We propose a procedure for increasing student participation, particularly in large classes. The procedure establishes a token economy in which students earn tokens for participation and then exchange those tokens for extra credit. We evaluated the effectiveness of the procedure by recording the degree of participation in an introductory psychology class before, during, and after implementation of the token economy. Results revealed that the amount of directed and nondirected participation increased during the token economy and returned to baseline after removal of the token economy. Furthermore, students responded faster to questions from the instructor during the token economy than during baseline, and this decrease in response latency continued even after removal of the token economy.

This dual methods study explored one social studies teacher education program as it attempted to incorporate a cycle of practice-based teacher education into a methods course for the purpose of democratizing the teacher education experience. In addition to detailing the pedagogical decisions of the course instructor, researchers followed two social studies teacher candidates into their student teaching experience. Findings suggested that promoting social studies practice through a pedagogy of enactment is not enough. Rather, mentor teachers, course instructors, and teacher candidates need to be aligned pedagogically as to the purposes and practices of social studies education.