The challenge for those who are working with talented STEM students is to engage them with like-minded science leaders through direct contact and by using meaningful web resources. The author discovered new web resources by attending a workshop and by reading an alumni magazine. She introduced both web resources to her senior classes and…

Today virtual world instruction faces many of the same educational challenges faced by Web-based instruction during its infancy. There is a lot of jargon and visions of the future being bandied about, but as Hirumi et al. note in the May/June and July/August 2010 issues of "TechTrends" "there little understanding of how to apply" pedagogical…

As educators who have been strongly influenced by this journal, the authors decided to do a content analysis of the "voices" from "Voices from the Middle," from its inception to today. They listened closely to who is talking, what the authors are (and are not) discussing, the educational contexts of these conversations, and how the dialogue has…

The implementation of good laboratory practices (GLPs) is recognized by the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries as being critical for ensuring the international acceptability of products. However, as universities and colleges (and research organizations) do not necessarily work under similar constraints, actual laboratory practices vary…

Three-quarters of the states adopted a new set of common academic standards in the past six months. However, education groups and publishers are preparing to follow with one of their own--curriculum materials that aim to embody the new standards. An early example comes from the Washington-based advocacy group Common Core, which released free…

The study examines the effect of explicit form focus instruction and specifically metalinguistic information feedback on the development of both implicit and explicit knowledge of adult English as a Second Language (ESL) learners. Ninety-one subjects at the lower intermediate level were carefully selected through placement test at one of the…

Through in-class observations of teaching assistants (TAs) and students in the lab sections of a large introductory physics course, we study which TA behaviors can be used to predict student engagement and, in turn, how this engagement relates to learning. For the TAs, we record data to determine how they adhere to and deliver the lesson plan and…

This paper describes a global professional development program called 21st Century Learning Design (21CLD), which helps teachers design academic lessons that integrate opportunities for students to develop 21st Century competencies in a variety of dimensions such as collaboration, knowledge construction, and the powerful use of ICT for learning.…

Successful implementation of historical approach to teach nature of science (NOS) requires suitable curriculum material. Several research and development projects have produced lesson plans for science teachers. 25 lesson plans from four different projects involved in creating curriculum material utilizing historical approach in chemistry…

This article describes a lesson taught in a designated English Language Learner (ELL) classroom in an elementary school in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, using a sheltered instruction approach. Eighty one percent of the students at this school are from diverse ethnic backgrounds where 25 per cent of them receive ELL services. A variety of languages are…

Teacher evaluation is a current hot topic within music education. This article offers strategies for K-12 music educators on how to promote their effectiveness as teachers through archival documentation in a teacher portfolio. Using the Danielson evaluation model (based on four domains of effective teaching practices), examples of music teaching…

Everyone under the age of 20 who has grown up in North America has lived in the common market created by NAFTA--the North American Free Trade Agreement. In a zone linking the United States, Canada, and Mexico, most goods and investments flow freely across borders to users, consumers, and investors. In 1994, NAFTA created the largest relatively…

This lesson is designed to teach students that behavior is a trait shaped by both genes and the environment. Students will read a scientific paper, discuss and generate predictions based on the ideas and data therein, and model the relationships between genes, the environment, and behavior. The lesson is targeted to meet the educational goals of…

Building teachers' confidence in their understanding of nature and encouraging the use of field experiences with students are important factors in increasing environmental awareness in students. "A River Runs Through It (ARRT)" is an integrated environmental education professional development program, immersed practicing teachers in…

The Preschool Educational Environment Rating System (PEERS) is a measure designed to examine the quality of instruction in preschool settings. Unlike other rating scales, it not only measures the environment, it also examines both how teachers construct their classroom for instruction and the quality of the enactment of instruction. Designed on…