In the present political climate, politicians are singling out children's programs and services for budget cuts. The need for teacher education programs to prepare early childhood teachers as children's advocates is becoming ever more evident. For years, the National Association for the Education of Young Children has called for greater…

Multimedia applications can provide enormous enrichment to the methodology of teaching, learning and learning by doing. When developing applications for the teaching of engineering design using these means of communication it is important to consider the special features of this field. This contribution gives a report on the experience gained by…

From September 2006 schools across England and Wales will have to deliver the new KS4 Programme of study. The wide consultation initiated by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) in the year 2000 resulted in the piloting of the new criteria in 78 different schools and colleges. The piloting was performed by the awarding body Oxford…

This study evolved as an instructor took over a course that recently had been converted to a web-based course. While navigating the web-based course the instructor and students recognised several issues and concerns (instructional alignment, lack of interactivity, poorly designed test questions and confusing instructions for assignments). Study…

Since biology is one of the most dynamic research fields within the natural sciences, the gap between the accumulated knowledge in biology and the knowledge that is taught in schools, increases rapidly with time. Our long-term objective is to develop means to bridge between the dynamics of biological discoveries and the biology teachers and…

Good teaching should be inclusive of all students. There are very strong arguments for making courses/units/modules as inclusive as possible, based on issues of equity and access. Inclusive teaching has been a catch cry in recent times and most universities have policies related to this issue. However, research into the effectiveness of measures…

A learning community can play an important role in facilitating student learning in a class and this is especially evident for distance learning courses. Creating a learning community that is virtual requires the use of online communication tools such as email, threaded discussion boards, and chat rooms. Many online students also benefit through…

Due to the dearth of qualified professional teachers, policymakers and professional development programs need to focus on improving the quality of high school mathematics teaching in order to diffuse this crisis. In the middle of this crisis, the demand for new teachers is predicted to rise significantly in the next ten years. Based on the…

To prepare preservice teachers for the technology-rich environment of today's schools, faculty involved with the preparation of teachers must model technology use in their own instruction. The purpose of this PT[superscript 3]-funded project was to design and implement a faculty development program focusing on the effective integration of…

The successful establishment of a purpose-built innovative school designed to support new ways of teaching and learning in the senior secondary years, particularly in the area of science and mathematics, required a comprehensive and research-based professional development policy and program. Planning professional learning opportunities for the…

In an instructional environment, online communication tools such as e-mail, listservs, chat rooms, and instant messaging cultivate personal bonds with and among students and promote extended dialogue about important topics. In comparison to these communication tools, however, instructional blogging offers additional opportunities to engage…

In this article, the authors focus on the use of Web-based instruction in social studies methods courses. They examine in what ways Web-based instruction transforms both teaching and learning and explore the problems and possibilities involved with electronic classrooms, including Web-supported instruction. Their study is classroom…

This study examines how social studies preservice teachers use pedagogical and technological applications and skills employed during their teacher education program, specifically the methods block. Data were collected from the methods course experience through student teaching and then through case study research with first-year teachers. Results…

Adventure-based therapy has grown in both scope and popularity. These groups are frequently utilized in the treatment of adolescents with behavioral or substance abuse issues. Less evident is the use of this modality with other populations. Described here is a personal account of the author's participation in a wilderness-based group for women.…

This paper presents an example of an approach that involves both the student and the instructor in the evaluation of an online discussion in a context of teaching and learning. According to this approach, the student conducts a self analysis of his or her contributions to the discussion, using criteria supplied in advance of the discussion. One…