Researching the men and women who are the namesakes of local schools can be one of the best bridges students can use to cross the gulf of historical time. Granted, some schools are named after trees, flowers, or geological formations, but many of America's public schools are named after people who once walked the ground today's gifted students now…

The Wireless Online Tutoring System (WOTS) is a web-based, synchronous groupware system that has been developed to facilitate student collaboration in group projects. It supports interactive and collaborative structured-diagramming and is equipped with group awareness features such as remote cursors, locking, and textbased instant messaging. Users…

Industrial design and technology are lab-based disciplines with highly visual products, hands-on activities, and frequent interactions between faculty and students. As a result, the ways that online resources are used in these courses tend to be different from other subject areas with more lecture-oriented modes of learning. This article addresses…

User-centered design (UCD) is an approach to design that grounds the process in information about the people who will use the product. UCD processes focus on users through the planning, design and development of a product. Establishing a User Profile is certainly a key element in user-centered design. For many products, such as an automobile, a…

To develop scientific literacy in today's global era, however, it is important that students learn about interactions within the Earth's systems worldwide. A unit exploring El Nino and La Nina-phenomena that can result in extreme weather events in locations all around the world-can help bridge this gap and broaden students awareness of global…

Online courses have been criticized for their focus on knowledge acquisition rather than on how to solve authentic complex problems, a skill that is increasingly being recognized as critical to meeting the challenges in the real world. The purpose of this study was to explore whether between-group collaboration in project-based online courses can…

In 2001, the "All Sky Camera Network" came to life as an outreach program to connect the Denver Museum of Nature and Science (DMNS) exhibit "Space Odyssey" with Colorado schools. The network is comprised of cameras placed strategically at schools throughout Colorado to capture fireballs--rare events that produce meteorites.…

The Center for Improved Engineering and Science Education (CIESE) at Stevens Institute of Technology helps mathematics teachers to integrate and implement engaging and innovative collaborative lessons into their curriculum for illustrating complex mathematics concepts. CIESE has developed online projects that incorporate complex mathematics…

The Super3 research process equips students with their own set of handy tools so that they can take the most ordinary facts and transform them into amazing research projects. The second grade students have created Native American homes by applying the Super3 process and its tools such as graphic organizers, trash and treasure note taking, and the…

An active service-learning research work is conducted in the field of advanced environmental chemistry. Multiple projects are assigned to students, which promote individual learning skills, self-confidence as scientists, and a deep understanding of the environmental chemist's profession.

Through the use of a long-term project in a graduate teacher education course on the importance of play, students learned skills beyond those usually required in a graduate classroom. Students used their understanding and knowledge of play, constructive practice, and project work to develop a family play day at the university lab school. As part…

Project-based instruction is a valuable way to promote the simultaneous acquisition of language, content, and skills, provided that students in academic ESL classes can see the value of learning through projects, which the literature notes has not consistently been the case. This article introduces a methodological tool called "The Project…

This pre-college filmmaking class represents the writing process in a setting that acknowledges multiple forms of representation for effective communication. Students were introduced to the skills used by filmmakers and encouraged to write, script, design, edit and cast their productions for a final screening five weeks after they began their…

Eleven years experience with the running of web-based projects for final year undergraduate students of the Faculty of Life Sciences at Manchester University, along with an example of one project, is described. Application of the scientific method was emphasised to students. Technical support workshops were provided for them. Project performance…

The dubbing of muted video clips offers an excellent opportunity to develop the skills of foreign language learners at all linguistic levels. In addition to its motivational value, soundtrack dubbing provides a rich source of activities in all language skill areas: listening, reading, writing, speaking. With advanced students, it also lends itself…