Limited research exists on the factors that contribute to community college students' development of self-efficacy (SE) while serving as preservice teachers (PSTs) during their early childhood education (ECE) practicum. This lack of research is concerning because educators who have high SE enhance the educational well-being of all children. The…

Recent scholarship has highlighted the importance of increasing the intellectual viability of lower-level foreign language (FL) study while facilitating connections between academic practice, learners' lives, and global communities. This article reports on a content-based role-immersion simulation (RIS) designed to incite a critical orientation…

Video games are a growing multi-billion dollar industry. Pew Internet & American Life Project (2008) reported that 97 percent of teens ages 12 to 17 years play computer, web, portable, or console games. Of the various genres that were reported, 36 percent of teens played role playing games and 21 percent played massively multiplayer online…

Digital games have become popular for engaging students in a range of learning goals, both in the classroom and the after-school space. In this article, I discuss a specific genre of video game, the massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMO), which has been identified as a dynamic environment for encountering 21st-century workplace…

This paper purports to demonstrate a problem solving case in the course of the development of methodology, in which the quality of the negotiation practicum is maintained or raised without sacrificing the class contact hours for the lessons for reading comprehension skills, on which the essence of negotiation practicum is solely based. In this…

A little imagination, a little drama, a little mystery. Using the guided inquiry model in this updated, second edition, students become detectives at Information Headquarters. They solve a mystery-and enhance their problem-solving and literacy skills. Middle school is a crucial time in the development of problem-solving, critical-thinking, and…

Explores curricular ways to empower students in their learning by creating opportunities for leadership and group collaboration. Contends that drama, particularly role drama, provides opportunities for students to step outside the classroom and investigate imaginary and real worlds of power, responsibility, issues, relationships, and community.…

Focuses on using science-related issues in classrooms. Explains how to select these issues and create a scenario, and presents a sample scenario for a role-playing activity. Provides several format structures for role-plays. (YDS)

This workshop focuses on the utility of decision making counseling: what it is, how it is operationalized into counseling behaviors, and what applications it has to counseling. Four sequential stages are proposed for explaining the use of the technique, including: (1) conceptualization; (2) enlargement of the response repertoire; (3)…

Suggests promoting student critical thinking and motivation through the dramatization of U.S. history. Explains that the exercises make use of old newspaper articles, diaries, and letters, as well as physical artifact facsimiles. Discusses an activity in which students acted out the formation of the Iroquois nation, then wrote first person…

Describes two classroom activities that introduce critical-thinking skills into social studies instruction. One is a debate, followed by position papers, on the contribution of Christopher Columbus. The other is a simulation of a Constitutional Amendment conference. Discusses which parts of the lessons specifically focus on critical-thinking…

Discusses historian Henry Adams' disillusionment with the educational system and with his own teaching. Suggests improving history instruction by involving students more actively in learning. Proposes incorporating interactive learning strategies including (1) interactive lectures; (2) questioning; (3) small groups; (4) critical thinking and…

Emphasizing critical thinking as the source of renewal and survival of organizations, this document begins by analyzing the Exxon Valdez oil spill and the destruction of the space shuttle Challenger as examples of inadequate critical thinking. The role of management education in promoting critical thinking is explored as well as the need for a…

Suggestions to help faculty discover ways of achieving interactive, investigatory, and intimate learning environments in large settings are provided. The instructional objective is to empower students to take responsibility for their own learning. (MLW)

The objective of this "Preparing for Tomorrow's World" (PTW) program module is to help students (grades 7-8) gain insight into coastal issues and confront moral dilemmas which relate to those issues. PTW is an interdisciplinary, future-oriented program incorporating information from the sciences/social sciences and addressing societal…