Discussion of professional development for teachers in higher education highlights developing professional practice, including the Kolb Learning Cycle; the elements of professional development; the Staff and Educational Development Association (SEDA) accreditation scheme in the United Kingdom; essential processes and structures for professional…

Reports the development, results, and conclusions of a university campuswide faculty development needs assessment (n=147). The survey is unique in that it asked faculty to first identify their professional goals and then select activities to help them reach the desired goals. Findings concerning different faculty goals at different career stages…

Explains the nature and scope of Operation Pathfinder which involves teachers in a two-week course characterized by hands- on experiences with coastal processes and oceanographic research. (DDR)

Discusses the characteristics and benefits of the Nebraska Operation Chemistry (NOC) summer workshops. Provides a brief overview of the workshops and the 11 instructional modules. (DDR)

Delivering a school-to-work curriculum requires appropriate professional development in workplace content and pedagogy. Educators can initiate ancillary learning strategies by forming study groups; reading trade and technical publications; participating in structured field trips, seminars, and teacher externships; and designing student assessments…

Teaching portfolios are making their way into today's classrooms in three important ways: as habits of mind helping teachers define good practice; as processes teachers use for reflecting on their own teaching and learning; and as new teaching strategies mirroring student learning practices. (MLH)

Describes a framework for investigating approaches to mathematics teaching, in light of recent reforms, which is used to explore the struggles of a veteran middle-school mathematics teacher as he attempted to modify his teaching practices. Concludes that the teacher was successful in broadening some aspects of his pedagogical thinking and…

Discusses ways in which a mathematical pedagogy seminar can be an enlightening, engaging, and sometimes entertaining experience through which to bring together departmental colleagues and their students. Suggests logistics for such a seminar, 25 topics, and readings. Contains 64 references. (Author/ASK)

Examines urban high-school teachers' professional-development experiences through the lenses of personal teaching efficacy and professional learning, highlighting interview responses of 20 teachers with highest and lowest scores. Degree of personal teaching efficacy influences how individual teachers experience professional development. Programs…

Describes a mentoring program developed at Augusta State University that used e-mail and a list server to link experienced teachers with new teachers who needed advice about classroom management, administrative demands, overcoming a sense of isolation, and the need for support. Reports on results of interviews and focus-group sessions. (LRW)

Explains how academic teachers are participating in summer externship programs and discovering that work-based learning yields across-the-board benefits for teachers, students, and employers. Offers guidelines for making the most of externship experiences. (JOW)

Although opportunities for externships for teachers in rural areas are limited, rural teachers must seek out work sites in advance or travel to distant sites to gain the practical experience they need to bring back to their classrooms. (JOW)

Examines the place of caring, constructivist learning, and community in teachers' professional development. Professional-learning communities provide a conversational space for connecting teachers' personal, practical knowledge in the classroom with the larger professional-knowledge landscape. Profiles two professional-development initiatives that…

Investigated changes in graduate teacher-education students' knowledge of teaching and learning resulting from the use of personal journals. Analysis of participants' journals found that their insights became more profound as their journals progressed, and the nature and quality of thinking and reflection, as well as their influence on practice,…

Current educational-reform documents recommend that teachers shift from using traditional practices toward practices that foster students' development of mathematical understanding. This article examines a new model of professional development and explains a pizza activity that helps teachers learn more about how children perceive math and develop…