Education Commons^™

Embracing Learner’S Ideas About Diffusion And Osmosis: A Coupled-Inquiry Approach, Ryan Sweeney, Lisa Martin-Hansen, Geeta Verma, John Dunkhase

Geeta Verma

Learning about osmosis and diffusion is often a challenging task for middle school students. Here the authors present a lesson that was converted from a “cookbook” lab (McLaughlin and Thompson 2007) into a more inquiry-oriented lab that uses inquiry teaching strategies and hands-on investigations to teach middle-grade students about osmosis and diffusion.

Opportunities For Disaster Resilience Learning In The Australian Curriculum, Neil Dufty

Neil Dufty

Schools are an important avenue for youth to learn about disaster resilience. A critical success factor for the uptake of disaster resilience learning in schools is the ability to embed learning activities in school programs that are linked to relevant curriculums. With the introduction of the Australian Curriculum, it is timely to identify new opportunities for student disaster resilience learning and related curriculum development by emergency services organisations. Using a technique called ‘curriculum mapping’, a research project has identified disaster resilience learning opportunities and gaps across the Australian Curriculum.

The Immortal Spirit Of Harriet Tubman: Scholarly Reconceptualization Of Human Trafficking And Slavery, Donna M. Hughes Dr.

Donna M. Hughes

I propose a presentation in which I will describe my personal and professional experiences developing and teaching university level courses on human trafficking, including both sex trafficking and forced labor.

Although I have read about historic slavery all my life, my research, writing, and teaching has focused on contemporary human trafficking, particularly sex trafficking. Seven years ago, I developed and started teaching a course on sex trafficking and a course on human trafficking, which included forced labor. I have taught these courses every year since 2006.

For some time, I did not include historic slavery in the curriculum. My research …

The Australian Baccalaurate: A Preliminary Study, Christine Cunningham

Dr. Christine Cunningham

DURING THE 2010 AUSTRALIAN federal election campaign, the Gillard Government announced plans for a new, internationally recognised senior-school qualifi cation termed the Australian Baccalaureate. This paper details a research project on the new Australian Baccalaureate which investigated its proposed aims, framework and timeline for planning and implementation. The intent of the project was to analyse both the practical and political implications of adding an elite level of secondary curriculum to the roll out of the K–12 Australian Curriculum; compare it to the longer standing International Baccalaureate; and examine the Australian Baccalaureate within the context of internationalising Australia’s curriculum qualifications.

How Design Can Get Kids On The Path To Tech Careers: A Conversation With Dr. Stephanie Pace Marshall, The Founder Of A New Type Of Science And Math Academy, Stephanie Marshall

Stephanie Pace Marshall, Ph.D.

An interview with Dr. Stephanie Pace Marshall about educational design and the design of the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy. "IMSA sought not only to develop decidedly different scientific minds, but also to develop a decidedly different residential learning community -- one that was nurturing and innovative, and one that instilled a sense of stewardship, and an obligation to give back. As a dynamic teaching and learning laboratory, IMSA continues to evolve, yet the roots of our founding ideas and goals remain."

The Power To Transform: Leadership That Brings Learning And Schooling To Life, Stephanie Pace Marshall

Stephanie Pace Marshall, Ph.D.

The Power to Transform is a call to re-conceive and re-design schooling. Rather than offer “best practices” or “prescriptive solutions,” it invites leaders of all ages and walks of life to think differently about learning and schooling. It illuminates the “why” and “what” of educational transformation and explores its deepest roots. It offers new language, new design principles, a new framework, and a new map for creating vibrant, imaginative and adaptive learning landscapes that integrate the dynamic properties of living systems with the generative principles of learning. It is from this natural integration that the new story of learning and …

Cross-Institutional Critical Friendship: Collaboration, Creativity, And Cross-Fertilization As Anti-Racist Curriculum, Susan Adams, Kathryn Brooks, Cathy Hargrove, Michelle Smith

Susan Adams

Presentation at the 2010 Diversity, Research and Education Symposium, Terre Haute, IN, November 6, 2010.

The Impact Of Curriculum-Based External Examinations On School Priorities And Student Learning, John H. Bishop

John H Bishop

[Excerpt] The first major prediction of the theory is that an increase in the extrinsic rewards for learning will cause student effort and achievement to increase. The primary extrinsic reward for achievement in high school is a higher probability of completing college. Thus the extrinsic rewards for learning in high school depend on the size of the payoff to college and on how contingent college admissions decisions are on achievement in high school. Time series data suggests that changes in college selectivity and payoff may have contributed to the ups and downs of student achievement during the postwar period. The …

View From The Classroom, Rowan Cahill

Rowan Cahill

Edited version of a speech given by Rowan Cahill to the Australian Education Network's 'Vision for the Future' Conference, Sydney, 18 October 1991.

Transforming Science And Technology: Has The Elephant Yet Flicked Its Trunk?, Donna M. Hughes Dr.

Donna M. Hughes

No abstract provided.

The Decline Of History, Rowan Cahill

Rowan Cahill

The author addresses the contemporary (1970s) loss of confidence, and interest, in history as a subject amongst Australian secondary school students and educational administrators. He mounts a defence of the teaching of the subject in schools, and argues for its complexities. Strategies to increase the appeal of the subject and its perceived relevance are suggested.