Surveys that focused on academic and life skill development were collected from alumni who attended Avalon Charter School in St Paul, Minnesota. Avalon is a small public charter school that uses project-based learning as their primary teaching method. Forty-two alumni responded to the online survey. Students ranked life skills such as creativity,…

In a climate of increased concern for the environment and its protection, teachers in disciplines as diverse as biology, microbiology, environmental studies, and environmental engineering may be seeking teaching materials and laboratory exercises that will enable them to introduce these new concepts into their classrooms and laboratories. The…

Films are multimodal, often memorable, and change one's way of thinking. Films provide narratives and visual metaphors that function as tools for one's imagination and learning. No other film has amplified this phenomenon in the United States more than the "Star Wars" Cycle. "Star Wars" exemplifies the multidimensionality of…

The goal of this article is to assess the national and transnational forms of the spread and reception of pedagogical ideas through a very concrete example, namely, the study of the project method. There are several good reasons for choosing this subject. In the first place, it was quite important that the theoretical construct of the New…

With the popularity of e-mail cutting into revenues, Canada Post is always searching for a marketing strategy that would encourage people to use the mail. "Picture Postage" is such an initiative. This popular program allows individuals to create their own stamps for family and friends. This opportunity also provides a vehicle for…

In this article, the author describes an art project in which students create their own outdoor environments using a tri-wall frame--a triple-layered cardboard, which is very lightweight and strong. Then the students compose a few sentences describing the scene or place.

Creating a self-portrait of having fun "riding a wave" is a very enlightening and engaging experience for students of all ages, but the author's second-graders had an especially wonderful time with this art experience. To begin the unit of study, the author and her students looked at self-portraits created by Vincent van Gogh, Rembrandt,…

In this article, the author describes the last assignment of her Advanced Studio class, which was about art movement and movement in art. In the assignment, students were to find a master painting they really liked. They would then have to break it up (usually into foreground, middle ground and background) and reassemble it. The difficult part was…

The use of project work (PW) or project-based learning has escalated in Singapore since its inception by the Ministry of Education in the year 2000. There is however little information on students' motivation, and their experience of PW over time. This study sought to identify homogeneous groups of students with distinct perceived locus of…

This research investigated how student social interactions within two approaches to an inquiry-based science curriculum could be related to student motivation and achievement outcomes. This qualitative case study consisted of two cases, Off-Campus and On-Campus, and used ethnographic techniques of participant observation. Research participants…

This case study explored the use of students' personal mobile devices in the classroom for learning. The context was a district with an initiative called Bring Your Own Technology (BYOT), whereby students regularly utilized their personal technology as part of the curriculum. The focus of this study was to better understand how students' personal…

Learn how to increase rigor so that all students can reach higher levels of learning! With this new edition of a teacher-tested best seller, you get practical ideas for increasing text complexity, providing scaffolding during reading instruction, creating open-ended projects, and much more. The enhanced second edition provides important…

Pacesetting high schools, middle grades schools and technology centers have changed classroom and other practices to prepare students to meet postsecondary requirements and rising workplace needs. The strategies include raising expectations, project-based learning, guidance and advisement, improving students' reading and writing skills,…

This report describes a problem based learning project focusing on educational change and gender in the superintendency. Superintendent tenure is influenced by the ability to facilitate and navigate the change process. Superintendent leadership and organizational change have been shown to be related to student achievement; therefore, successful…

This report describes a problem based learning project focusing on educational change and gender in the superintendency. Superintendent tenure is influenced by the ability to facilitate and navigate the change process. Superintendent leadership and organizational change have been shown to be related to student achievement; therefore, successful…