The Open Textbook Network (OTN)--an organization based out of the University of Minnesota and comprising over 1,000 postsecondary institutions--supports the open education movement by facilitating in-person workshops about, sharing training resources for, and curating a library of peer-reviewed open textbooks. Its efforts are meant to build…

In 2010, California adopted the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for math and English. The new standards are part of a state effort to prepare students for college and careers in the 21st-century global economy and narrow longstanding achievement gaps. The state's implementation is complete, but because districts decide whether and when they…

Concepts of molecular biology and genetics are difficult for many biology undergraduate students to master yet are crucial for deep understanding of how life works. By asking students to draw their ideas, we attempted to uncover the mental models about genes and gene expression held by biology students (n = 23) and experts (n = 18) using…

This study investigated the extent to which digital literacy and media literacy among the 21st century skills are included in the social studies curriculum of the 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th grades in Turkey. Among qualitative research methods, the document analysis was used in the study. Since the data were collected from printed and digital materials,…

In Japan, the workshop-style approach for teaching reading has drawn recent attention. However, the obligation to use Ministry of Education-approved textbooks makes applying this method in classes difficult. In this study, we aimed to investigate the possibilities of incorporating workshop-style lessons into a Japanese language arts class and its…

Whereas economists do not traditionally address social harmony, and sociologists or political scientists do not usually tackle economic development, the interaction of social harmony and economic development has recently become an object of intense concern. In their aim to foster evolved rather than uprooted cultural values, the authors of this…

This paper presents a comparative analysis investigating how cultural values are represented in two sets of widely used Chinese as a second language (CSL) textbooks published in mainland China (New Practical Chinese Reader, NPCR) and the US (Integrated Chinese, IC) respectively. Using an integrated critical social semiotic approach, we examined…

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine a week-long science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) project-based learning (PBL) activity that integrates a new educational technology and the engineering design process to teach middle and high school students the concepts involved in rotational physics. The technology and teaching…

This study aims to highlight the utilization of literary genre as a well-liked method for instructing both language skills (that is to say, writing, reading, speaking, and listening) and language fields (that are grammar, pronunciation, and vocabulary). Why employing literary textbooks in foreign language classrooms and the main motives for…

Listening materials are commonly developed so students show their understanding of a specific oral discourse. Oral interactions provided in textbooks are resources in which different interactional practices are involved, repair practices being one of these. This article seeks to explore, first, the types of repair practices found in Spanish as a…

The purpose of this study was to examine the life and work of Frank William Westhoff (1863-1938), a leader in music education during the progressive era (circa 1890s-1950s). Research questions focused on his work as a music supervisor, teacher educator, pedagogue, and textbook author. I also explored Westhoff's contributions to the profession and…

The use of instructional materials is integral in all forms of the teaching-learning process, for its utilizations assure the efficiency of the delivery and attainment of the objectives. With the reputation of Social Studies as richly factual and conceptual, the selection of appropriate instructional materials is of absolute importance to account.…

The scholarship of language education, particularly with reference to learning and use of English, is marked by varieties of English. One may note two broad models: (1) ENL, ESL, and EFL; (2) EIL, ELF, and WEs. Although the scholarship is replete with debates, the debates seem to only construct and maintain that learning English and its use are…

Since most class activities revolve around the utilization of textbook, selecting an appropriate basis for teaching is one of the most important decisions a teacher is liable to make in shaping the content and nature of teaching and learning. While the quality of textbooks has improved dramatically in recent years, the process of selecting an…

The Greek school textbook is at the core of this article and is treated as a matter of policy. In 2003, the Greek Government decided to include the publishing of school textbooks in the current Community support framework and as a result school textbook publishing goes beyond Greek priorities and gains European interest, which means that the whole…