Describes the value of integrating technology with student-centered, meaningful, and engaging learning experiences based on constructivist theory. Topics include the role of the teacher; learning theory that underlies constructivism; examples of teachers using constructivist methods; the use of a personal digital assistant to chart students'…

Four exemplary college teachers were interviewed, videotaped in class, and rated by students on a list of effective classroom behaviors. Findings suggested that each teacher achieved excellence using a different set of effective teaching dimensions and strategies but also that they all share a small number of teaching dimensions and strategies.…

Describes implementation and evaluation of high school peer-coaching program that provides for two or three teachers to help one another improve their teaching techniques. Majority of 17 teachers in study report reduced sense of isolation and improved teaching skills. (Contains 17 references.) (PKP)

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'…

Despite government rhetoric, higher education lecturers and schoolteachers in the UK remain under pressure to focus on standards and measurement in the core curriculum at the relative expense of a wider and more creative education. This article argues that the balance needs redressing and explores the nature of creative teaching in the context of…

This chapter presents additional stories and interpretations by John Korsmo, Molly Weingrod, Joseph Stanley, Quinn Wilder, Amy Evans, Rick Flowers, Arcelia Martinez, and Pam Ramsey. The stories and interpretations are presented as teachable moments that are examples of how people are learning to understand youthwork and, as such, are open to…

The purpose of this research is to instigate a debate about the way in which professional ballet dancers are trained and the content of that training. The literature on the teaching of ballet has always focused on two areas: ballet vocabulary and training. The former is treated as both a fixed and autonomous form, and, for the latter, methods of…

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…

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…