The paper describes a graduate course deploying innovative instructional materials (e.g., the use of novels to provide context for theoretical constructs) and learning activities (e.g., community asset mapping) to engage issues of leadership in rural settings. Prior to describing the course itself, the paper develops a rationale for the importance…

Baxter Magolda's Learning Partnerships model was used to create a program designed to foster student epistemological development. To assess its effectiveness, the Measure of Epistemological Reflection was administered to the experimental cohort and a comparable group in the traditional general education program. Results indicate that the model…

The author believes that a unified theory might provide ideas helpful for improving research; professional training and practice; and therefore, student achievement. Little attention was paid to how several variables might work together and there is little discussion regarding how they might work together. The author stresses that there are…

The twofold purpose of this study was to trace prospective and practicing mathematics teachers' understandings of content area reading instruction in relation to domain knowledge in mathematics, and to examine the extent to which online pedagogical mentoring supported the integration of such instruction and knowledge. The design called for two…

Basic education in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) seems to be characterized by lecture methods of instruction, a lack of interdisciplinary approaches and a disconnection with local community problems. During 2008, a "My Community, Our Earth" (MyCOE) workshop was organized in the MENA region and involved teachers of geography,…

The rapid evolution of System-on-Chip (SoC) challenges academic curricula to keep pace with multidisciplinary/interdisciplinary system thinking. This paper presents a curricular prototype that cuts across artificial course boundaries and provides a meaningful exploration of diverse facets of SoC design. Specifically, experimental contents of a…

There is a century of rich literature on social learning from the fields of education, psychology, and sociology characterizing a wide variety of practical applications such as instructional techniques, consumer behavior conditioning and determining criminal motives. In social learning theory, according to Bandura, there are four fundamental…

This article describes a collaborative action research project aimed at deliberately "re-placing" art in the elementary curriculum through targeted planning, implementation, and assessment of an art integrated unit in an urban 4th grade classroom. Findings and implications should be relevant to elementary teachers, administrators, art specialists,…

In this article we describe our experiences using picture books to provide young children (five- to six-year-olds) with a learning environment where they can explore and extend preliminary notions of mathematics-related concepts, without being taught these concepts explicitly. We gained these experiences in the PICO-ma project, which aimed to…

In the past decade, significant shifts have occurred in the nature of the Internet and the conceptualization of classrooms. Such shifts have affected constructs of learning and instruction and paths for future research. In this article, the authors build on three ideas set forth in comments on their article "Web 2.0 and Classroom Research: What…

Since before the time of writers such as Plato in his "Republic" and "Timaeus"; Martianus Capella in "The Marriage of Mercury and Philology"; Boethius in "De institutione musica"; Kepler in "The Harmony of the Universe"; and many others, there have been attempts to reconcile the various disciplines in the sciences, arts, humanities, and religion…

Are the humanities relevant enough to the average undergraduate to be included as a required part of a general education program? The University of Idaho (UI) is currently ten years into the challenge of implementing a cross-disciplinary, university-wide general education program--the UI Core--that has the attention, if not always the support, of…

Evidenced in several now classic reviews of the field, much has been made of theoretical and methodological "difference" with regard to research in the sociology of education. Although such renditions often constitute important intellectual contributions, the authors suggest that it is increasingly important to read across theoretical and…

"Diversity" is a highly popular and oft-used term and concept in K-12 and higher education. This literature review examines the dominant discourse on diversity--a discourse that positions difference as deficit. Although traditional schooling has been resistant to system-wide change, this review will also consider research showing teachers as well…

Often the differences students see in science and mathematics classrooms are in perspective, approach, or application. Understanding those differences can help teachers to present a unified picture of mathematics and science to their students. In this article, the science teacher is given a glimpse of the treatment of topics shared by both…