The interest in inquiry-based learning seems to ebb and flow based on-well, it's not clear why it ever ebbs. In short, it is a student-centered, Constructivist approach to learning that requires critical thinking, and benefits from technology, collaboration, resourcefulness, and other modern learning skills that never seem to fall out of favor themselves.
It's time to evolve our grading practices. We believe there are four primary characteristics of effective grading. Grades should be accurate, consistent, meaningful, and supportive of learning. Let's examine why these characteristics are so important and how we can achieve them.
"Virtual Researcher On Call (VROC) is a set of educational programs that connect knowledge partners - college and university professors and professionals in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) - with Canadian students in elementary and secondary schools for real-time, interactive learning opportunities."
"There's talk aplenty in schools these days about formative assessment. That's encouraging, because formative assessment has great potential to improve both teaching and learning. Listening to the conversations sometimes, however, reminds me that it's easier to subscribe to a word than to live out its fundamental tenets." this is the long version of the article that Mike contributed recently. Both are articles are informative...
This website encourages a teacher to develop"a Questioning Toolkit which contains several dozen kinds of questions and questioning tools". It also classifies and gives many examples of question that lead to learning.
What students take away from a successful education usually centers on a personal connection with a teacher who instilled passion and inspiration for their subject. It's difficult to measure success, and in the world of academia, educators are continually re-evaluating how to quantify learning. But the first and most important question to ask is:
Are teachers reaching their students?
Here are 25 things successful educators do differently.