Too many of our brightest and most capable students are sometimes caught in a system that places too much emphasis on linguistic, word smart intelligence or mathematical, number smart intelligence. Students at all levels of academic readiness from developmental to honors are affected by the rigidity of this way of thinking. Focusing solely on…

It is well established that children are already learning science before entering school as they actively construct meaning from the world around them. Using children's previous and personal experiences to engage them with new and unfamiliar concepts can be a powerful tool, and their motivation to learn will increase if they see how the science…

Through an exegetic reading of Peirce's minor texts on higher education, I find that Peirce's conception of a "Liberal Education" is close to the Herbartian conception of "Bildung." Peirce calls for a general education with the ambition of qualifying critical thinkers with the capacity to go beyond the strict rules and narrow borders of the "artes…

Path analysis was used to test predictions of a model explaining the impact of students' perceptions of classroom structures (tasks, autonomy support and mastery and evaluation) on their self-efficacy, perceptions of the instrumentality of class work, and their achievement goals in a particular classroom setting. Additionally, the impact of…

A critical element in effective teaching is establishing positive connections with students, particularly those at risk of failure. This article presents the findings and suggestions of researchers who have examined the practices and impact of caring teachers, and how their students perceive them.

In this article, the author presents a quiz to identify whether or not a person is a nerd. He also offers a new definition for nerd: "A person who is excited about learning and who thinks that sharing knowledge is cool." A nerdy teacher loves when students bring in articles from the newspaper about the upcoming meteor shower or the new movie about…

This article, based on a presentation made by the author at the 2003 California Library Association conference, provides examples of how librarians and teachers can use Science Fiction to provide catalysts for discussion in a variety of subjects; teach students how to question intelligently; and stimulate their imaginations, thus motivating them…

This study examined family factors reported by parents and their children in relation to children's academic competence. Adolescents and their parents (N=323) reported about the same family characteristics: parental acceptance and involvement in the children's education. Measures related to children's academic competence were: academic competence…

In this article, the author compares teaching and learning to the maintenance of an old car that leaks oil and must constantly be "topped up." Learning is a complex process of taking in and leaking out. The retention of new information is constantly under assault by an array of personal and contextual factors, such as a lack of interest, fatigue,…

In this article, the author shares some findings from his classroom observations. He has found that, in the typical classroom, a small group of students answers many questions and as much as half of the class answers no questions at all. One problem with such a response pattern is that teachers often decide how well the lesson is going from the…

Views of mathematical modeling in empirical, expository, and curricular references typically capture a relationship between real-world phenomena and mathematical ideas from the perspective that competence in mathematical modeling is a clear goal of the mathematics curriculum. However, we work within a curricular context in which mathematical…

This study examined how two motivational substrates may be differentially important depending upon the learner's language background. Students registered in German classes (N = 99) completed a questionnaire that assessed (a) their intrinsic, extrinsic, integrative, and instrumental reasons for learning German; (b) their feelings of autonomy,…

The success of policies to attract adults back to the learning of mathematics, at various levels, is often linked to questions of motivation. However, motivations depend on relevant beliefs, attitudes and emotions about mathematics--which themselves reflect, together with experiences with maths in school and in the home, wider cultural discourses…

Although recent U.S. legislation has had a profound impact on reading instruction and student achievement, some students continue to fall behind. This provocative text addresses this gap with a new perspective on reading instruction that goes beyond the realms of teacher content knowledge and methodology. The book shows how motivation and interest…

In this article, findings from a recent one-year research project that investigated the use of games in a variety of school settings are described and discussed. The project involved four schools and 12 teachers designing classroom activities around specific games to support learners both within the formal national curriculum and in the context of…