Education Commons^™

A New Approach To Evaluating Information: A Reflection On Radar, Kevin Tanner, Kim Mcphee

Western Libraries Presentations

For instruction librarians, teaching information literacy (IL) skills is often an important aspect of any lesson plan. One area of IL includes the critical evaluation of sources, an essential skill that students need to succeed as aspiring scholars and researchers. This ability to differentiate “good” from “bad” information is beneficial to students beyond their academic careers, and will help them navigate the “sea of information” for the rest of their lives. Typically, such evaluation skills are taught through applying the CRAAP test: Currency, Relevance, Authority, Accuracy, and Purpose. While humorous and memorable, the name of this test devalues the usefulness …

Final Report Of The Learning Commons Assessment Task Force, Sarah C. Hutton, Jessica Adamick

Sarah C Hutton

Necessary But Not Sufficient: Deweyan Dialogue And The Demands Of Critical Citizenship. A Book Review Of The Political Classroom: Evidence And Ethics In Democratic Education, Joseph C. Wegwert

Democracy and Education

This is a book review of The Political Classroom: Evidence and Ethics in Democratic Education, by Hess and McAvoy.

Transaction Circles With Digital Texts As A Foundation For Democratic Practices, Sally Brown

Democracy and Education

Transaction circles weave together elements of guided reading and literature circles in an open conversational structure that supports students as agentive learners. Discourse within these circles utilizing digital informational texts assist in the development of democratic practices even in a time when federal mandates limit curricula and prescribe programs. The findings of this study reveal the importance of aesthetic learning experiences in knowledge construction and the ways in which thinking through complex issues with others benefits social action.

Digital Game-Based Learning: Still Restless, After All These Years, Richard Van Eck

Teaching, Leadership & Professional Practice Faculty Publications

We have the evidence and the design tools to demonstrate that digital games are powerful learning tools. Whether we choose to take advantage of the opportunity before us is a completely different question.

The Value Of Student Choice In Reading. A Book Review Of Keep Them Reading: An Anti-Censorship Handbook For Educators, Christi R. Keelen

Democracy and Education

Keep Them Reading: An Anti-Censorship Handbooks for Educators is a must-have for elementary and secondary English and reading teachers, administrators, and librarians or media specialists. While the focus for this text is how to handle and avoid challenges on books, how to create an environment where reading is important and the students' ability to choose what they want to read is part of the classroom culture is also addressed.

Mathematics For What? High School Students Reflect On Mathematics As A Tool For Social Inquiry, Anastasia Brelias

Democracy and Education

This study examines high school students’ views of mathematics as a tool for social inquiry in light of their classroom experiences using mathematics to explore social issues. A critical theoretical perspective on mathematics literacy is used to ascertain the ways in which their views challenge or affirm the dominant image of mathematics in society. The study concludes that mathematics applications addressing social justice issues are promising vehicles for developing students’ appreciation of mathematics as a social problem-solving tool, an awareness of its limitations, and a healthy skepticism toward its uses.

Leadership Lessons For The 21st Century: Superintendents' Perspectives, José M. Torres

José M. Torres

Celebrating 50 years in the educational leadership business, the Institute for Educational Leadership (IEL) asked practitioners from around the country, including dozens of Superintendents, to share their leadership lessons. The responses culminated in ten leadership lessons. We invited two former Superintendents, Dr. Clifford B. Janey and Dr. José M. Torres, to share their reflections of how IEL's leadership lessons connected to their own practice. What they told us is important for all school leaders to know.