LEARN NC

K–12 teaching and learning · from the UNC School of Education

CEU courses open for enrollment

The Civil Rights Movement in Context
Investigate the precursors to the Civil Rights Movement, its leadership, its opposition, and its legacy, including lesser-studied events of the movement and primary sources.
Take this course: Begins February 2.

From the education reference

cooperative learning
Instructional method in which students work together in small, heterogeneous groups to complete a problem, project, or other instructional goal, while teachers act as guides or facilitators. This method works to reinforce a student’s own learning as well as the learning of his or her fellow group members.
discovery learning
Learning that takes place, not through instruction, but through examination, analysis, or experimentation.
service learning
Intentional combination of community service objectives and learning opportunities that benefits both the recipient and provider of the service. Student service learning projects should be structured to link learning tasks to self-reflection so that they enrich learning, strengthen communities, and teach civic responsibility.
collaborative learning
An umbrella term for the variety of approaches and models in education that involve the shared intellectual efforts by students working in small groups to accomplish a goal or complete a task.
learning contract
An agreement between a teacher and a student regarding how that student will achieve specified learning goals or objectives.
learning disability
A discrepancy between expected achievement and observed achievement, also known as "unexpected underachievement."
Dimensions of Learning model
Model of learning developed by Marzano et al (1988) that links content area knowledge, metacognition, and critical and creative thinking with a taxonomy of thinking skills and thinking processes.
project-based learning
Teaching approach that engages students in sustained, collaborative real-world investigations. Projects are organized around a driving question, and students participate in a variety of tasks that seek to meaningfully address this question.
problem-based learning
Model of instruction in which the teacher poses an authentic problem for student resolution. PBL may be one among many strategies in a classroom or an entire curricular and instructional approach. In the course of problem-solving, students work cooperatively in groups to learn content and skills related to real world problems. The teacher acts as a facilitator to learning.
digital game-based learning
Instructional method that incorporates educational content or learning principles into video games with the goal of engaging learners. Applications of digital game-based learning draw upon the constructivist theory of education.

Didn't find what you were looking for?

Connecting with colleagues: No tricks, all treat!
In The First Year, page 2.4
You're busy, but making time for conversation with colleagues will pay off in the long run.
Format: article
By Kristi Johnson Smith.
The not-so-famous person report
In Rethinking Reports, page 3.2
Instead of teaching the history of the famous, use research in primary sources to teach students that the past and present were made by people like them.
Format: article
By David Walbert.
Science students get their hands dirty
Enter Carol Swink's classroom where students become scientists by conducting hands-on, inquiry-based investigations. By saving the textbook reading and lectures for last and doing experiments first, students master not only science content but math content too.
Format: article/best practice
By Waverly Harrell.
Building your own support network
How to take charge of your own professional development and break through the isolation of the classroom.
Format: article
By Denise Young.
Kinetic connections: Bloom's taxonomy in action
An introduction to strategies for using the web to push your students to higher levels of thinking.
Format: article
By Bobby Hobgood, Melissa Thibault, and David Walbert.
Cooperative learning
Cooperative learning is an instructional method in which students work together in small, heterogeneous groups to complete a problem, project, or other instructional goal, while teachers act as guides or facilitators. This method works to reinforce a student's...
Format: article
By Heather Coffey.
Jigsaw
Jigsaw is a cooperative learning technique that was created with the goals of reducing conflict and enhancing positive educational outcomes. The jigsaw technique helps students realize they are essential components of a whole and encourages cooperation in...
Format: article
By Heather Coffey.
Co-op
The co-op structure is more complex than many of the other cooperative learning structures. This ten-step process engages students in the development of a product or project. Students work individually on a single task to contribute to their team, and the...
Format: article
By Heather Coffey.
Three-step interview
The three-step interview takes the place of the traditional group discussion because each person in the group must produce and receive information. In the first two steps of this cooperative learning structure, students interact in pairs, interviewing each...
Format: article
By Heather Coffey.
Student teams achievement divisions
In this learning model, teams are arranged after a teacher-led lesson. Team members tutor one another in order to achieve mastery of new concepts. Then, students take individual quizzes, but the team evaluation is based on individual scores. Student teams...
Format: article
By Heather Coffey.
Think-pair-share
In the think-pair-share strategy, students think on their own about a topic and then pair with another student to discuss their thoughts. Finally, the pair shares their thoughts with the rest of the class. This structure facilitates independent thinking and...
Format: article
By Heather Coffey.
Numbered heads together
Numbered heads together is a cooperative strategy that offers an alternative to the competitive approach of whole-class question-answer, in which the teacher asks a question and then calls on one of the students with a raised hand. In the numbered heads together...
Format: article
By Heather Coffey.
Round robin
In this structure, each student takes turns sharing something new with members of the collaborative group. Round robin offers students the opportunity to express ideas and opinions while learning more about their teammates.
Format: article
By Heather Coffey.
Inside-outside circle
During inside-outside circle, students either sit or stand facing each other in two concentric circles. Students respond to teacher questions or note-card prompted questions and then rotate to the next partner. In the end of this type of structure, students...
Format: article
By Heather Coffey.