This paper explores what students taking an international project-based course in computer systems strive to learn. Through empirical, phenomenographic work we have identified three different motives that the students strive for: academic achievement; project and team working capacity; and social competence. What a student strives to learn largely…

Critical literacy is about how people see and interact with the world; it is about having, as a regular part of one's life, the skills and desire to evaluate society and the world. It is especially focused on issues of power: Who has it and who is denied it; how it is used and how it is abused. More specifically, it often revolves around issues of…

This paper examines a non-equivalent quasi-experimental research effort, wherein two versions of a two week Project Based Learning unit were developed, implemented, and assessed. Students used a collaborative GIS or paper maps to support data analysis activities in this eighth grade Earth science unit. Attitude and self-efficacy in science as…

This article discusses an action research study on how an integrated project-based curriculum could enhance students' learning of mathematics and social studies content. "A Tale of Two Cities" a thematic unit, which was developed and used with three classes of sixth-grade mathematics students (95 total) as part of the study. Results shows that "A…

Fifth-graders explore complicated social issues and create a CD entitled Exploring Freedom. (Contains 2 tables and 6 figures.)

This paper presents the eighth-grade students--Misha, Ashley, Tandie, and Henrietta--in Mrs. Olen's math class in a high-poverty school, who work with members of a local nonprofit organization to collaboratively create a multi-textual, digital project on poverty and its connections to homelessness. The focal project on problems and solutions…

We integrated four technology tools into a course to showcase their pedagogical usefulness. These were Course Compass, a web-based, course-management system; Moveable Type WebLog, an Open Source blog; recorded verbal critique, an evaluation of student projects recorded verbally and then web archived; and Calibrated Peer Review, a web-based,…

This practical, how-to guide makes it easy for teachers to incorporate the latest technology in their classes. Employing an informal workshop approach, the book avoids technical jargon and pays special attention to the needs of teachers who are expanding the use of computers in their classroom. The authors focus on what teachers do and how they…

This paper reports how digital technologies can be successfully incorporated into traditional teaching programmes to support the learning of a new generation of learners. It describes the introduction of an innovative learning venture with preservice teachers. A web-based platform called Lessonlab was piloted with four cohorts of preservice…

History instructors working in a community college face two major challenges. First, to make history interesting and relevant to the students, many of whom have to take history courses as a requirement. And second, to fulfill one of the missions of a community college which is to forge a connection between the school and the people in the local…

This case provides a real-world semester long project-oriented case study for students enrolled in an electronic commerce course that has a significant development component. The case provides the technical framework in the form of functional requirements for students to design and build a fully functional transaction processing e-commerce Web…

This document presents the working papers from a conference that explored ways for students to commemorate the Bicentennial of the Bill of Rights. The conference provided an opportunity for leaders in law-related education and others interested in the Bicentennial to work together to begin exploring, identifying, sharing, and jointly suggesting…

The introduction of affordable multimedia computers with CD-ROM capacity, videocassette recorders, and connections to the Internet and the World Wide Web have expanded opportunities to help society develop visual literacy. Art images are a natural choice for the teaching of visual literacy. At Northern Illinois University, a course was added in…

This paper reports on the results of a class experiment in which advanced Human Anatomy and Physiology and beginning General Biology science students selected a science project using art as the medium of expression and demonstration. Students were allowed to select their own project, with the instructor's approval. Once a project was decided upon,…

Intended to help teachers of grades K-6 develop students' writing skills, this book contains easy-to-follow instructions for creating many fun types of correspondence, such as pop-up and scratch-and-sniff cards. The book is filled with lists of useful resources, including ways to find pen pals, an annotated bibliography of children's books that…