The primary vehicle of this inquiry into the nature of motivation is the case of Phaedrus' Demonstrator. Its setting is a class where grades are withheld from students, and their reactions are noted and analyzed from the instructor's perspective. Effective use of the case is delineated, and options are suggested for carrying its lessons to the…

There has been considerable debate on the nature of scholarship over the past two decades. A key contribution to this debate is a seminal work in which Boyer (1990) articulates an expanded notion of scholarship. One of the four functions of scholarship that Boyer identifies in this expanded view of scholarship is the scholarship of integration. In…

This paper describes a module provided to first year elementary participants in a two-year after-degree Bachelor of Education program. The module was specifically designed to address the fact that pre-service teachers can enter the B.Ed. degree with little or no science knowledge. Science experiences were explicitly incorporated into the B.Ed.…

A typical card sort is an activity in which students are given a set of cards with a single concept written on each card and asked to organize the cards by grouping related concepts. The nontraditional card sorts described in this article foster critical thinking and add elements of inquiry as students use them to develop flowcharts for complex…

The implementation of Geographic Information Science (GIScience) applications and discussion of GIScience-related themes are useful for teaching fundamental geographic and technological concepts. As one of the newest geographic information tools available on the World Wide Web, Google Earth has considerable potential to enhance methods for…

Engaging middle-school students in scientific inquiry is typically recognized as important, but difficult. Designed to foster learner engagement, this method used an online, problem-based, science inquiry that investigated the West Nile virus during four weeks of collaborative classroom sessions. The inquiry prototype was authored in WISE, the…

This article is an attempt to critique some of the limitations of dominant school reform discourses in education, drawing upon the work of Michel Foucault, Michael Apple, Maxine Greene, and Dennis Carlson, in addition to writers in the emerging field of what might be called "eco-progressivism." The intersections between ecology and education can…

"Mineral Detectives!" is one of eighteen lessons in the "Private Whys?" integrated science unit, which uses a guided inquiry investigation to teach students in grades three through five about the role of minerals in our lives. The University of North Texas developed "Private Whys?" with funding from the Copper…

A Multi-Scaffolding Environment (MSE) is a multimedia environment reliant on authentic scaffolding. We examine the impact of the availability of multiple scaffolds on learning and cognitive load within an MSE where learners are assigned a real-world task and given access to four support tools to help them complete the task. By examining an MSE in…

Can you imagine a class where students cover the content with each other rather than simply listening to the professor's lecture? Can you envision students developing their own laboratory investigations and quizzing each other weekly to check for understanding? Well, that's pretty much how the major science organizations across the nation are…

Responding to the call for reform in American graduate teacher education programs, the authors of this paper examine the design of a teacher action research-based approach in which teacher inquiry lies at the heart of individual courses and the program as a whole. The authors report on the transformation of program graduates from teachers to…

Historians explore historical accounts, memoirs, diaries, letters, newspaper articles, speeches, historical documents, relevant legislation, maps, ship manifests, genealogical records, official certificates, photographs, and paintings. In short, historians examine any official or unofficial document that might provide relevant information about…

In 2004, the authors began an evaluation of England's Networked Learning Communities Program--137 self-selected networks, involving over 1500 schools. The focus of their evaluation has been on identifying promising features and processes as they are being implemented in networked learning communities, and ascertaining the importance of these…

"Children's Choices," a project of a joint committee supported by the International Reading Association (IRA) and the Children's Book Council, is published annually in "The Reading Teacher." Books recommended by children are grouped by levels: Beginning Reader (ages 5-7); Young Readers (ages 8-10); and Advanced Readers (ages…

Stories are how we make sense of experiences, thus providing the historical sense of life. To paraphrase Dewey, extracting at each present time the full meaning of each present experience enables us to do the same for our pasts. The continual reconstruction of the past in the light of the present is integral to full engagement with the present…