This article shares our experience using a job-embedded active learning approach to support candidates' growth as systems-focused equity leaders in the University of Washington's Leadership for Learning program. We describe how socio-cultural learning theory helped us shift from field-based application projects to job-embedded learning. Our…

English language learners are increasingly entering classrooms using student-centered instruction that places a greater emphasis on spoken language. While active learning is beneficial for a range of student outcomes, these practices force language learners to carry a heavy cognitive load in a complex and challenging environment. This experiment…

Civics education shouldn't be confined to dusty textbooks, as evidenced by this assortment of projects. In one unit, elementary students play out the presidential election--from campaigning to inauguration day--using the Storypath approach. In another project, 5th graders explore the controversy about Confederate monuments by studying a local…

The Science Teaching Experience Program--Working in Science Education (STEP-WISE) provides teaching experience for postdoctoral scholars holding full-time research appointments. Through a combination of mentorship, deliberate practice, and feedback, the postdocs learn and apply inclusive, evidence-based pedagogies. STEP-WISE is integrated into…

Project-based learning is popular with many parents, students, and teachers because of its focus on problem-solving, critical thinking, creativity, and real-world application (Gallup, 2019). It encourages teachers to act as facilitators while students actively engage in teacherand student-posed learning challenges, working alone and in groups on…

Inquiry-based pedagogies have a strong presence in proof-based undergraduate mathematics courses, but can be difficult to implement in courses that are large, procedural, or highly computational. An introductory course in statistics would thus seem an unlikely candidate for an inquiry-based approach, as these courses typically steer well clear of…

This article explores the learning context for talent development in public schools. Total aspects of the environment from physical space, affective elements, and pedagogical approaches affect learning. How teachers believe and perceive their roles as teachers influence instructional design and decision making. In this article, the optimal…

Student-centered strategies are being incorporated into undergraduate classrooms in response to a call for reform. We tested whether teaching in an extensively student-centered manner (many active-learning pedagogies, consistent formative assessment, cooperative groups; the Extensive section) was more effective than teaching in a moderately…

"Foundations for Critical Thinking" explores the landscape of critical-thinking skill development and pedagogy through foundational chapters and institutional case studies involving a range of students in diverse settings. By establishing a link between active learning and improved critical thinking, this resource encourages all higher…

Constructivist-based inquiry instruction has been popularized for several decades in primary- and secondary-science education, with overwhelmingly positive results across all sciences. Importantly, higher education faculties have begun to embrace inquiry instruction in many subject areas. In fact, a growing body of literature illustrates the…

Since the passage of the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act (IDEA), the total population of students with special needs being served in schools has risen from 5 percent in 1976 to 8.6 percent in 2006. One of the greatest ramifications of the passage of this education legislation is the push toward creating classrooms where all students…

The Lewis & Clark Rediscovery Project is a technology professional development program designed to help teachers restructure teaching and learning practices in the classroom, and to foster technology use in the schools. The 5-year program (extended into a 6th) was funded in 1999 with a grant from the U.S. Department of Education: Technology…

Learning about local government seems boring and irrelevant to most young people, particularly to students from high-poverty backgrounds. The authors explore a promising approach for solving this problem, Storypath, which engages students in authentic learning and active citizenship. The Storypath approach is based on a narrative in which students…

Biochemistry courses at Seattle University have been taught exclusively using process oriented guided inquiry learning (POGIL) without any traditional lecture component since 1997. In these courses, students participate in a structured learning environment, which includes a preparatory assignment, an in-class activity, and a follow-up skill…