Sound is typically thought of something that is heard. Can it be seen or felt? Most students experience the noises that surround them in everyday life, but few stop to think about what sound is, how it travels, and the biological challenges associated with perceiving sound. Since students are already familiar with everyday sounds, inquiry-based…

This article outlines a theoretical model for teaching elementary mathematical concepts that we have developed over the past 10 years. We begin with general ideas about the abstraction process and differentiate between "abstract-general" and "abstract-apart" concepts. A 4-phase model of teaching, called Teaching for Abstraction, is then proposed…

Current science education reform efforts highlight the importance of engaging students in scientifically oriented questions as a central dimension of inquiry-based elementary science. However, elementary teachers, particularly beginning teachers, must often overcome a variety of challenges to engage their students in reform-minded,…

There are many ways to share a collection of data and students' thinking about that data. Explaining the results of science inquiry is important--working scientists and amateurs both contribute information to the body of scientific knowledge. Students can collect data about an activity that is already happening in a classroom (e.g., the qualities…

In this article we describe a multi-week investigative laboratory in microbial ecology/diversity and nitrogen cycling that we have used in our introductory biology course. This module encourages active student involvement in experimental design, using the scientific literature and quantitative analysis of large data sets. Students analyze soil…

The materials in this toolkit contain information about the five core components of a service-learning project: investigation, planning and preparation, action, reflection, and demonstration/celebration. Also included are the standards and indicators of K-12 service-learning. The information is organized into an overview and five chapters, each…

Noting that program evaluators can profit by adopting the investigative journalist's goal of discovering hidden information, this guide explores the journalist's investigative process--without its element of suspicion--and discusses how components of this process can be applied to program evaluation. After listing the major characteristics of the…

This paper addresses some real assessment challenges that teachers have identified: (1) Figuring out what really is important for students to know and be able to do in history; (2) Teaching the skills of "doing history" in a world of testing that often seems to value only factual knowledge; (3) Identifying and using assessments that provide…