The placement in colleges is a crucially formative experience for trainee teachers on pre-service Further Education (FE) initial teacher training courses. A project at the University of Huddersfield researched these placements in four colleges in the north of England and the relationships that were formed between the trainees, their mentors, other…

The 2008 presidential election catapulted "community organizers" into the media fray and raised awareness about community organizing. At the University of San Diego (USD), a course teaching consensus organizing techniques to address community issues was instituted in 2004. The course incorporates traditional undergraduate students and…

The aim of this study was to combine podcasts of lectures with mobile assessments (completed via SMS on mobile telephones) to assess the effect on examination performance. Students (n = 100) on a final year, research-led, module were randomly divided into equal sized control and trial groups. The trial group were given access to podcasts/mobile…

Research and literature on the adoption of technology provides a useful lens through which to view the adoption and implementation of classroom response systems (CRS). The technology adoption life cycle describes groups of adopters in ways that are helpful in understanding the adoption and sustained implementation of CRS in chemistry departments.…

Understanding frames of reference is critical in describing planetary motion and learning astronomy. Historically, the geocentric and heliocentric models were defended and advocated against each other. Today, there are still many people who do not understand the relationship between the two models. This topic is not adequately treated in astronomy…

In the United Kingdom tensions have existed for many years between the pedagogical traditions of pre-school, which tend to adopt developmentally oriented practices, and the more formal or subject-oriented curriculum framework of primary school. These tensions have been particularly acute in the context of Northern Ireland, which has the earliest…

Over the past decade or so there has been increasing concern over the unprecedented wave of retirements of community college leaders, from department chairs all the way to presidents. There are three different venues for developing future leaders in order to offset this deficiency: university-based formal degrees, professional and continuing…

This study aims to explore problem-based learning (PBL) in conjunction with students' confidence in the basic ideas of electromagnetism and their motivational orientations and learning strategies. The 78 first-year geology and geophysics students followed a three-week PBL instruction in electromagnetism. The students' confidence was assessed…

We provide a description of how a culturally and linguistically diverse elementary school in the Midwest implemented core features of a response-to-intervention (RTI) framework for improving school-wide reading instruction and decision making. A multi-year timeline illustrates how this school implemented additional elements of the RTI framework…

The paper presents a curriculum design for, and subsequent evaluation of, a communications systems course using problem-based learning (PBL) as the instructional methodology. It details the rationale for implementing PBL as well as reporting intended learning outcomes and assessing the students' achievements. (Contains 2 figures and 4 tables.)

The Two Survey Method (TSM) is a new time-efficient tool for gathering formative student feedback. Based on the Delphi technique, the TSM uses iterative surveys to develop student consensus about key strengths and suggestions for instruction. Evaluation data indicate that both faculty and students are satisfied with the method's efficiency and the…

In order to improve recruitment of teachers to rural schools, preservice teachers need opportunities to become familiar with rural education contexts, overcome anxieties promoted by negative stereotypes and build confidence in their professional and personal abilities. Traditional approaches involve rural practicums which are not feasible for many…

In fall 2007, J.B. Speed School of Engineering at the University of Louisville joined the ranks of universities requiring the purchase of Tablet PCs for all new entering students. This article presents a description of how the Department of Engineering Fundamentals incorporated Tablet PCs into their instruction, a review of the literature…

Six remedial reading teachers in a large, rural school district participated in a form of professional development called Teaching as Intentional Learning, based on an inquiry process. Their topic of inquiry was formative assessment. Professional development comprised both direct instruction and inquiry learning in teachers' own classrooms. This…

Common Core education standards establish a clear set of specific ideas and skills that all students should be able to comprehend at each grade level. In an effort to meet these standards, educators are turning to technology for improved learning outcomes. "Cases on Technology Integration in Mathematics Education" provides a compilation…