This article explores the potentials of new pedagogical approaches, assisted by digital technologies, to transform today's learning environments and create learning for the future--learning environments which could be more relevant to a changing world, more effective in meeting community expectations and which manage educational resources more…

As students apply their knowledge of scientific concepts and of science as a method of inquiry, learning becomes relevant. This laboratory exercise is designed to foster students' understanding of the genetics of quantitative traits and of the nature of science as a method of inquiry by engaging them in a real-world business scenario. During the…

A curriculum unit for middle school Earth Science called "What's on Your Plate?" was designed. The unit was implemented in several middle and high school classrooms in California and Massachusetts. In the first implementation, the total number of students who participated was 1100. The unit was designed with two main pedagogical…

Increasingly, the viability of university programs to develop in school leaders the knowledge, skills and dispositions needed to bring about reform are being questioned. This article uses case study methodology for looking at how an increasing emphasis on collaborative inquiry in one university's program influenced a school principal several years…

The purpose of this article is to examine the teacher research movement from the perspective of three generations of teacher researchers within the context of a unique collaborative science teacher action research group. The question that guided the study was the following: In what ways do three generations of science teachers perceive their…

This article reports on a method developed for teacher self development that is grounded in the classroom and within the everyday repertoire of skills and resources available for teachers. It is developed under the general rubric of action research, which positions teachers as insider researchers of their own practice. Action research techniques…

Diffusion and osmosis are central concepts in biology, both at the cellular and organ levels. They are presented several times throughout most introductory biology textbooks (e.g., Freeman, 2002), yet both processes are often difficult for students to understand (Odom, 1995; Zuckerman, 1994; Sanger "et al.", 2001; and results herein). Students…

Learning to negotiate the "personal war between oneself as a musician and as a teacher" is an important part of the identity construction of pre-service music educators. In this article, the author shares some preliminary findings from a study related to the needs of in-service music teachers. This study did not begin as a sociological…

With this review, we explore the practices of arts-based educational research as documented in dissertations created and written over one decade in the Faculty of Education, University of British Columbia. We compile and describe more than thirty dissertations across methodologies and methods of inquiry, and identify three pillars of arts-based…

This article explores the question of how engaging in teacher inquiry within the context of a school-university partnership influences teachers' use of technology to enhance student learning. While striving to meet the National Educational Technology Standards (NETS) and performance indicators for teachers (Information Society for Technology in…

There is wide agreement on the importance of scaffolding for student learning. Yet, models of individual and face-to-face scaffolding are not necessarily applicable to educational settings in which a group of learners is pursuing a process of inquiry mediated by technology. The scaffolding needed for such a process may be examined from three…

This paper explores a new pedagogical approach to teaching teachers to assume a learning or inquiry stance in their practice. It is based on an assumption that professional learning is a core capability of good teaching that is responsive to the changing needs of children, schools, and communities. One source of teacher learning is practice--one's…

In this lesson, students use Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans--a "wild" candy written about in the Harry Potter books and now available in stores--to learn about classification and dichotomous keys. In these activities, students sort jelly beans according to a key and then construct a key for a "new" flavor of beans. Students then build on their…

As science teachers, they understand the importance of gaining student interest to promote learning. They know how challenging it is to spark the curiosity to truly engage students in the processes of "doing science." One often-used method of motivation is the demonstration of science in action. Demonstrations such as "discrepant events". They are…

Based on a naturalistic study of an intergenerational art program at a colocated child and long-term care facility, the purpose of this article is to discuss the implications of the program's learning opportunities, primarily for young children, in light of current conceptualizations of childhood, aging and disability. Through a critical,…