Most teachers shy away from the discussion of controversial issues in the classroom. But, Mr. Winn fears, if students are not given the guidance and opportunity to engage in critical thinking and discourse in school, they will not be capable of carrying out their responsibilities as citizens in a democratic society. In this article, the author…

After the harmonization process carried out in Spanish higher education following the Bologna Declaration, many universities have decided to introduce English as the language of instruction for some studies. From 2010, the new study programmes have been implemented, and there is an urgency to define what is meant by "teaching in…

The use of multimodal learning techniques is becoming more widespread, however, the pedagogical discourse surrounding its implementation into classroom and course design is complicated as these technologies are either demonized or viewed as the panacea for curriculum ills. Educators are faced with unique challenges when investigating how to…

Although the need for education for sustainability in pre-service teacher education is well recognised, little has been published to indicate how this might be incorporated into university courses in Australia. This paper describes one attempt to encourage pre-service primary teachers to include education for sustainability in their future work.…

The Understanding Evolution website (http://evolution.berkeley.edu/) was developed to provide a freely accessible resource that promotes the teaching of evolution and improved understandings of evolution among students and the general public. Evaluations show that the strategies employed in site design have allowed it to effectively meet those…

Teachers are often exhorted by creationists to "teach the controversy." Although such encouragement sounds on the surface like a proposal for critical thinking instruction, the history of the creationist movement in North America belies this claim. Rather than teach students to analyze and evaluate actual scientific controversies, the intent of…

Statistics, and more generally mathematics, have been neglected in Christian scholarship on faithful learning and teaching. This subject has been generally classified in the "some areas are harder than others when it comes to making connections with faith" category. If statistics is more than just a technical tool and is in fact a way of thinking,…

The most powerful single modification that enhances achievement is feedback. Feedback can be achieved through the use of classroom assessment techniques (CATs). CATs are designed to provide both faculty and students with the feedback necessary to increase the quality of teaching and learning throughout the semester (Angelo and Cross, 1993). CATs…

Individual response technology (IRT), in which students use wireless handsets to communicate real-time responses, permits the recording and display of aggregated student responses during class. In comparison to a traditional class that did not employ IRT, students using IRT performed better on exams and held positive attitudes toward the…

Citizens participating in contemporary socio-scientific issues (SSI) need to draw on local knowledge and personal experience. If curricular developments in the teaching of controversial SSI are to reflect contemporary notions of citizenship then the personal narrative is an indispensable instrument in bridging the gap between the local/personal…

How many beginning teachers struggle to create new lessons despite the fact that experienced teachers have already designed effective lessons for the same content? Shulman (1987) used the term "collective amnesia" to describe the failure of school leaders to design professional development that included the collection of its best…

College honors courses provide an opportunity to tackle controversial topics in an atmosphere that encourages active learning, critical thinking, and open discussion. This venue is particularly appropriate for examining the debate about teaching intelligent design (ID) in public school science classes. A one-credit honors enrichment seminar taught…

An analysis of student verbatim responses in the Student Outcomes Survey provides suggestions for how the vocational education and training (VET) system could be improved. Eight major domains are discussed: course relevance and design; staff attributes and behaviours; teaching and learning practices; access to courses; facilities and services;…

Situated within a university-based content literacy course, this article considers the spaces between the curricular realities of middle school and high school classrooms, what we call the "what is," and potential alternative configurations of curriculum and instruction for these classrooms, what we call the "what could be."…

In this paper I respond to Long's paper in which he uses an ethnographic snapshot of a rally of scientists against the perceived "dumbing down" effect of the new Answers in Genesis Museum in Kentucky to raise educational concerns about the effects of creationist influence on the science curriculum in American schools. In my response I…