The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics'"Professional Standards for Teaching Mathematics" perceive teachers as key figures in changing the way mathematics is conceived and taught. Discusses research related to teacher reflection and its relation to classroom practice. (MDH)

Presents the Forage Manager spreadsheet, developed as a forage management teaching tool to integrate agronomic, livestock, and cost data to demonstrate the impact of forage management on livestock production costs. Teaching applications, examples involving agronomic data and conventional agronomic evaluation, and limitations of the program are…

Presents an activity in which students construct model hot air balloons to introduce the concepts of convection current, the principles of Charles' gas law, and three-dimensional geometric shapes. Provides construction and launching instructions. (MDH)

This study investigated the differential effects of three laboratory experiences on preservice teachers' knowledge of specific teaching behaviors and ability to observe and report teacher behaviors. Results indicated knowledge of teaching behavior was significantly higher for the live telecast observation group than for the interactive video…

Presents a conceptual framework for teaching science to students with disabilities. The framework suggests integration of explicit instruction in critical concepts, with cognitively-based approaches that emphasize problem-solving skills on real-world tasks. Implications for policy, professional development, and creation of learning environments…

This article considers how graduate, diploma, and certificate programs in second-language acquisition and didactics, as well as intercultural communication, can help professionalize language instruction and benefit all levels of instruction. (36 references) (Author/CK)

This article describes an innovation that embraces elements of both technical and professional models of school improvement within the elementary division of a large school system. Emphasis is on development of the reciprocal learning instructional strategy for teaching academic content in regular classrooms and enhancing teachers' adoption and…

Reports on an INSET course for the staff of an international school in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The article argues that all teachers involved in the support of English-as-a-Second-Language learners can best communicate with each other and facilitate their students' learning through the medium of "common codes," which are defined and…

This article reviews the evidence for balanced literacy instruction in the elementary years. The case is made that the balanced instructional model is particularly appropriate and beneficial for students who have initial difficulties in learning to read and write. Key features of successful reading instruction programs are described. (Contains…

Explores the difficulties students have in understanding the relationship between surface area and volume. Examines four cases where the ratio of surface area to volume varies, and makes recommendations for demonstrating each with models. (Contains 15 references.) (WRM)

Describes four spaces of network learning models which are designed to integrate the Internet into education. Topics include learning technology; network learning environments; project-based learning; community-based learning; learner location; including distance learning; teacher-centered versus student-centered; interaction, including…

The "Central Dogma" of genetics states that one gene, located in a DNA molecule, is ultimately translated into one protein. As important as this idea is, many teachers shy away from teaching the actual mechanism of gene translation, and many students find the concepts abstract and inaccessible. This article describes a unit, called Genetics…

This article measures the effectiveness of Kentucky Teacher Academy (KTA). Twenty-one teachers attended the week-long seminar. While attending KTA, they received a stipend and also earned continuing education credit. Teachers of the visually impaired and science teachers received priority, on the basis of the generally accepted practice of…

The Virtual Grand Tour (VGT) is a paradigm for integrating a presentation of an overview of a larger subject with the possibility of launching at any time an exploratory study of a given sub-topic. The name derives from the paradigm's emulation of those 18th-century travels intended to educate (especially) young, affluent British men; today, with…

Biology students in their first year at university have difficulty understanding the abstract concepts of photosynthesis. The traditional didactic lecture followed by practical exercises that show various macroscopic aspects of photosynthesis often do not help the students visualise or understand the submicroscopic (molecular-level) reactions that…