The author reflects on his first teaching experience 20 years ago at a residential outdoor and environmental education school in Ontario (Canada). He stresses the importance of documenting outdoor experiences through personal narratives as a means of bringing attention to the value of outdoor learning and connecting learners with their natural…

A teacher who became computer literate by playing with one over the summer, describes how even just one computer in the classroom can help differentiate curriculum, be used for individualized instruction, augment resource materials, access the World Wide Web for the latest discoveries, assist visual learners, and create new student and teacher…

Author, consultant, and teacher educator Grant Wiggins recalls his own and his students' memorable learning experiences and discusses the impact of those experiences on his evolution as a teacher, the importance of the teacher/student relationship to student learning, and the likelihood that the student understands less of what the teacher says…

Using music in the classroom enhances learning. Music and dance provide an opportunity for positive social interaction. Singing fosters understanding of the sound and rhythm of language. Exposing children to the patterns of different kinds of music helps them to recognize patterns in mathematics. Background music in the classroom reduces stress…

Examined how a curriculum development project, aligned with current mathematics education reforms, affected 18 students in socially diverse mathematics classroom. Found that students of lower socioeconomic status preferred direct teacher intervention as opposed to open discussions among classmates. Higher socioeconomic status students displayed…

Reviews various studies on childs play and its relation to young childrens development in music learning processes and explores the role that cognitive and social play categories have in studying childrens play with music. Provides strategies for initiating music-play opportunities in a preschool classroom. (CMK)

Reports on a case study of a technique designed to increase adult English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) students' communicative competence by exposing students to real audiences in authentic settings. In the approach, students learn the subtle influence of cultural and social factors of speech in a manner difficult to duplicate in a classroom. (four…

Proposes an integrated perspective on student learning and personal development by viewing the cognitive and affective dimensions of development as related parts of one process. Suggests that this perspective will provide college students with a successful educational experience by increasing cognitive understanding, sense of self, personal…

This qualitative case study investigated how community college students perceived specific classroom attributes as contributing to or hindering their learning. The study addressed three questions: What has been the role of students in classroom design within the community college campus? How do students assess the classroom's physical design…

Using a composite example of field trips from several years of traveling to Yellowstone with high school biology students, the author illustrates how to raise the cognitive level of science instruction and student learning through science field trips. The author examines what teachers can do to raise the level of both teaching and learning in all…

This study investigated the relationship between the amount of computer technology used in post-secondary education courses, students' perceived effectiveness of technology use, and global course evaluations. Survey data were collected from 922 students in 51 courses at both the graduate and undergraduate levels. The survey consisted of 65 items…

This study is concerned with online learners' "low" experiences. On the basis of Csikszentmihalyi's theory of flow, flow was conceptualised as a complex, multimentional, reflective construct composing of "enjoyment", "telepresence", "focused attention", "engagement" and "time distortion" on the part of learners. A flow model was put forward with…

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Latino students accounted for 18% of the school population in 2003, and the larger Latino population had reached 41.3 million as of 2004. With a yearly growth rate of 3.6%, Latinos continue to be the fastest growing population group in the nation. As Latinos continue to shape the diversity in the schools, many…

Extensive studies have been conducted on programming knowledge, instructional environments and effective pedagogies in order to improve the teaching and learning of computer programming. However, there have been few studies on the usefulness and effectiveness of using simulation. The aim of this paper is two-fold: to describe the design and…

Collaborative learning environments have been analysed extensively, yet we know relatively little about how students experience their participation in long-term learning communities where learners work together over extended periods of time. This study aims to understand pre-service teacher-students' experiences and accounts of their participation…