Education Commons^™

The Effectiveness Of Problem-Based Instruction: A Comparative Study Of Instructional Methods And Student Characteristics, John R. Mergendoller, Nan L. Maxwell, Yolanda Bellisimo

Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning

This study compared the effectiveness of problem-based learning (PBL) and traditional instructional approaches in developing high-school students’ macroeconomics knowledge and examined whether PBL was differentially effective with students demonstrating different levels of four aptitudes: verbal ability, interest in economics, preference for group work, and problem-solving efficacy. Over all, PBL was found to be a more effective instructional approach for teaching macroeconomics than traditional lecture–discussion (p = .05). Additional analyses provided evidence that PBL was more effective than traditional instruction with students of average verbal ability and below, students who were more interested in learning economics, and students who were most …

The 3c3r Model: A Conceptual Framework For Designing Problems In Pbl, Woei Hung

Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning

Well-designed problems are crucial for the success of problem-based learning (PBL). Previous discussions about designing problems for PBL have been rather general and inadequate in guiding educators and practitioners to design effective PBL problems. This paper introduces the 3C3R PBL problem design model as a conceptual framework for systematically designing optimal PBL problems. The 3C3R model comprises two classes of components: core components and processing components. Core components—including content, context, and connection—support content and conceptual learning, while processing components—consisting of researching, reasoning, and reflecting—concern students’ cognitive processes and problem-solving skills. This paper discusses the model in terms of its theoretical …

Jumping The Pbl Implementation Hurdle: Supporting The Efforts Of K–12 Teachers, Peggy A. Ertmer, Krista D. Simons

Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning

While problem-based learning (PBL) has a relatively long history of successful use in medical and pre-professional schools, it has yet to be widely adopted by K–12 teachers. This may be due, in part, to the numerous challenges teachers experience when implementing PBL. In this paper, we describe specific hurdles that teachers are likely to encounter during the implementation process and provide specific suggestions for supporting teachers’ classroom efforts. Implementation challenges relate to 1) creating a culture of collaboration and interdependence, 2) adjusting to changing roles, and 3) scaffolding student learning and performance. By supporting teachers’ initial and ongoing efforts, we …

Overview Of Problem-Based Learning: Definitions And Distinctions, John R. Savery

Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning

Problem-based learning (PBL) is an instructional approach that has been used successfully for over 30 years and continues to gain acceptance in multiple disciplines. It is an instructional (and curricular) learner-centered approach that empowers learners to conduct research, integrate theory and practice, and apply knowledge and skills to develop a viable solution to a defined problem. This overview presents a brief history, followed by a discussion of the similarities and differences between PBL and other experiential approaches to teaching, and identifies some of the challenges that lie ahead for PBL.

Technological Literacy – Not Just You And Your Computer, Joseph Scarcella, Susan Daniels

Journal of Critical Issues in Educational Practice

One might argue that the word technology is one of the most misunderstood and misused terms in common usage today. Many believe technology to be synonymous with computers, the internet and other high-tech media. This is limited and short sighted view indeed! Technology encompasses both simple and complex artifacts used daily. Pencils, toothbrushes, zippers and toothpicks – not to mention Velcro (!) – for instance, are all examples of what might be considered relatively modern examples of technology. Often, the wonder of “everyday” invention is lost in our current notions of technology. Yet, it is an investigative inquiry into the …

Five Approaches To Literacy In Correctional Education, Thom Gehring, Gary H. Sherwin

Journal of Critical Issues in Educational Practice

This article introduces literacy from a few “big picture” perspectives, and then reviews five paradigms that have shaped the teaching and learning of literacy in residential confinement institutions for juveniles and adults. The paradigms are specific to correctional education, but they will be familiar to all alternative teachers and advocates of literacy instruction.

The Power Of Visuals: Picture Books As Invitations To Literacy, Mary Jo Skillings

Journal of Critical Issues in Educational Practice

When young children are exposed to picture books, they are building important bridges to literacy. Picture books are sometimes defined as a storybook with a dual narrative. That is, the illustrations and text work interdependently, the integration of the visual and the verbal tell the story. The illustrations add a new dimension that extends beyond the words on the page; together, the text and pictures make the story stronger. A well crafted picture book is a feast for the eyes of a young child. The illustrations awaken and develop the child’s visual, mental, and verbal imagination.

In Our Own Backyard: Critical Theory And The Development Of The San Jacinto Center For Environmental Education, Susanna Hamilton, Darleen Stoner, Randall Wright

Journal of Critical Issues in Educational Practice

This research addresses the topic of nature centers from a critical theory perspective. This research assumed in part, the question: what are the characteristics of a functional and successful nature center that includes environmental education goals and programs? Nature center administrators from across the United States were surveyed and asked to share their opinions on this topic. Six overall characteristics pertaining to management and vision were identified through an exploratory mixed‑method design. Other components of these characteristics were discovered during the analysis of the data, and include factors such as approaches to education. Recommendations for improving nature centers and their …

Schism: When Research And Practice Fail To Meet, Camille M. Mayers, Donna L. Schnorr

Journal of Critical Issues in Educational Practice

The authors explore the hypothesis generation, intervention formation and operationalization of PL 107-110, as a cautionary example of the social cost of failure to effectively integrate empirical research to professional practice. They suggest a reexamination of traditional dichotomous University identification as "Research versus Practitioner" and present a case for a stronger emphasis upon the integration of research and practice through applied experiential activity during the period of University education.

Front Matter

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Editors' Message

Leaping into Uncertainty: Teaching and Learning beyond Logic and Reason

In 1846, Soren Kierkegaard set forth the limits of logical systems and objective truth, neither of which can shed light on the important questions of life. “In logical systems,” the nineteenth century Danish philosophy argues, “nothing may be incorporated that has a relationship to existence, that is not indifferent to existence” (141) because a logical system is purely speculative. Existence is an actuality, a doing. Logical systems cannot account for the necessary leap in life between almost doing something—thinking about doing something (and Kierkegaard’s example is taking the …

Jaepl, Vol. 12, Winter 2006-2007, Kristie S. Fleckenstein, Linda T. Calendrillo

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Essays

Lynn Z. Bloom and Carla Hill. High Stakes Gambling in the Master Class

High Stakes Gambling in the Master Class explores some of the unarticulated intangibles in a relationship between Master Teacher and Honors Student (who collaborated in writing this essay), calculated to produce a distinguished honors thesis, sometimes out of thin air, gambling, playing the hunches that will allow a gleam in the eye to metamorphose into gold on the page.

Judith Beth Cohen. The Missing Body—Yoga and Higher Education.

Using her own yoga practice as a basis, this author argues for more bodily involvement in learning …

High Stakes Gambling In The Master Class, Lynn Z. Bloom, Carla Hill

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

High Stakes Gambling in the Master Class explores some of the unarticulated intangibles in a relationship between Master Teacher and Honors Student (who collaborated in writing this essay), calculated to produce a distinguished honors thesis, sometimes out of thin air, gambling, playing the hunches that will allow a gleam in the eye to metamorphose into gold on the page.

Bodies In The Classroom: Integrating Physical Literacy, Carolina Mancuso

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

This essay, based on research in Masters level classrooms for education students enrolled in a Graduate Literacy Program, addresses issues of mind-body-spirit teaching and learning..

“Lashing Out At ‘Intellectuals’”: Facing Fear On Both Sides Of The Desk, Stephanie Paterson

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

The author identifies stages in working through a personal attack in a student's composition. Turning toward conflict in a teacher researcher stance is a creative, self-renewing way to conduct the ongoing (often unexplored) intellectual-emotional work of writing teachers.

Uniting Creativity And Research: A Holistic Approach To Learning, Susan A. Schiller

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

The academy needs to move closer to a holistic form of education, one that values creativity and research equally.

Connecting, Helen Walker, Darina Garcia, Ryan Skinnell, Lee Roecher, Louise Morgan

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Helen Walker. Connecting.

Danina Garcia —Message from a Student Writer.

Libby Falk Jones—Anger in the Teaching Life

Ryan Skinnell —Connections of a First-Year Teacher

Lee Roecher —Guiding the Passion.

Louise Morgan —Emails to Blow Off Steam

Reviews, Mary Pettice, Kerrie R. H. Farkas, Edward Sullivan, Brad Lucas

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Reviews

Mary Pettice. Writing New Media: Theory and Applications for Expanding the Teaching of Composition. (Ed. Anne Frances Wysocki, Johndan Johnson-Eilola, Cynthia L. Selfe, and Geoffrey Sirc, 2004).

Kerrie R. H. Farkas. Writing at the End of the World . (Richard Miller, 2005).

Edward Sullivan. Field Notes on the Compassionate Life: A Search for the Soul of Kindness. (Marc Ian Barasch, 2005).

Brad Lucas. (Re)Writing Craft: Composition, Creative Writing, and the Future of English Studies. (Tim Mayers, 2005).

Back Matter

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

No abstract provided.

The Missing Body–Yoga And Higher Education, Judith Beth Cohen

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Using her own yoga practice as a basis, this author argues for more bodily involvement in learning and offers several exercises she has used to accomplish this.

Writing Aphrodite: Imagining A Rhetoric Of Desire For A Feminist Writing Course, Hildy Miller

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Reaching back to the post-Jungian goddess feminism of decades past, this essay shows how the mythical figure Aphrodite can serve as an image for an alternative rhetoric of desire in a contemporary feminist writing class.

Mcluhan’S Warning, Frye’S Strategy, Emerson’S Dream, Rich Murphy

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

McLuhan's Warning, Frye's Strategy, Emerson's Dream argues the vital function of literary writing in the academy. The essay maps a road from the warnings of catastrophe by Marshall McLuhan to Emerson's dream of all American citizens being poets through the writing strategies of Northrop Frye. It is argued that what one learns through literary writing is especially important during the crises that are ongoing in the West.