Twelve learner-centered recommendations for Web-based instruction are discussed, relating to safe learning communities; student engagement; students' choice; facilitating learning; public and private feedback; apprenticing student learning; recursive assignments; electronic writing and reflection activities; student Web link suggestions; clear…

Discusses the efficiency of using lectures in medical education and explains a computer-based teaching system that aims to provide an active learning environment for adult learners. Explains the basics of the computerized audience response system and gives tips for designing similar presentation questions in PowerPoint. (YDS)

Describes how the string orchestra students of Natchitoches Central High School in Natchitoches (Louisiana) and their director commissioned the composer Jody Nagel to write a composition dedicated to their ensemble in order to increase the students' understanding of composition. Discusses student reaction to the project and use of discipline-based…

In a recent attempt to infuse her instructional design course at Penn State with the problem-based approach, the author began using real-world cases as the centerpiece for the class. This article describes the course requirements, how cases work, and probably pitfalls to this approach. Two sidebars include an Occupational Hearing Conservation…

Believes that it may be daunting for some students to learn about the history of psychology. Describes a teaching strategy that uses jigsaw puzzles to teach about the historical terms of structuralism, functionalism, and gestalt psychology. Finds that students performed better on test questions related to these three concepts after using this…

An interview with Margo Mastropieri, special-education-teacher educator, discusses science instruction for students with learning disabilities in inclusive settings. The value of activity-based approaches to science instruction for these students is emphasized. Ways of adapting both textbook-based approaches and activity-based approaches are…

Presents a rationale for acknowledging the importance of movement to learning to help children understand abstract concepts. Includes seven activities that employ movement to enable students to understand the nature of the solar system. (DDR)

Service learning is positioned at the intersection of two major concerns of education: the balance between active and traditional learning and the axis of public and private sectors. As such, it can be used to address a variety of educational issues, including instructional strategy, undergraduate research, diversity, civic and social…

Faculty who introduce active learning methods often perceive striking changes in student competence. Describes an assessment strategy designed to determine whether such changes in student skills are observable by independent and unbiased observers. Contains 16 references. (DDR)

Provides an example of a directed case on human anatomy and physiology. Uses brief real life newspaper articles and clinical descriptions of medical reference texts to describe an actual, fictitious, or composite event. Includes interrelated human anatomy and physiology topics in the scenario. (YDS)

Not all learning activities are worth keeping. For kids to know and understand important curriculum concepts, hands-on activities should also be "minds-on." Backward Design is a three-step curriculum model that helps teachers identify desired results, determine acceptable evidence of student learning, and plan learning experience and…

Describes an algorithm for planning college-level mathematics lessons based on the identification and achievement of student learning objectives. Discusses the ways in which this algorithm can help novice instructors to include opportunities for active learning in their lessons. (Contains 50 references.) (Author/ASK)

Transfers the environment of a large enrollment oceanography course by modifying lectures to include cooperative learning via interactive in-class exercises and directed discussion. Results of student surveys, course evaluations, and exam performance demonstrate that learning of the subject under these conditions has improved. (Author/SAH)

Discusses inquiry and how asking questions, answering the questions, and arguing the answer should be. Provides examples of inquiry investigations and make recommendations for inquiry-based teaching approaches. (YDS)

Proposes that classrooms that encourage critical thinking possess distinguishing features that can assess whether critical thinking is a regular occurrence. Suggests that a critical thinking classroom commonly reflects the following attributes: frequent questions, developmental tension, fascination with the contingency of conclusions, and active…