Using the philosophy of mindfulness is an innovative way to teach about perception. By participating in a mindfulness awareness practice, engaging in an activity with all your senses and being in the moment without judgment, students learn about the concepts of perception and mindfulness; analyze their personal perception process before and after…

Critics of ethics education suggest that students need to learn about contextual pressures of workplace ethical decisions and develop skills to handle them. Thus, instructors are often challenged to integrate an ethics unit into organizational behavior courses in ways that complement, rather than duplicate, what may have been covered in their…

Jeremy Thomas and Russell McBride are social studies teachers in North Carolina and, until recently, were colleagues at a charter school outside of Raleigh, serving students in grades 6-12. After learning about the Inquiry Design Model (IDM), both teachers implemented it into their classrooms and immediately saw how the blueprint helped deepen…

The term "flipped" or "inverted" classroom includes a broad range of pedagogical innovations, and has recently received a significant amount of press. Although flipping an entire course might be a more extreme step than most are able to take, we discuss modular ideas for change that can be more easily implemented. This paper…

Among the many factors contributing to the historical lack of reading gains of our Black male students is the absence of texts accurately and authentically representing African American characters in today's schools. In addition, well-meaning educators are not adept in identifying and selecting these types of texts in order to provide African…

Many English teachers feel underprepared to teach students with disabilities. While teachers may want to do whatever they can to make all their students successful, some may feel that they don't have as much time as they would like to prepare high-quality differentiated instruction, to fully accommodate every student, or even to know what…

A classroom-based activity was created to help undergraduate students in a course about the HIV epidemic explore and better understand the nature and scope of anti-HIV stigma. The activity asks students to assess the extent of their sympathy for several people living with HIV disease when given only a brief statement about how each person became…

Many middle school students claim that their voices are ignored in the classroom, where the attitude is too often that the teacher holds the one right answer. Instead of this approach, teachers may wish to use the Socratic Seminar, which prompts students to examine issues and ideas through dialogue and actively involves and motivates them, giving…

Although students read about relational turning point analysis in some interpersonal communication textbooks, they regard it as an abstract concept until required to apply it to their own lives. Through group discussion, as other group members supply important events that an individual student might not consider, students are able to carefully…

Presents a classroom exercise that can help students focus on the difficulties in defining normal sexual behavior. Provides a 30-item questionnaire on which students indicate whether or not a variety of behaviors are normal. States that students then meet in groups and construct a definition of "normal" sexual behavior. (DB)

This paper focuses on the answering and asking of questions in college-level courses and makes suggestions regarding questioning techniques for lecture classes and discussion groups. "Question" (Q) is defined as "any eliciting of an answer (response) regardless of grammatical form. "Answer" (A) is defined as "any…

Most biology teachers implement animal dissection (real or virtual) and often lead discussions on research involving animal subjects. Such activities provide excellent opportunities to explore ideas about ethical conduct in the care and use of animals. The challenge for teachers is to present information about animal care and use that enables…

Exposure to ideas helps young children articulate their own beliefs and sharpens their connections. Teachers can provide opportunities for children to advance their knowledge about democratic conditions through sustained discourse, or, as described in this article, purposeful class discussions followed by hands-on activities. The author describes…

The general chemistry course at Harvey Mudd College presents chemical principles and addresses technology's impact on society. Students consider environmental and economic implications of chemical scenarios in real-world case studies created for team-based analysis and discussion. Case study design, implementation, and assessment are presented.…

Looks at issues of gender equity that are important to teenagers, showing how students' thoughts and feelings can be used as reference points in the social studies classroom. Suggests class discussions on work equity, gender communication, and intervention strategies. Reminds teachers that they must act as positive role models. (LS)