In Australia multiculturalism and diversity are part of daily experience. In such a society, children grow up with diverse norms, traditions and role models and are expected to become open-minded and tolerant individuals. A key figure in children's lives will often be the teacher, one of the first significant role models they interact with outside…

In many western countries, government statements about the need to recruit more men to primary teaching are frequently supported by references to the importance of male teachers as role models for boys. The suggestion is that boys will both achieve better and behave better when taught by male teachers, because they will identify with them and want…

The author is an outgoing faculty chair of the college assessment committee (CAC) at Moravian College. In this article, he shares the learned principles and constructive practices that guided his ten years of successful progress in fostering assessment: (1) Assessment must be part of the strategic plan; (2) Assessment language must be consistently…

Boyer's call for the study of the "scholarship of teaching" has rekindled interest in outstanding teaching in higher education. However, most studies of teaching quality and student experiences in higher education have paid little attention to intense, meaningful key experiences and were limited in answering the pertinent question: Can…

Based on the perspective of postformal operations, this study investigated whether college students' role models (technical teachers vs. lecturing teachers) and preferred learning styles (experience-driven mode vs. theory-driven mode) in collaborative teaching courses would be moderated by their cognitive development (absolute thinking vs.…

Introduction: Most approaches to reducing the socially inappropriate behavior of adolescents target the individual rather than a group. Evidence suggests greater efficiency and longlasting effects may be achieved when groups of peers work together to make meaningful contributions to their communities through service learning projects. In the…

The potential of drawing from urban youth culture, and hip-hop more specifically, to serve as a bridge to the standard curriculum has been well documented. However, the richness and potential benefits of hip-hop are more far-reaching and present significant implications for teacher education and professional development efforts as well. This…

This paper identifies the crisis in Muslim higher education as stemming from two unacceptable alternatives: (i) ethnically based Islamic education out of step with British culture and (ii) an 'objective' Islamic studies approach which is not held in esteem by the Muslim community. The path forward for Islamic education in Britain lies in…

This study conducted telephone interviews with 26 randomly selected English Language Coordinators from 26 Arizona school districts with enrollment patterns that were representative of the state as whole. Three primary questions were posed to the respondents: (a) How is the 4-hour ELD block being implemented?; (b) What are the benefits of the…

In "Speaking of Faith," radio journalist Krista Tippett recalls the time when she began to recognize the hypocrisy and contradictions in the behavior of the people around her. Tippett's experience is not only far from unusual, it is formative. It led her to make some important decisions in her life, including the desire never to live a life of…

The purpose of the qualitative phenomenological study was to explore the essential meaning adult business school students attributed to the shared experience of an ethics course they took at California State University Sacramento. The study involved gathering data from recorded and transcribed semistructured interviews with 10 volunteer…

This study investigated the images of astronomical scientists held by Turkish primary students by gender. The Draw an Astronomical Scientist Test was administered to 472 students from an urban area. A Chi-Square Test of Independence was used to test for statistically significant differences between gender groups. Significant differences were found…

Computers have become an important part of young children's lives, both as a source of entertainment and education. The National Association for the Education of Young Children's (NAEYC) position statement on Technology and Young Children (2006) supports the need for equal access to technology for all children with attention to eliminating gender…

Women's under-representation in fields such as engineering may result in part from female students' negative beliefs regarding these fields and their low self-efficacy for these fields. In this experiment, we investigated the use of animated interface agents as social models for changing male and female middle-school students' attitudes toward…

The start of a new school year is a challenging and exciting time for any teacher--and a time when beginning teachers particularly need our support. Working with new science teachers in the New Science Teachers' Support Network (NSTSN) has shown the authors that veteran teachers have the greatest impact on beginning teacher's success. The NSTSN is…