Discusses classroom application of the concept that the best way to learn something is to explain it to someone else. Science students select basic subject concepts, then develop a brief lecture and a series of demonstrations and hands-on activities to explain those concepts to younger audiences. Students present their teacher-approved units to…

A grade 6/7 teacher and a teacher educator-researcher team-taught science to 29 students by framing science projects as adventure. Ethnographic data revealed that small-group instruction, whole-class discussions, and presentations to outside audiences provided progressive opportunities for students to exchange ideas and motivated students and…

Discusses problems of maintaining higher education geography fieldwork in an era of increasing class size. Presents and describes 13 strategies for coping with these problems. Recommends that individual teachers and geography departments redesign their fieldwork programs in accordance with their priorities. (CFR)

Contends that the success or failure of an undergraduate research project can hinge on one or two decisions made at an early stage in the process. Describes a "Snakes and Ladders" board game used to remind students of good and bad research design practices. Includes game rules and a listing of the good and bad practices. (CFR)

Maintains that history is stories of extraordinary and ordinary people confronting problems not unlike today. Presents and discusses five keys to history: (1) time; (2) place; (3) people--achievements and failures; (4) society--contributions and failures; and (5) connections between past, present, and future. (CFR)

Maintains that, because elementary students and teachers are together all day for an entire school year, the opportunity to teach social justice and democratic values is great. Contends that the transmission model of social studies must be discarded in favor of a transformational model. (CFR)

Discusses how teaching about quilts and quilting in elementary social studies provides a more complete view of social history and includes the voices of women and men of different races, cultures, and social classes. Provides suggestions on teaching about quilts and identifies seven children's books on the topic. (CFR)

Discusses using Donna Haraway's concept of affinity and affinity politics as a foundation for structuring collaborative pedagogy and feminist syllabi. Outlines the goals and assumptions of affinity-based pedagogy, and relates classroom experiences that illustrate its functioning. Notes the lessons that both students and teachers have taken away…

Problem-based learning (PBL) has been recognized as an important educational strategy and has been adopted in many medical schools. There is confusion, however, about what constitutes PBL. Describes 11 steps in the continuum between PBL and information-oriented learning, task-based learning being the final step at the problem-based end of the…

Foxfire awards were presented to a professor of education who helped found a Foxfire-affiliated teacher network and develop new courses, and four elementary-secondary teachers who implemented Foxfire classroom approaches that included learning centers; student tutoring; individual folder work; student-researched stories of family, community, and…

Teachers of tax law are encouraged to require students to actively examine and apply the tax code and regulations. The author's active teaching approach is described covering student accountability, use of textbooks that offer explanations, procedures used in classroom analysis, student questions, use of lengthy regulations, breadth of coverage,…

Students in a combined grade 3-4 in a charter school in Asheville, North Carolina, chose the topics and ways to demonstrate their learning to fulfill history curriculum requirements. Their choices of local historical architecture and traditional quilt-making spiraled out to include photography, historical fiction, and quilted pillows, which were…

A teacher describes using some of the Foxfire core practices to teach a "last chance" program for students in grades 7-8 who were angry, oppositional, and defiant. After a cooperative classroom planning process in which counselors helped students articulate their ideas, the students began revealing their interests. These interests, in…

The purpose of this study was to investigate 8th graders with different learning styles their motivation outcomes after implementing 10 weeks (40 hours) inquiry-based teaching. Two hundreds and fifty four 8th graders were involved in experimental group, this group of students experienced inquiry instruction. Two hundreds and thirty two 8th graders…

Teachers have incorporated active-learning techniques into the sociology classroom for many years, but the types of applications and evaluations are quite varied. In this paper, the authors quantitatively test a particular form of active learning that they call "living-data exercises," which instructors can use to introduce sociological research…