This preliminary study examined the effect that five major sources of public science education--schools, science centers, broadcast media, print media, and the Internet--had on adults' science interest "values" and "cognitive predispositions." Over 3,000 adults were sampled in three U.S. metropolitan areas: Los Angeles,…

This paper introduces conversations and stories that were central to my PhD research. Journal writing, poetry, story and transcribed conversations became texts and data I reproduced in response to the research questions, dreams, memory work and collective biography workshops with my participants. The paper rechoreographs the process that enabled…

In this paper I suggest that social dances and local markets are examples of resilient practices of place-making and community that involve active participation. These two activities create mobile and pliant communities of participants that involve considerable informal and incidental learning. With dances and markets in mind, I look at the two…

Desert Elementary is a suburban Phoenix K-5 school. The school has undergone a significant change in its approach to reading instruction due to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) instructional shift of building knowledge through content rich nonfiction. Teachers implemented this shift in their classrooms through a 16-month professional…

Graffiti artist Sentrock sees his graffiti as a selfless act, a way of giving back to the community--when done legally--and inspires a group of middle school students. This is a case study of an artist and educator who teaches about graffiti art in public schools. He is unique in that he delineates between graffiti art and vandalism, and teaches…

Last month, higher education company the Apollo Group, Inc. (Apollo) confirmed that it entered into an agreement with the United States (US) federal government to resolve a long-standing lawsuit concerning its subsidiary, the for-profit University of Phoenix (Phoenix). Originating in 2003, the False Claims Act lawsuit filed by university officials…

Purpose: This paper aims to present an experience-based learning framework that provides a bottom-up, student-centered entrance point for the development of systems thinking, normative and collaborative competencies in sustainability. Design/methodology/approach: The framework combines mental mapping with exploratory walking. It interweaves…

Did technology make a difference, for good or ill, in students' learning of economics in the three courses described in Dan Berrett's story, first published in the "Chronicle of Higher Education" and reprinted in this issue? That's the question that "Liberal Education" has asked this author to discuss. By…

A simple, flexible and very low cost hardware plus software framework for developing computer-interfaced science experiments is presented. It can be used for developing computer-interfaced science experiments without getting into the details of electronics or computer programming. For developing experiments this is a middle path between…

Equally as important as growing the body of human knowledge through scientific discoveries and analysis is relaying this information to the general public in a digestible manner to establish a scientifically literate society. This dissertation approaches the multifaceted issue by combining an in-depth study of brown dwarf binary atmospheres with…

This action research project, which was entitled the Phoenix Project, sought answers to the following research questions: (1) How might participating in a bi-weekly book study of "Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain: Promoting Authentic Engagement and Rigor Among Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students" (Hammond, 2015) in…

Arizona police officers are required by the Arizona Police Officer Standards and Training board to complete continuing training on an annual basis. Police continuing training has traditionally been offered as lecture-based classroom training. Online training offers an alternative method of providing training. The purpose of this study was to…

Instructors are a chief input into the higher education production process, yet we know very little about their role in promoting student success. This is in contrast to elementary and secondary schooling, for which ample evidence suggests teacher quality is an important determinant of student achievement. Whether colleges could improve student…

Two schools in Michigan received ARRA SIG (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act School Improvement Grants) funds to enable them to implement their improvement efforts. This paper describes the outcomes of these two ARRA SIG recipient schools: (1) Phoenix Elementary-Middle School; and (2) Arthur Hill High School. The experiences of these…

"The Complete Learning Disabilities Resource Guide" (formerly "The Complete Learning Disabilities Directory") has been a comprehensive and sought-after resource for professionals, families and individuals with learning disabilities since 1992. This twenty-second edition is the most comprehensive and current source of resources…