) to deal with new encountered…

"Designing backwards" is presented here as a means to utilize human-centered processes in diverse educational settings to help teachers and students learn to formulate and operate design processes to achieve three sequential and interrelated goals. The first entails teaching them to effectively and empathetically identify, frame and…

The classic technique for sulfate analysis in an undergraduate quantitative analysis lab involves precipitation as the barium salt with barium chloride, collection of the precipitate by gravity filtration using ashless filter paper, and removal of the filter paper by charring over a Bunsen burner. The entire process is time-consuming, hazardous,…

Chemical bonding is one of the basic concepts in chemistry, and the topic of covalent bonding forms an important core of knowledge for the high school chemistry student. For many teachers it is a challenging concept to teach, not least because it relies mainly on traditional instruction and written work. Similarly, many students find the topic…

In this article, the authors describe how their first-grade class used the book "Inch by Inch" (Lionni 1960)--the story of an inchworm that escapes from a hungry robin by proving he is useful for measuring--as inspiration for a lesson focused on exploring length measurement through examining the meaning of an inch. The authors designed a…

We report the combined use of Wikispaces (wikis) and collaborative group problem solving (CGPS) sessions conducted in introductory-level calculus-based physics classes. As a part of this new teaching tool, some essay-type problems were posted on the wiki page on a weekly basis and students were encouraged to participate in problem solving without…

This article discusses how teaching via problem solving helps enact the Mathematics Teaching Practices and supports students' learning and development of the Standards for Mathematical Practice. This approach involves selecting and implementing mathematical tasks that serve as vehicles for meeting the learning goals for the lesson. For the lesson…

How better to begin the study of linear equations in an algebra class than to determine what students already know about the subject? A seventh-grade algebra class in a suburban school undertook a project early in the school year that was completed before they began studying linear relations and functions. The project, which might have been…