This paper addresses student-teachers' ability to "read nature" in a woodland habitat before and after a 10-week ecology course. "Reading nature" is our definition of the ability to observe, describe and explain basic ecology in the field. Data consists of field-based pre-course and post-course interviews followed up by…

This paper explores the effects of specific teacher threshold knowledges about boys and gender on the implementation of a so-called 'boy friendly' curriculum at one junior secondary high school in Australia. Through semi-structured interviews with selected staff at the school, it examines the normalizing assumptions and 'truth claims' about boys,…

The views of the author's students about history caused her to reflect on her teaching, specifically, what she was lacking in her attempts to teach civic competence through history. This process led her to research historical thinking and design a study in which she exposed her students to the rigors of history. Grant's (2001) study of 9th grade…

This article describes the experience of teaching structural bioinformatics to third year undergraduate students in a subject titled "Biomolecular Structure and Bioinformatics." Students were introduced to computer programming and used this knowledge in a practical application as an alternative to the well established Internet bioinformatics…

Two hundred first- and second-grade Chinese children's knowledge of basic relational concepts in following directions was assessed on the "Applications Booklet" of the "Boehm Test of Basic Concepts-Revised" (BTBC-R, 1986). Chinese children's performance was then compared with that of the standardization sample of the BTBC-R.…

A high school math teacher describes how U.S. schools unwittingly erode student learning by using assessments to emphasize the wrong goals. He claims that students have begun to see school as a "game" in which collecting the most points--seen as "capital" or wealth--leads them to success. Instead, he argues, assessment should…

High school teachers must not use that time devoted to the study of the mass media to "beat up" on the press or to "frighten" students with stories which exaggerate the power of the mass media industries. At the same time the potential enormous impact of the contemporary mass media must not be ignored. This means that teachers must not overstate…

Across two years, we examined the effects of teachers' attempts to implement computer supported collaborative learning (CSCL) communities in classrooms in two high schools on students' knowledge building, strategic learning, and perceptions of the classroom environment. In year one, 429 (fall) and 317 (spring) students in the classes of 8 teachers…

Industrial culture focuses mainly on the production of "things"--of static objects. Knowledge, on the other hand, is constantly in flux, like a flowing stream. Conventional industrial notions lead policy makers to believe that the addition of a knowledge-based industry to an existing industrial base makes a knowledge economy. This is not the case.…

England's Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA) requires that students, in order to qualify for teacher status, must undertake the study of law. This article reviews the TDA standards and considers its rationale for the selection of law. Such selection and the need, if any, to study law are contrasted with texts written for teachers…

This study investigated the effects of a training seminar and selected background variables on Greek music teachers' attitudes and self-evaluation regarding research. Public school, university, and conservatory teachers (n = 41) participated in 16 hours of seminar instruction over a two-week period at a Greek university. The seminar provided an…

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to describe parents' perceptions of their 5th grade child's physical education program. Twenty seven parents were interviewed regarding the types of information they currently have and the sources from which that information came. Results indicated that many parents possessed inaccurate information…

Multiple literacies, multiple ways to look at the world, impact how students make connections to and understand their world. Referring to students' reading of their world using the term multiple literacies validates that students actually add knowledge to the academic conversation. Referring to the wealth of knowledge students bring as only skills…

Focus on Risk is an instructional material created to enhance high school students' environmental risk literacy. An evaluation involving 532 Focus on Risk students and 305 comparison students showed modest improvements in students' demonstrated risk knowledge and stronger improvements in self-assessed risk knowledge. Students' sense of…

Several factors have been shown to influence inclusion of children with special educational needs. This paper reports on findings from a questionnaire investigating training, specialist knowledge, confidence, attitudes and beliefs of the Reception class, Year 1, and Year 2 teachers of a cohort of children with a preschool diagnosis of moderate or…