Secondary / High School

Challenging Educational Assumptions: lessons from an Italian-American collaboration

Abstract: In this paper, the authors argue that in order to create a curriculum of the future, we need to re-evaluate at least four key assumptions about teaching and learning that have guided educational decisions in the past...

Intelligence in the Wild: A Dispositional View of Intellectual Traits

Most accounts of intelligence are "abilities-centric." They aim to explain intelligent behavior in terms of IQ or other measures of intellectual aptitude. However, several investigators have proposed that intelligent behavior in the wild--in everyday circumstances in which carefully framed tests do not tell people exactly what intellectual task to attempt--depends in considerable part on thinking dispositions. Definitionally, dispositions concern not what abilities people have, but how people are disposed to use those abilities. Everyday language includes a number of dispositional terms such as curiosity, open-mindedness, and skepticism. We review several dispositional constructs that researchers have investigated, sometimes under the label dispositions. The findings in trend show that dispositions are stable traits that help to explain intellectual performance over and above measures of intellectual aptitude. It is argued that a dispositional view of intelligence is warranted, and that it is an important area for continued research.

The Project Zero Classroom: Views on Understanding

What do Project Zero's ideas look like in practice? This book offers perspectives by teachers and researchers, including Howard Gardner and David Perkins, on several strands of Project Zero's research. Approaching the instructional goal of teaching for understanding, this volume is filled with examples that practitioners seek to help close the idea/action gap. Any of the articles provides a basis for reflective conversations among teachers and administrators working toward using Project Zero's ideas in their own schools. ASIN: B004S69940

Teaching for Understanding: Linking Research with Practice

This book describes an innovative approach to teaching that helps take students beyond the rote memorization of facts and figures to levels of understanding that will serve them well throughout their lives. The book is filled with rich examples gathered during six years of collaboration between reflective classroom teachers and researchers from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. At the heart of the approach is a framework that transforms traditional teaching by providing clear and coherent guidance in: choosing curriculum topics; defining explicit goals; designing learning activities; fostering student understanding; and assessing students' performance. ISBN: 978-0787910020

The Teaching for Understanding Guide

The Teaching for Understanding Guide: What does it mean to understand something? How do students develop understanding? How can teachers know how well they understand and support the development of understanding? Teaching for Understanding describes an approach to teaching that requires students to think, analyze, problem solve, and make meaning of what they have learned. Teaching for Understanding: Linking Research with Practice introduced the approach and the research that supports it. Now this companion workbook shows teachers how to use the four critical components of the Teaching for Understanding Framework.

Based on extensive research conducted by Project Zero and the Harvard Graduate School of Education, The Teaching for Understanding Guide offers teachers a practical way to apply the concepts of the Teaching for Understanding framework—both in the classroom and in curriculum planning. Using classroom examples from science, mathematics, language arts and social sciences, and reflecting the input of practicing teachers, the workbook shows how teachers can:

• Choose topics that engage student interest and connect readily to other subjects.
• Set coherent unit and course goals.
• Create activities that develop an demonstrate students' understanding.
• Improve student performance by providing continual feedback.

Brief case studies of teachers using this approach illustrate the process in action. Simple planning sheets and teaching units make this guide a useful resource for developing curriculum. Reflection sections at the end of each chapter suggest related activities, issues, and questions to facilitate further exploration of the chapter's ideas. The challenging process of rethinking classroom practice can lead to a new level of student understanding and learning. This how-to guide gives teachers the practical tools for making understanding more achievable in the classroom. ISBN-13: 978-0787909932