The authors combine relevant and cutting-edge information on existing and future use of videoconferencing technology in the field of education.

Socio-scientific issues (SSI) are open-ended, multifaceted social issues with conceptual links to science. They are challenging to negotiate and resolve, and they create ideal contexts for bridging school science and the lived experience of students. This book presents the latest findings from the innovative practice and systematic investigation of science education in the context of socio-scientific issues. Socio-scientific Issues in the Classroom: Teaching, Learning and Research focuses on how SSI can be productively incorporated into science classrooms and what SSI-based education can accomplish regarding student learning, practices and interest. It covers numerous topics that address key themes for contemporary science education including scientific literacy, goals for science teaching and learning, situated learning as a theoretical perspective for science education, and science for citizenship. It presents a wide range of classroom-based research projects that offer new insights for SSI-based education. Authored by leading researchers from eight countries across four continents, this book is an important compendium of syntheses and insights for veteran researchers, teachers and curriculum designers eager to advance the SSI agenda.

Tara Carlsen wanted to help at-risk students learn without relying on stale, clinical teaching methods. Instead of trying to find solutions in the classroom, the mathematics teacher transplanted failing students from an alternative high school to a horse ranch. There, she encouraged them to reach for the reins, and she witnessed dramatic results.

Students who could not relate to their peers or teachers could relate to horses-and suddenly their futures looked a whole lot brighter. Carlsen and her students proceeded to take an inspiring journey, learning the basics of horsemanship through equine-assisted learning-a therapeutic approach to interpersonal development using horse-related activities.

After learning the basics, the students taught peers with special needs what they'd learned, drawing upon their own struggles and triumphs to help them achieve success. Punctuated with humor, heartbreak, and hard-won triumph, "Reaching for the Reins" chronicles the struggles and successes of these students over five years.

Community colleges have experienced a dramatic shift in focus and direction over the past 25 years. The impact of federal policy that emphasizes employment over education and the increased pressure for community colleges to meet the needs of local industries has led experts to ask whether or not contemporary community colleges are best serving their students.

As a bridge between public K-12 schools and higher education, community colleges were designed as a gateway for groups of students who would otherwise be excluded from higher education, most notably poorer and minority students. Ideally, this education sector should be a democratizing force in American society. Yet community colleges continue to struggle with their mission, and a variety of factors make it increasingly difficult to meet it.

The articles in this special issue of the ANNALS examine the role of community colleges and how they respond to an emerging set of challenges. Three basic themes are threaded throughout the journal: recent changes in federal policy and how it affects community colleges; societal factors that have contributed to the movement of community colleges away from their traditional academic mission; and how well specific community college practices serve the academic and employment needs of their students.

All of the authors agree that community colleges are, overall, increasingly responsive to the industry and business sector rather than to the students enrolled in their courses.

Scholars, community college leaders, and policymakers will find these insights a valuable resource as the effort to define and meet the goals of community colleges continue.

A volume in Literacy, Language, and Learning Series Editor Patricia Ruggiano Schmidt, Our goal in writing this book was to validate teachers for strong efforts in their life's work. We often observe teachers' frustrations with what they perceive to be a multitude of different ""hot topics"" in education that they must attend to now, but which they expect to come and go, like the last ""hot topics."" So, we wanted to help readers see similarities between many of these ""hot topics""-differentiation, multiple intelligences, culturally responsive teaching, ""brain-friendly"" strategies, authentic assessment, and ethical classroom management- which we feel are not ""flashes in the pan."" And we trust that serious practitioners will not oversimplify the findings of neuroscientists and their application to education. Reading studies and books by scientists, a number of which are user-friendly, can help ensure that teachers separate the hype from credible information. We have seen this professionally judicious approach in the work of graduate students (Kolinski, 2007) in adopting ""brain-friendly"" strategies. We have intentionally packed both theoretical/research-based and practical information in this book because professional educators want to know why they should use certain approaches, models, and strategies. In turn, as professionals, we should be able to explain why we teach the way we do-not to justify, but to educate others about our knowledge-based, reflective, decision-making processes and the impact on student learning. Thus, it is important to read Chapter 1 because it lays a foundation. Each succeeding chapter (2-6) has unique and compelling twists and turns-chock full of ideas to use or to adapt. It is possible to gain lots of ideas, processes, and strategies from reading and implementing (or adapting) even one of the unit chapters, or a part of it. While some of the units are explicitly about literacy, others focus on content using reading, writing, speaking, and listening as critical in the learning process. Thus, literacy skills are reinforced and strengthened. Additionally, some of our colleagues and public school partners have given us feedback that they wanted to implement some of the units and activities themselves. So, feel free to use this book for self-exploration and professional development.

Web-based offerings in manu academic disciplines are redefining the educational landscape. In this book, Reinaldo Canton assesses the importance of learner activity in computer programmed instruction. This research explores the practical relation between the learner's behavior and the method of delivery of lesson content. Programmed Instruction in Online Learning is a timely and important book as online instruction becomes increasingly predominant in the education environment.

This book shows how teachers and educators can use stories of their professional experiences to reflect on their own practice, articulate values and beliefs, give shape and form to teaching theory, and better understand decision-making processes.

The Realities of Completing a PhD gives a balanced and evidence-based view of the realities of PhD life. Full of practical tips and including a checklist to complete before sending an application, the book helps prospective PhD students prepare for the realities of taking on a PhD from an informed basis and offers guidance on submitting a well-planned application. This is the first book of its kind to bring together a range of international data that helps to paint a more balanced picture of the PhD process. The book outlines different types of PhD, how to select a topic for a PhD, how to write a robust research proposal and application, and the realities of PhD study in relation to student wellbeing, social commitments and employment prospects. By considering the issues raised in this book, students are less likely to be overwhelmed by the PhD process, and better equipped to complete their award. The book will be invaluable for potential doctoral students as well as those already embarking on a PhD. It will also enable university mentors and supervisors to consider how the application phase is key to managing student expectations, and how they can further promote a healthy and productive PhD experience.

The importance of integrating the teaching and learning of language and culture has been widely recognised and emphasized. However, how to teach English as an International Language (EIL) and cultures in an integrative way in non-native English speaking countries remains problematic and has largely failed to enable language learners to meet local and global communication demands. Developing students' intercultural competence is one of the key missions of teaching cultures. This book examines a range of well-established models and paradigms from both English-speaking and non-English speaking countries. Exploring questions of why, what, and how to best teach cultures, the authors propose an integrated model to suit non-native English contexts in the Asia Pacific. The chapters deal with other critical issues such as the relationship between language and power, the importance of power relations in communication, the relationship between teaching cultures and national interests, and balancing tradition and change in the era of globalisation. The book will be valuable to academics and students of foreign language education, particularly those teaching English as an international language in non-native English countries.

The hinge-factor to improving student learning is right before our eyes in the classroom, and yet big budget reforms continue to look outside of the classroom. The hinge-factor is ofeedback.oe The new cognitive feedback definition improves upon the old behaviorism one, offering new techniques and new strategies for teachers to use in classrooms. All teachers employ what they perceive to be feedback strategies, but most need to revisit the what, why, and how about feedback and the latest buzzword u formative assessment. Feedback is information communicated about an action, event, or process that relates back to the original source or goal. In the classroom, timely feedback can be any information that a learner receives as a consequence of performance that can be used to make improvements. Research and practice show that what is critical about feedback is: Not who gives it but who receives it. That it needs to be timely. Teachers need to learn basic techniques to efficiently turn curriculum statements into just-right learning targets so students can learn efficient progress monitoring with the help of the teacher. Students are adept at self-reporting and can learn strategies to track their own performances when instruction is deliberate. Learning to use a new definition of feedback, the hinge factor, teachers will find gains in classrooms without making other structural changes that are costly and political. Administrators can learn techniques to support teachers using the research during supervision.

This book synthesizes theoretical perspectives, empirical evidence and practical strategies for improving teacher education in chemistry. Many chemistry lessons involve mindless "cookbook" activities where students and teachers follow recipes, memorise formulae and recall facts without understanding how and why knowledge in chemistry works. Capitalising on traditionally disparate areas of research, the book investigates how to make chemistry education more meaningful for both students and teachers. It provides an example of how theory and practice in chemistry education can be bridged. It reflects on the nature of knowledge in chemistry by referring to theoretical perspectives from philosophy of chemistry. It draws on empirical evidence from research on teacher education, and illustrates concrete strategies and resources that can be used by teacher educators. The book describes the design and implementation of an innovative teacher education project to show the impact of an intervention on pre-service teachers. The book shows how, by making use of visual representations and analogies, the project makes some fairly abstract and complex ideas accessible to pre-service teachers.

This set of 62 volumes, originally published between 1951 and 1999, amalgamates a wide breadth of literature on Special Educational Needs, with a particular focus on inclusivity, class management and curriculum theory. This collection of books from some of the leading scholars in the field provides a comprehensive overview of the subject how it has evolved over time, and will be of particular interest to students of Education and those undertaking teaching qualifications.

The primary goal of instructional design is improving the quality of learning and instruction. Instructional designers have focused on a number of areas of critical concern and developed a variety of techniques to achieve this goal (Reigeluth, 1983, 1999). Critical areas of concern for those who plan, implement and manage instruction include (a) needs assessment (identifying gaps or deficiencies in knowledge and performance to be addressed in instruction); (b) task analysis (identifying the types of knowledge, skills and attitudes to be developed during instruction); (c) learner analysis (determining who the learners are, what they know, relevant differences, etc. ); (d) instructional strategies (developing strategies appropriate for the task and learners involved); and (e) assessment and evaluation (determining how to assess individual progress and evaluate programs). There are many books already in print that treat the general domain of instructional design, as well as texts that target each of these areas of concerns. Why then another book on these issues? There are several answers to this question. Many of the available books treat instruction as a formal process that proceeds according to specific and detailed instructional systems development models (see, for example, Dick, Carey & Carey, 2005). Indeed, the US military has created a series of handbooks specifying details of the various instructional development processes (see Department of Defense, 1999).

Educational technologies are becoming commonplace entities in classrooms as they provide more options and support for teachers and students. However, many teachers are finding these technologies difficult to use due to a lack of training and instruction on how to effectively apply them to the classroom. TPACK: Breakthroughs in Research and Practice is an authoritative reference source for the latest research on the integration of technological knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, and content knowledge in the contexts of K-12 education. Highlighting a range of pertinent topics such as pedagogical strategies, blended learning, and technology integration, this publication is an ideal resource for educators, instructional designers, administrators, academicians, and teacher education programs seeking current findings on the implementation of technology in instructional design.

There is a growing need for knowledge and practical ideas about the preparation of teachers for English language learners (ELLs), a growing segment of the K-12 population in the United States. This book is for teachers, administrators, and teacher educators looking for innovative ways to prepare teachers for ELLs and will position teachers to empower these students. This volume will appeal mostly to those preparing teachers in contexts that have not have historically had large numbers of ELLs, but have had a high rate of recent growth (e.g., Midwestern U.S.). This work is the combination of teacher preparation and ELL issues. This volume is unique in tackling pre-service and in service teacher preparation. Additionally, the chapters collectively aim to go beyond merely equipping teachers to meet the needs of ELLs, but to reach a level of effectiveness with the outcome of equity. The book highlights the knowledge, skills, and beliefs of teachers about ELLs. Part I addresses teacher perceptions of, and beliefs about, ELLs and teacher preparation specifically addressing what they should know in terms of students' perspectives. Chapters attend to the experiences and beliefs of immigrant teachers about their roles, the role of service learning in teacher preparation, and the potential of understanding home literacy practices to change teacher beliefs about ELLs. Part II focuses on skills necessary to teach ELLs-writing skills teachers can draw on to inform their teaching practices, technological skills teachers need to develop, and skills related to focusing on the Common Core State Standards for English language arts and mathematics. Each chapter explicitly addresses implications for teacher education or professional development.

This book discusses approaches to organizational learning from a materialist point of view. Inspired by research into Police Firearms training, features of expansive learning inform the development of perspectives on training which challenge traditional modes of research and delivery. The book critically reviews a range of approaches to expansive learning and organizational research, establishing the bases and limitations of an Expansive Learning Index whose aim is to support collaborative provision in the context of work-based research. Reflecting on this process, it stresses the strangeness and mobility of workplace learning and develops a philosophical pragmatics for professional development. Approaches to knowledge and enquiry which place language and subjectivity at the heart of development are challenged by a more pragmatic approach to expansive learning: its consequences for training, research, and professional development lead to a discussion of the need for immanent forms of professional ethics.

This book presents research on the effects and effectiveness of ICT applications in lifelong learning in relation to digital competences of educators. It sketches recent and future evolutions in higher education, explores whether universities have adjusted policies and business models in line with the rapid development of ICT technologies, and analyses whether the adjustments made are merely cosmetic or truly future-proof. The book specifically deals with such topics as digital competencies of teaching staff, the development and implementation of MOOCs and other E-learning tools, virtual classrooms, online tutoring, and collaborative learning. It presents case studies of innovative master's programmes, projects and methods, and processes of standardization and validation used in various countries as illustrations. The book explains the rapid transition of the knowledge society to the "society of global competence" and shows the necessity of an active implementation of innovative forms and effective methods of education, and above all, distance learning at all levels of education.

The goal of this text is to help you navigate the complex landscape that is inquiry in the science classroom. We focus on inquiry teaching, its various forms and what factors influence its integration into a classroom. We invite you to develop and refine your definitions about scientific inquiry and explore how inquiry might be used to support the success of your students. The introduction will include various definitions of inquiry offered in the research literature accompanied by what we see as useful ways to conceptualize the broad practices that comprise inquiry in the classroom. Following the introduction the six sections of the book each explore factors that influence the use of inquiry in the classroom. Each section begins with one (or more) vignette--snippets of science classrooms. The authors discuss how this vignette demonstrates some aspect of the specific dimension that they are charged with discussing. Because inquiry is so multifaceted and its portrayals are often complex and nuanced, the discussion of the dimension is broken into separate essays-- each of which addresses the focal dimension in different ways.Following the essay, a broader discussion across the essays is offered to support your understanding of inquiry.

For more than 20 years, Lucy West has been studying mathematical classroom discourse. She believes that teachers need to understand what their students are thinking as they grapple with rich mathematical tasks and that the best way to do so is through talking and listening. In this video-rich edition of Adding Talk to the Equation, she invites teachers into real-life classrooms where all students stay in the game, stay motivated about learning, and ultimately deepen their understanding. Designed for math teachers and coaches in grades 1-8, this self-study guide, now available as a paperback with extensive online classroom video, showcases elementary and middle school classrooms where teachers inspire even the most reluctant students to share their ideas. Through the stories of skilled teachers, Lucy offers play-by-play commentary as they get more comfortable with new talk moves and learn to tune in and respond to students' math conversations. Although these discussions occur in math class, the strategies can be used to create a respectful, productive environment for any subject area. This video-based resource examines the importance of creating a safe learning environment; the value of thinking, reasoning, and questioning; the role of active, accountable listening; and the necessity of giving all students a 'you can do this' message. Lucy also emphasizes that slowing down, even in the face of time constraints, is crucial for creating a classroom where all students feel they have something to contribute. This guide includes transcripts of the case studies, with insightful commentary from Lucy that gives you a window into her thinking and the complexities of the work she is doing with teachers, as well as her reflections on missed opportunities.

Drawing upon actual research, this book uses a fictional school setting and fictional characters to illustrate, at times in a humorous way, some of the dilemmas which arise in the day-to-day mentoring of students. It tells the stories of some of the main partners in the process (students, tutors, mentors and other teachers) and their triumphs and disasters. The authors comment on issues raised, provide practical and professional solutions to problems and give guidance on further reading. The book will aid the management of school-based training and collaborative work between students, teachers and tutors and will make interesting and instructive reading for all involved.

The language of science has many words and phrases whose meaning either changes in differing contexts or alters to reflect developments in a given discipline. This book presents the authors' theories on using 'conceptual profiles' to make the teaching of context-dependent meanings more effective. Developed over two decades, their theory begins with a recognition of the coexistence in the students' discourse of those alternative meanings, even in the case of scientific concepts such as molecule, where the dissonance between the classical and modern views of the same phenomenon is an accepted norm. What began as an alternative model of conceptual change has evolved to incorporate a sociocultural approach, by drawing on ideas such as situated cognition and Vygotsky's influential concept of culturally located learning. Also informed by pragmatist philosophy, the approach has grown into a well-rounded theory of teaching and learning scientific concepts. The authors have taken the opportunity in this book to develop their ideas further, anticipate and respond to criticisms-that of relativism, for example-and explain how their theory can be applied to analyze the teaching of core concepts in science such as heat and temperature, life and biological adaptation. They also report on the implementation of a research program that correlates the responsiveness of their methodology to all the main developments in the field of science education. This additional material will inform academic discussion, review, and further enhancement of their theory and research model.

Some revision of public schooling history is necessary to challenge the dominant mythology that public schools were established on the grounds of values-neutrality. In fact, those responsible for the foundations of public education in Australia were sufficiently pragmatic to know that its success relied on its charter being in accord with public sentiment. Part of the pragmatism was in convincing those whose main experience of education had been through some form of church-based education that state-based education was capable of meeting the same ends. Hence, the documents of the 1870s and 1880s that contained the charters of the various state and territory systems witness to a breadth of vision about the scope of education. Beyond the standard goals of literacy and numeracy, education was said to be capable of assuring personal morality for each individual and a suitable citizenry for the soon-to-be new nation. As an instance, the NSW Public Instr- tion Act of 1880 (cf. NSW, 1912), under the rubric of "religious teaching," stressed the need for students to be inculcated into the values of their society, including understanding the role that religious values had played in forming that society's legal codes and social ethics. The notion, therefore, that public education is part of a deep and ancient heritage around values neutrality is mistaken and in need of se- ous revision. The evidence suggests that public education's initial conception was of being the complete educator, not only of young people's minds but of their inner character as well.