This study uses two national data sets to explore the relationship between faculty practices and student engagement. Our findings suggest that students report higher levels of engagement and learning at institutions where faculty members use active and collaborative learning techniques, engage students in experiences, emphasize higher-order…

This study examined the relationship between a constructivist/hands-on elementary methods course in science and preservice teachers' dispositions toward science content and teaching. The study investigated how an active learning and teaching style in science methods courses would affect preservice teacher self-efficacy and attitude. Data came from…

Noting that preparing teachers to be expert practitioners is a complex task, this handbook is intended to assist teacher educators in creating a comprehensive staff development program within a school or district, or in designing a course for teachers at the preservice or advanced degree level. The handbook gives step-by-step instructions for…

The objective of this paper is to show how science, writing and technology can be successfully integrated to maximize learning for all students. A recent research study infusing the writing process into hands on science lessons will be discussed, along with recommendations on the use of technology to support instruction in the areas of science and…

This study used a Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) approach to investigate relationships between student motivation, higher-order thinking skills, quality of teaching and learning, teacher student relations, student satisfaction with course contribution to their learning, and active learning strategies, with a sample of 2,190 undergraduate…

The is the first report from a study of a structured active learning approach to an analytical chemistry course. The purpose of the study is to assess the longitudinal outcomes of this approach and to provide feedback to curriculum developers about the effects of the changes being made in the chemistry curriculum. The data, collected from a cohort…

This paper reports on a unique assessment of a structured active learning approach to a freshman chemistry course. Faculty members (N=25) from 11 departments outside the chemistry department served as assessors interviewing approximately 200 students from the experimental and a comparison version of the course. The experimental section of the…

The essays in this book are the author's attempt to connect her own seeking with the strivings of other teachers and teacher educators who are tired of a self-centered, technocratic existence and who want to enhance their understanding of diversity. The essays concentrate on imagination as a means through which to assemble a coherent world,…

This book presents findings of a 1993 study of how design in the curriculum helps students achieve national educational objectives. It also explores opportunities for expanding the role design can play in students' academic lives. Results of the 1993 study reveal how the use of design experiences in classrooms provides teachers and students with a…

This book guides parents and children in developing strategies to figure out words. The first chapter, Skills for Identifying Words, presents general strategies for making sense of words, and for using the eyes and ears to identify words. The first chapter also offers listening and visual exercises. The second chapter, Using Phonics To Identify…

This publication compiles oral histories preserved by rural students around the country and provides teachers with information and resources for developing oral history projects. The first five sections were written by the students and teachers of (1) Anderson Valley Junior/Senior High School, Boonville, California; (2) Edcouch-Elsa High School,…

This guidebook proposes a different way of teaching history: start from today and keep asking questions. The guidebook's theory is that as students investigate possible answers, they make connections across miles and centuries. It contends that, along the way, they experience that essential insight of the social studies point of view has…

Learning is an active, constructive and collaborative process, where people construct knowledge from their experiences in the world. People construct new knowledge with particular effectiveness when they engage in constructing personally meaningful products, that is meaningful to themselves or to others around them. The construction of knowledge…

Designed for teachers who view service learning as a teaching strategy to improve instruction, this guide assumes that participants in the training are teachers who will use service learning to help their students achieve the objectives of the school curriculum. Some of the training sessions, such as reflection and defining service learning, may…

A service is described to help enable digital libraries for education, such as the NSDL (National Science Mathematics Engineering and Technology Education Digital Library), to serve as collaboration spaces for the creation, modification and use of active learning experiences. The goal is to redefine the line between those activities that fall…