Teaching leadership presents a challenge as students come into the topic with underlying assumptions of what makes for a good or bad leader. The experiential exercise described here brings together the worlds of leadership and art to elicit the students' implicit leadership theories. We have students look at works of art and relate them to their…

The aim of this paper is to share part of an ongoing study in which we are interested in introducing a Gallery Walk (GW) as an instructional strategy to contemplate in the classroom, in the context of preservice teacher training for elementary education (6-12 years old), to promote students' mathematical knowledge and skills, through problem…

Computational thinking--a set of mental and cognitive tools applied to problem solving--is a fundamental skill that all of us (and not just computer scientists) draw on. Educators have found that computational thinking enhances learning across a range of subjects and reinforces students' abilities in reading, writing, and arithmetic. This book…

Increasingly, children who start school have already acquired basic reading and writing skills provided by their parents or preschool teachers. However, even if we choose to accept the fact that by teaching preschool children how to read and write parents wish to help them integrate successfully into the school environment and methods of work, we…

How can artist residencies for preservice teachers plant seeds for future classrooms? Teacher educators and a teaching artist describe a two-tiered residency in an early childhood and special education program that transformed preservice teachers' attitudes toward visual art and arts integration. Findings are based on teaching artist and…

Democratic societies require a citizenry skilled in argumentation. At present, the written argument maintains primacy among communicative modes. Because of its cognitive demands, written argumentation is often difficult to teach. A multimodal approach to writing instruction carries the potential to assist struggling learners. This article outlines…

We present ideas about how to incorporate discussion of a paintings collection in chemistry classrooms. Specifically, it is a collection of paintings that have illustrated calendars since 1900, from a traditional Spanish explosives company (founded by Alfred Nobel and now known as Maxam). The case is discussed in relation to the "chemistry in…

As a fine art collection founded by a scientist with a passion for art and a vested interest in education, the Barnes Foundation is in an exciting and unique position to explore and develop educational programming around science, technology, engineering, art, and math (STEAM). The education staff determined that using science and math in the…

Visual literacy was a stated learning objective for the fall 2009 iteration of a first-year seminar course. To help students develop visual literacy skills, they received formal instruction throughout the semester and completed a series of carefully designed learning activities. The effects of these interventions were measured using a one-group…

Involvement is the cornerstone of the educational process, especially in the early years settings. It is a fundamental factor in people's actions particularly when they are deeply concentrated in an activity. However, little research has been conducted in the early years settings, with focus on teaching and learning. This piece of research…

Almost eighty years ago, Lucy Sprague Mitchell, founder of Bank Street College of Education in New York City, wrote about social studies in ways that sound remarkably contemporary: "In the first place, we shall say that the curriculum should continue the laboratory methods, which means it should furnish the children with as many first-hand…

It is important to find the means by which struggling writers can find success in the English Language Arts. For students struggling with reading and writing, the visual arts may be a way of accessing and expressing their ideas and ultimately opening up a world of creative possibilities. This article explores drawing and painting as a pre-writing…

In this article, the author shares how she changed the way she engaged with Alex, a student who was reluctant to do art projects. While reflecting on Alex's objections to doing art projects, she noticed one concern in particular that arose again and again: he wanted to play. Alex experienced the shift into art-making as a break from playing with…

Indiana's declining SAT scores prompted the publisher of a statewide magazine covering the literary, performing, and visual arts to take action and create a program to use the magazine as a supplemental resource for students. It was believed that such a supplemental resource could enhance critical thinking and writing skills and help raise SAT…

One hundred and thirty-three preclinical medical students participated in 24 focus groups over the period 2007-2009 at Durham University. Focus groups were conducted to ascertain whether or not medical students found body painting anatomical structures to be an educationally beneficial learning activity. Data were analyzed using a grounded theory…