Presents a classroom activity where students vote on topics of interest and then discuss the top ideas through the use of science roundtable discussions. (PR)

Outlines arguments and rhetorical devices used to trivialize the claim that the Iroquois system of government influenced development of American democracy. Notes controversy over inclusion of the "influence thesis" in New York textbooks. Suggests that the debate is so heated because it involves a new intellectual model in which former…

Discusses the issue of deciding what is or what should be taking place in mathematics classrooms. Concludes that it is necessary to prepare the students in today's classrooms to live and work in tomorrow's world. Contains 16 references. (ASK)

Describes a summer program which brought together high school, college, and university teachers to do collaborative research that constitutes a cross between teaching and research as traditionally understood. The learning communities in the workshops worked effectively because they drew upon the educational experiences of participating teachers…

Describes a sixth-grade inclusive classroom that uses project-based learning units to examine controversial topics from the social studies curriculum. Students work in heterogeneous cooperative-learning groups composed of students with and without disabilities, to develop a multimedia presentation that demonstrates what they have learned. (CR)

Argues that the purpose of teaching students to read includes challenging children to take up books that contain "dangerous truths." Discusses two such books: "Forged by Fire" by Sharon Draper and "The Watsons Go to Birmingham--1963" by Christopher Paul Curtis. Includes children's statements regarding why they insist on being able to read good…

Demonstrates how socioscientific material is marginalized through the structures and language of syllabus texts and through classroom practices using the example of Salters' Advanced Chemistry from the United Kingdom. Concludes that socioscientific content is gendered through association with social concerns and epistemological uncertainty, and…

Examined how white students in an undergraduate multicultural education course experienced difficult, emotional content about racism. Analysis of samples of students' reflective writing indicated that the coursework influenced students' racial identities. Reflective writing in combination with teaching practices informed by psychological theory…

Oddly, most religious controversy in public schools concerns school-sponsored rituals or student expression outside the classroom, not teaching of religious ideas. Reforms such as vouchers or tax credits would not violate the Establishment Clause, as they do not favor a particular religion. Instead, they demonstrate fairness to all parents,…

Presents a brief legal history of the evolution/creationism controversy as a means of highlighting the issues involved in the controversy. Argues that understanding this legal history has many benefits to student understanding. Contains 46 references. (DDR)

In this new feature of the "Academe" journal, work by faculty members is highlighted who are mobilizing in support of academic freedom on their campuses and beyond. This September-October issue of the journal includes the following brief reflections from faculty all relating to the central theme of "fighting back": "Free…

This paper develops a conceptual basis for a model on the teaching of socio-scientific controversial issues for secondary or high school students. I argue that the teaching of controversial issues needs a stronger theoretical base. Drawing on a liberal democratic conception of possible sources of conflict, three strands are developed that provide…

Since its acceptance as a pedagogic field, environmental education has experienced divergence and antagonism in its theoretical and methodological approaches and standpoints. In this paper, the author talks about the conflicting relationship between environmental education and education for sustainable development as well as the many discourses…

We implemented a series of three guided controversies to provide experience in environmental problem solving to students in a science course designed for nonmajors. Students wrote essays in response to their experiences in each controversy; we analyzed these essays for five problem-solving criteria. A questionnaire administered at the end of the…

On May 17, 2004, the United States will observe the fiftieth anniversary of the Supreme Court's landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas. By invalidating the doctrine of "separate but equal" in the field of public education, a doctrine that had been approved by the same court nearly sixty years earlier in Plessy…