How can educators bridge the gap between "big" ideas about teaching students to think and educational practice? This book addresses this question by a unique combination of theory, field experience and elaborate educational research. Its basic idea is to look at science instruction with regard to two sets of explicit goals: one set refers to teaching science concepts and the second set refers to teaching higher order thinking. This book tells about how thinking can be taught not only in the rare and unique conditions that are so typical of affluent experimental educational projects but also in the less privileged but much more common conditions of educational practice that most schools have to endure. It provides empirical evidence showing that students from all academic levels actually improve their thinking and their scientific knowledge following the thinking curricula, and discusses specific means for teaching higher order thinking to students with low academic achievements. The second part of the book addresses issues that pertain to teachers' professional development and to their knowledge and beliefs regarding the teaching of higher order thinking. This book is intended for a very large audience: researchers (including graduate students), curricular designers, practicing and pre-service teachers, college students, teacher educators and those interested in educational reform. Although the book is primarily about the development of thinking in science classrooms, most of it chapters may be of interest to educators from all disciplines.

Keys to engaging secondary students Research shows that all students—regardless of learning style, disability category, or language difference—learn more effectively when they are engaged in active learning. This book shows teachers how to help all students achieve positive learning outcomes. The authors provide a compilation of strategies that serve as blueprints for instructional design and directions for using them across a variety of content areas. The many benefits of active learning include: A more engaged and interactive classroom Increased self-directed learning Development of higher-order thinking skills such as analysis, synthesis, evaluation Improved reading, discussion, and writing competencies

This book offers practical research-based advice for teachers and other educators on how to adapt school and classroom procedures, curriculum content, and instructional strategies in order to provide a supportive learning environment for students of minority language backgrounds who are learning the language of instruction at the same time as they are learning the curriculum.

The recent COVID-19 pandemic has prompted educators to utilize online learning resources in order to comply with public health and social distancing mandates. The transition to virtual classrooms has created several opportunities and challenges for all stakeholders involved in the educational ecosystem. The ability of the classroom instructor to impart learning to students requires considerable adjustments from both students and teachers, which can be a new experience for educational professionals. Virtual and Classroom Learning in Higher Education serves as a handy guide for instructors to effective online teaching with a focus on higher education. The book presents reviews on different aspects of online teaching, distilling key findings in an easy to understand manner for the reader. It provides educators with knowledge which familiarizes them with online teaching models and concepts (such as micro-learning, synchronous and asynchronous learning, online pedagogy, dynamic learning experience and more). Chapters are contributed by experts in online learning and cover the topic from different angles, giving the reader a broad perspective on virtual classrooms. Virtual and Classroom Learning in Higher Education is an essential read for administrators and educators involved in higher education settings, and general readers who are interested in widening their view of the online teaching model.

While Active Learning Classrooms, or ALCs, offer rich new environments for learning, they present many new challenges to faculty because, among other things, they eliminate the room’s central focal point and disrupt the conventional seating plan to which faculty and students have become accustomed.The importance of learning how to use these classrooms well and to capitalize on their special features is paramount. The potential they represent can be realized only when they facilitate improved learning outcomes and engage students in the learning process in a manner different from traditional classrooms and lecture halls.This book provides an introduction to ALCs, briefly covering their history and then synthesizing the research on these spaces to provide faculty with empirically based, practical guidance on how to use these unfamiliar spaces effectively. Among the questions this book addresses are:• How can instructors mitigate the apparent lack of a central focal point in the space?• What types of learning activities work well in the ALCs and take advantage of the affordances of the room?• How can teachers address familiar classroom-management challenges in these unfamiliar spaces?• If assessment and rapid feedback are critical in active learning, how do they work in a room filled with circular tables and no central focus point?• How do instructors balance group learning with the needs of the larger class?• How can students be held accountable when many will necessarily have their backs facing the instructor?• How can instructors evaluate the effectiveness of their teaching in these spaces?This book is intended for faculty preparing to teach in or already working in this new classroom environment; for administrators planning to create ALCs or experimenting with provisionally designed rooms; and for faculty developers helping teachers transition to using these new spaces.

Most educators might agree that the hidden agendas on class, race, and gender, to a large extent, condition and determine the form and the content of schooling. But, how much of this situation is due to school factors, and how much to social background factors, is heatedly discussed and debated by scholars working within both the mainstream and critical traditions in the field of education. Class, Race, and Gender in American Education represents a groundbreaking overview of current issues and contemporary approaches involved in the areas of class, race, and gender in American education. In this book, the first to combine a consideration of these issues and to investigate the manner in which they connect in the school experience, authors consider the particular situations of males and females of divergent racial and class backgrounds from their earliest childhood experiences through the adult university years. While providing valuable original in-depth ethnographic and statistical analyses, the volume also incorporates some of the important current theoretical debates; the debate between structuralists and culturalists is highlighted, for example.

With its user-friendly question and answer format, Teaching Health Education in Language Diverse Classrooms guides prospective and current health education teachers in elementary and secondary school settings in designing, implementing, assessing, and evaluating active, achievement focused activities for diverse learners. The activities in this text are designed to increase all student learning, achievement, and success in the learner diverse regular education classroom. Each chapter provides best practices and models for replication and suggestions for instructional success. The variety of instructional strategies in Teaching Health Education in Language Diverse Classrooms helps facilitate the student’s development in critical thinking, problem solving, and performance skills.

The Committees report examines the wide range of outdoor learning experiences, from lessons held within school grounds to residential expeditions abroad, and considers the place of outdoor learning in the curriculum from foundation stage to higher education. Issues discussed include: the value of outdoor learning and the decline of opportunities for educational opportunities outside the classroom; the barriers that deter schools from teaching outside the classroom, including perceptions of risks in school trips, the resources and curriculum time available for such trips, availability and costs involved; policy options for the Department for Education and Skills to help encourage schools improve and expand provision for outdoor learning; and funding implications. The Committees recommendations include that the DfES should issue a Manifesto for Outdoor Learning which gives all students the right to outdoor learning and which should attract a similar funding level to the music manifesto (around £30 million) in order to deliver real change.

These guidelines for special education teachers cover gathering student information, classroom design, meeting with parents, evaluation, assessment, classroom management, instructional interventions, and grading options.

In Project-Based Learning Applied to the Language Classroom, the authors propose a way to develop PBL in the language classrooms taking into account all of the obstacles and specifics involved in teaching a foreign language. It is about teaching English as a second or foreign language using Project-Based Learning (PBL). We approach this combination because many people seem to think about implementing PBL in their language classes and ask questions about how to do it, but feel that there aren’t enough materials based on this methodology. In fact, most researchers and writers we have come across discuss the applications of PBL in the students’ mother tongue to subjects such as Math, History, Literature,Social Studies, and Science. However, there are few published works about the specifics of PBL in foreign language classes. Besides, it seems obvious to us that the main difficulty in developing projects in a second or foreign language lies exactly on the fact that communication may be hindered when students do not have enough knowledge in the target language.