Background: In the 1950s and 1960s, many children experienced museums as dull and boring. Nowadays, museums seem to be much more conscious of their educational role and the need to make their exhibits attractive and interesting. Making use of narratives is one way of achieving this. Some scholars claim that narrative is central to meaning making…

Based on the idea that eating is an environmental act, we designed an environmental education project where elementary school children and community elders work as partners to raise food crops on an urban organic farm. Our goal was to illustrate how eco-philosophies could be translated into educational programs that foster environmental…

This article reports on hopes and challenges in the first attempt to assist Ethiopian student teachers to develop practical awareness about action research through collaborative learning methods. First, the candidates were organized as a cohort. Then a framework was developed to help them construct reflective questions before and during action…

Kindergarten has changed radically in the last two decades in ways that few Americans are aware of. Children now spend far more time being taught and tested on literacy and math skills than they do learning through play and exploration, exercising their bodies, and using their imaginations. The implications of these radical changes in early…

To address the increasing demand for mass undergraduate management education and, at the same time, a greater emphasis on student teamwork, this study outlines the development, delivery, and evaluation of a training intervention designed to build team-coaching skills in teaching assistants. Specifically, "practice-centered" and…

Governments and development agencies in Sub-Saharan Africa are experimenting alternative approaches within the innovation systems paradigm to enhance relevance of agricultural research and extension to the poverty eradication agenda. Uganda, for example, has recently shifted from the supply driven to demand-led agricultural research and extension.…

This article depicts the rewarding experience of creating mathematical environments for kindergarten and elementary students by focusing on one of the most important and often difficult-to-grasp concepts (fractions) through play methods incorporated into a math fair. The basic concept of a math fair is threefold: (1) to create preplanned,…

One of the most important goals the author has for students in his introductory-level physical geology course is to give them the conceptual skills for solving geologic problems on their own. He wants students to leave his course as individuals who can use their knowledge of geologic processes and logic to figure out the extended geologic history…

The Google Online Marketing Challenge is an ongoing collaboration between Google and academics, to give students experiential learning. The Challenge gives student teams US$200 in AdWords, Google's flagship advertising product, to develop online marketing campaigns for actual businesses. The end result is an engaging in-class exercise that…

Lord Leitch was commissioned by the Chancellor in 2004 with a remit to "identify the UK's optimal skills mix in 2020 to maximise economic growth, productivity and social justice and to consider the policy implications of achieving the level of change required." In the 2006 Budget, the Chancellor asked Lord Leitch to consider how to…

The authors demonstrate how to tailor curriculum to support the varied interests, abilities, and talents of the children in a kindergarten class. Through words and photographs, they describe an in-depth study of rocks and sand, a topic of great interest to the children. The teachers posed open-ended questions that fostered high-level discussions.…

Economic conditions over the past year have brought most nations in the world to a state of flux. What once appeared to be a thriving economy has now been in one of the steepest recessions in decades. To get our economy back on track, organizations will need to seek IT investments and solutions that increase productivity, improve security and…

Close to 4.6 million public school students receive English Language Learner (ELL) services (Kindler, 2002). In addition to educational gaps that exist between ELLs and their non-ELL peers, ELLs often experience significant barriers to academic success (Williams & Butler, 2003). The importance of school counselors in the success of ELLs has been…

This case study involved an intensive exploration of a single unit, a college program for urban participants designed to increase their professional knowledge and skills and academics. The study explored whether urban participants perceived change in their professional knowledge and skills, change in their roles, as well as progressed academically…

The purpose of this study was to develop and pilot test a methodology to determine the relative importance and presence of constructivist elements in online learning classes. A case study method was used to assess the effectiveness of four key constructivist elements: knowledge construction, collaborative learning, authentic learning and…