This study used a needs assessment, process analysis, process design, and textbook design to develop a new process and new textbook, based on Cargile-Cook's layered literacies, Quesenbery's five qualities of usability, and Carliner's information design theories, for use in technical writing service learning courses. The needs assessment was based…

In urban middle schools, educators find it challenging to meet the literacy needs of the many struggling readers in their classrooms, including language-minority (LM) learners and students from low-income backgrounds. One strategy for improving these students' reading comprehension is to teach essential academic vocabulary in a meaningful,…

Our inquiry uses accounts from the history of science to develop teacher-candidate (student teacher) understanding of the nature of science (NOS) in a science teacher education methods course. This understanding of the NOS is then used as a foundation for developing teacher candidate appreciation of the attributes of authentic science lessons.…

The purpose of this research study was to examine the usage and perceived benefits of the ERR (Evocation, Realization of Meaning, and Reflection; Meredith & Steele, 2011) instructional framework and content literacy strategies with middle and high school science teachers. Former students who had participated in an undergraduate or graduate content…

In the context of the tension between classroom observation as a form of empowerment and as an instrument of control, the partnership between three 16-19 colleges and a university School of Education in delivering a programme of sustained observation over eight years is explicated. Drawing on the literature about continuing professional…

In May 2009, the US Department of Education released a meta-analysis of effectiveness studies of online, face-to-face, and blended learning models. The analysis found that online learning produced better student outcomes than face-to-face classes, and that blended learning offered an even "larger advantage" over face-to-face. The hybrid approach…

Technological tools challenge teachers' pedagogical activities. The use of information and communication technologies (ICT) in education should help teachers integrate new pedagogical methods into their work. This study explores macro-level computer-supported collaborative learning scripts as a pedagogical method to facilitate collaboration.…

We transformed our first-year curriculum in biology with a new course, Biological Inquiry, in which greater than 50% of all incoming, first-year students enroll. The course replaced a traditional, content-driven course that relied on outdated approaches to teaching and learning. We diversified pedagogical practices by adopting guided inquiry in…

What are the benefits of engaging undergraduate students with authentic, inquiry-based curricula that develop transdisciplinary research skills? Internationally, many educators believe that research-active curricula help students better understand how scientific and technological concepts underlie the complexities of our world, especially in the…

Students are relying on technology for learning more than ever, and educators need to adapt to facilitate student learning. High-fidelity patient simulators (HFPS) are usually reserved for the clinical years of medical education and are geared to improve clinical decision skills, teamwork, and patient safety. Finding ways to incorporate HFPS into…

Several studies have shown the complexities that teachers faced when planning for instruction in technology enhanced learning environments (TELE). Although classroom-oriented instructional development (ID) models have the potential to help teachers think and plan for effective instruction with technology, teachers are often reluctant to use these…

The authors introduce the concept of design support tools and situate them in the pedagogic context of professional development for technology-enhanced learning (TEL) and the research field of learning design. Through focusing on the development and evaluation of one such tool, Phoebe, they discuss their value to lecturers in post-compulsory…

Through growing formative research, lesson study has emerged as a powerful practice that affects teachers' practical analysis of learning and teaching. Such research, however, also recognizes challenges to its implementation. In a methods course, lesson study has the potential to provide valuable links between teacher education and practice. In…

The author is the course director of MGT 3373 (Managerial Communication), a basic business communication course required for all business students attending a large university in the American Southwest. The course she inherited was functioning adequately, but it needed an infusion of energy and ideas to help it evolve into a more positive,…

This article describes a unique approach to developing and delivering the curriculum for an experimental program that prepares STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) graduates for teaching in high-needs secondary schools. The context for the collaborative design--including the charge, personnel, and purpose of the program--is…