This paper is a practical how-to guide to help you start using active learning or to have greater success and more fun with it. We categorize active learning techniques as Think, Pair, Share, Composite, Group, Move, or Lead and discuss how to implement activities in each category, along with advice on creating engaging, effective, and equitable…

Learning trajectories (LTs) can inform teaching by contributing a variety of pedagogical and content-related insights and strategies. They support sequencing topic introduction and development. Because ideas evolve gradually and often rely on a careful introduction of new representations, operations, cases of numbers, structures, and definitions,…

Courses: Public speaking, business and professional communication, group communication. Objectives: This activity will introduce Monroe's Motivated Sequence as a way to organize persuasive arguments; improve students' ability to deliver presentations with consistent content, voice, and style; and improve team-based delivery skills.

Manipulative-based instructional sequences--including both concrete and virtual manipulative instructional sequences--are evidence-based or research-based mathematical interventions for students with disabilities. However, as options for manipulative-based instructional sequences increase, educators need support in deciding the best approach. In…

We are pleased to bring you this follow-up to Mairéad Hourigan and Aisling Leavy's article [EJ1289314] that was published in issue 1 this year. In this contribution, they demonstrate that embedding mathematics within a rich context and learning sequence assists with the consolidation of student understanding and makes more effective use of teacher…

The foundation of geometric knowledge and understanding starts in primary school, and in contemporary mathematics education there is an emphasis on identifying learning progressions and trajectories as a way of moving students forward. The van Hiele (1986) theory is well-documented and provides insights into the progression and differences of…

This article describes a sequential approach to improvisation teaching that can be used with students at various age and ability levels by any educator, regardless of improvisation experience. The 2014 National Core Music Standards include improvisation as a central component in musical learning and promote instructional approaches that are…

"This We Believe" advocates the use of a curriculum that maximizes early adolescent learning by integrating multiple disciplines rather than teaching them in isolation. The development of an interdisciplinary curricular unit is a common assignment in middle grades teacher education programs that seek to prepare teacher candidates to…

With the massive amounts of conflicting information and opinion bombarding us from all sides today, it has never been more important to teach young people to suspend judgment, to weigh evidence, and to consider multiple perspectives. Teaching students the craft of argument writing--not only in language arts classes, but also in social studies,…

Many teachers are using the Five Practices model to guide them in orchestrating whole-class mathematics discussions that focus on understanding: (1) anticipate an array of possible student-generated solution strategies to a mathematical task before implementing the lesson; (2) monitor students' work as they grapple with the task; (3) select a…

Given the wide range of ability (academic, linguistic and cultural) in classrooms differentiated instruction is often difficult to manage. District and building level leadership can play an important role by providing the vision and support needed to implement Whole School Cluster Grouping (WSCG), the innovative scheduling approach described in…

Communication theory courses are among the most difficult courses in communication curricula. The breadth and complexity of the discipline requires instructors to confront material with which they may have limited familiarity. Such courses are crucial, however, because learning communication theories cultivates critical thinking, helps students to…

Supporting elementary student understandings of ideas related to Earth's Place in the Universe (ESS1) can be challenging, especially given the large time and distance scales involved with many of the concepts. However, with effective use of crosscutting concepts and science and engineering practices, important concepts within this content domain…

Sound propagation is not easy for children to understand because of its abstract nature, often best represented by models such as wave drawings and particle dots. Teachers Rebecca Hendrix and Charles Eick wondered how science inquiry, when combined with an unlikely discipline like drama, could produce a better understanding among their…

The determination of kinetic data is central to reaction mechanism; science courses usually include experiments on chemical kinetics. Thanks to PC-controlled data acquisition and availability of software, the students calculate rate constants, whether the experiment has been done properly or not. This contrasts with their experience in, e.g.,…