"Potemkin schools" is used as the phrase to capture what a US science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) public speciality high school becomes as a result of its institutional branding. By way of an examination of the efforts of one teacher drawn into school branding through his "inquiry-based reform" of an Advanced Chemistry course,…

In recent years, the health professions have moved from "eminence-based" solutions to "evidence-based" problem solving. This evolution provides new opportunities to implement integrative curricula for those preparing for the health professions. These new curricula can be built on the Essential Learning Outcomes identified through the Association…

Scientific inquiry involves a variety of abilities scientists use to investigate the natural world. In order to develop students' scientific inquiry, researchers and educators have developed different curricula and a variety of instructional resources, which make features and descriptors of scientific inquiry in teaching and learning even more…

When the author attended a "weekend" conference on the "Standards for the 21st-Century Learner", she was filled with uncertainty about the AASL standards and how to implement inquiry in her fixed-schedule environment. Her uncertainty grew as the presenters introduced themselves. However, her uncertainty began to subside as one of the presenters…

In 1920, John Watson and Rosalie Rayner claimed to have conditioned a baby boy, Albert, to fear a laboratory rat. In subsequent tests, they reported that the child's fear generalized to other furry objects. After the last testing session, Albert disappeared, creating one of the greatest mysteries in the history of psychology. This article…

"Now seems an opportune time to turn our attention back to the question of how our education system is going to contribute to helping our children become thoughtful, ethical, caring, and contributing democratic citizens." Wilhelm documents the fact that students "crave the doing of significant work," and posits that this is what we are teaching…

This article proposes that narrative inquiry methods fruitfully shape the role and strategies of persons who consult with religious communities. It suggests that the composition of field texts and transition from research notes to narratives enables consultants to mirror the stories of congregations so congregants can recognize, claim, and…

This research explored the experience of graduate students who taught service-learning courses to undergraduate students at a large research university. The inquiry was grounded in literature about service-learning, the scholarship of engagement, and doctoral education. A qualitative study included interviews with graduate student service-learning…

Guided Inquiry is a means by which student enquiry can be facilitated in schools, while simultaneously being the vehicle for evidence-based practice. This paper illustrates this twin purpose in two contexts: An overview discussion of the 2008 NSW Association of Independent Schools' Project, led by Dr. Todd, and a 2010 Guided Inquiry at Loreto…

This innovative resource describes how teachers can help students employ "literacy tools" across the curriculum to foster learning. The authors demonstrate how literacy tools such as narratives, question-asking, spoken-word poetry, drama, writing, digital communication, images, and video encourage critical inquiry in the 5-12 classroom. The book…

This study explored how science teachers and school administrators perceive the use of the affective domain during science instruction situated within a high-stakes testing environment. Through a multimethodological inquiry using phenomenology and critical ethnography, the researcher conducted semi-structured interviews with six fifth-grade…

It is evident that "experientially-based" instruction and "active student engagement" are advantageous for effective science learning. However, "hands-on" and "minds-on" aspects can occur in both inquiry and direct science instruction, and convincing comparative evidence for the superiority of either mode…

This document contains excerpts from Team Up for 21st Century Teaching & Learning. This document includes the excerpts of five articles that provide a substantial evidence-based argument for the power of collaborative communities to improve teaching and learning. These articles are: (1) Professional Communities and the Artisan Model of…

Understanding the distinctions among heat, energy and temperature can be difficult for students at all levels of instruction, including those in engineering. Misconceptions about heat transfer have been found to persist, even after students successfully complete relevant coursework. New instructional methods are needed to address these…

A novel professional development curriculum model has been implemented for a chemistry teacher education programme. The aim of this five-year programme is to educate future chemistry teachers as lifelong learners and researchers, capable of following developments in both chemistry and its teaching, implementing up-to-date research findings in…