Welcome to the classroom of Jill Sontag and her 19 young bilingual collaborators. Join them as they simultaneously explore the world of insects and the world of language. These curious and energetic second graders are easily drawn into the realm of bugs. Encouraging them to speak in Spanish, however, is a bit more complicated. Jill uses her…

This study explored the impact of "Technology Enabled Active Learning" (TEAL) on students learning general physics, focusing on differences between genders and among various achievement levels. A quasi-experimental investigation was conducted on two semesters of courses offered in 2008. Data sources consisted of pre-tests, post-tests,…

The author provides a theoretical construct and shares personal experiences of how teacher-educators should conduct a self-examination to understand better how they view the educational potential and success of students who are racially, culturally, and ethnically diverse. Theories presented include a brief introduction to social identity…

Some time ago, the author collected data for a study on students' experiences of preparation for assessment of their art portfolios at the high school level in Canada, England, and The Netherlands. Participants with whom the author had conversations in Canada described varied by mostly rewarding experiences. However, one student's description of…

This article explores the social and professional dynamics "when teachers face teachers" seeking to impact colleagues' instructional practices to improve student learning. Specifically, it examines a group of 40 teachers leading staff development sessions at their schools in an effort to bring more literacy strategies into the pedagogies of…

Getting personal requires that teachers do what they can to give life to their talents and dreams. Doing so means thinking about what they value in teaching and searching out practices that bring success and satisfaction. Getting personal asks that teachers trust their instincts and intuitions and requires that they learn from what they do. The…

The study investigated variant and invariant physics teaching patterns across time and topics. It is assumed that the analysis perspective is decisive for identifying variant and invariant teaching patterns. Therefore, we focused on three perspectives: (1) organization of activities, (2) quality of teacher--student interactions, and (3) students'…

In this article, the author relates his own experiences as a beginning teacher. Like many hopefuls that began as student-teachers and interns, this author was tormented during the first weeks of his teaching career. For the first several weeks, the author found how he was completely out of element as a classroom teacher. Recalling other teachers'…

The authors examined how instructor attitudes relate to grading behavior using two attitude instruments (ascription of responsibility and approval motivation) and resulting data collected from general education instructors at a midwestern comprehensive university. The results of the research show that approval motivation is significantly related…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between the cognitive style and teaching style preferences of instructors enrolled in the Reserve Officer Training Corps instructor course at the Academic Instructor School at Maxwell Air Force base. Sixty-five cases were examined for two research questions: (1) To what extent is there…

As teachers, we want to motivate our students to learn during a unit and to continue learning about the topic after the unit ends. This article describes about a hundred methods we use to help motivate students to learn. The methods form 12 categories: (1) making content relevant to student values and goals; (2) helping students achieve their…

Smith and Peterson (2007) recognize the impact between students seeking out advice and that student's academic performance. And Sallee and Tierney (2007) considered the ways in which students' peer networks facilitate or inhibit access to academic resources. In this paper the authors look at the students who receive suggestions from the previous…

This paper presents an action research approach to exploring methods of improving the learning styles and outcomes of first year university students within large class environments. The genesis of this project stemmed from an observation that entire tutorial groups were often lethargic in their approach to learning. Following a survey of learning…

In this article, two in-service English teachers and two preservice English teachers, who participated in a shared mentoring relationship during the student-teaching semester, share their experiences, conflicts, and how they were resolved. The authors provide first-person narratives of all four teachers and suggestions for improving mentoring…

The effective organization and presentation of lecture material is described. Because the average lecture takes 40-50 minutes, it needs to be planned and structured in advance, since the lecturer's instinctive ordering of points may not be the best way for students to receive them. The material should be organized first for the course as a whole…