Developing Critical Thinking Skills (CTS) has been a primary educational goal in developed countries for several decades. However, even though Mexico recently embraced this educational trend in higher education, there is uncertainty about CTS development occurring under current conditions. Despite the abundance of quantitative studies examining…

With or without pandemics, successful knowledge transfers and instilment of critical thinking in learners are strategic to teaching delivery. To revolutionize teaching practice and profession, the specific needs of every group of learners (such as gifted and talented, depressed, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder students, minority ethnic…

This paper provides a background on recent research related to learning and instruction, focusing on two mechanisms essential to deeper learning: (1) inclusion of authentic learning contexts and (2) valuing student voice as part of instruction. The authors point to ways that culturally responsive and related pedagogies leverage these same two…

The current research investigated the impact of Advancement via Individual Determination (AVID) on middle level students' executive function skills. AVID uses inquiry-based and student-centered instruction to close the opportunity gap in college attendance and degree attainment for underrepresented demographic groups. With AVID, teachers inspire…

There is a growing need for valid and reliable measures to monitor the efficacy of undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) reform initiatives. The Classroom Observation Protocol for Undergraduate STEM (COPUS) is a widely used tool originally designed to measure the presence of overt instructor and student behaviors.…

Math instructors teaching alternative 12th-grade courses outside the "traditional" high school math curriculum were overwhelmingly positive in interviews about the effectiveness of the classes, particularly for students who are planning to attend college but have struggled with math prior to this class. Teachers said that the courses'…

Inquiry-based laboratories were implemented into a General Chemistry Laboratory sequence, and the impact of these exercises on students' experimental design skills was assessed using a four-part assessment developed for this study. This assessment contained a multiple-choice section, a section asking students to explain their reasoning behind a…

This study explored a middle school science teacher's curricular sensemaking in interaction with their use of an educative storyline curriculum, aligned to the Next Generation Science Standards, that was intentionally designed for more opportunities for students' scientific sensemaking. Using a phenomenological case study methodology, we examined…

More than fifty years ago, an idea took hold in Georgia. Eventually called the Foxfire Approach, its main idea is centered around a view of a democratic classroom. Following a general sense of John Dewey's pragmatism, Eliot Wigginton invested his energy and skills into his English classroom to propel students to choose worthwhile activities. This…

In South Korea, the International Baccalaureate (IB) Middle Years Programme (MYP) has been implemented in public education for several years. This article explores the IB MYP's characteristics and educational effects by adopting the grounded theory research approach of Corbin and Strauss (1990, 2015). A total of 27 students from three public…

This case study of large-class teaching at a UK university focuses on the place of large-scale lectures in academics' approaches to teaching, their "use" by students in their studies, and their relationship to institutional quality assurance policies. The case is a second-year module comprised of 180 students, and it includes two-hour…

Despite having expertise, student voices have typically been left out of faculty professional development literature. The purpose of this study was to center college student voices around perceptions of equitable learning environments for use in faculty professional development programs. Using a mixed-methodology, student-driven approach, the…

In some European countries inquiry-based learning (IBL) has become popular in primary and secondary mathematics education, especially for scienceconnected content. On the other hand, problem-based learning (PBL) and project-based learning (PjBL) have a longer history in mathematics, science, technology, engineering (STEM) and in some other fields…

Underrepresentation of some populations in STEM fields occurs because these students experience achievement gaps with performance lower on average than their overrepresented peers. Interventions to reduce achievement gaps and increase the retention of underrepresented students in STEM courses include approaches found both inside and outside of…

Research findings suggest that student-centered inquiry learning shows promise for lower-achieving students and that students who are struggling in school participate more fully and demonstrate competency to themselves and others. In this research, we present a multiple case study of three middle-level students who were struggling in school, both…