This document presents three main strategies that form two closely related teaching methodologies: special techniques, peer responsibility, and joint projects. The first two strategies combine together to form the first teaching methodology, Special Techniques and Peer Responsibility Teaching Method (STAPRM), and all three strategies combine…

Discusses academic failure and the role of curriculum design in either intercepting or exacerbating learning difficulties. Evaluates changing student demographics and the diverse needs of students, and reviews the principles of effective curriculum design, including big ideas, conspicuous strategies, mediated scaffolding, strategic integration,…

Outlines the instructional design principles underlying the Direct Instruction Model and applies these principles to a variety of content areas. Urges the integration of curriculum design principles with effective teaching practices. Also offers criteria for evaluating and selecting curriculum materials based on direct instruction principles.…

This document provides a model to help local teachers and administrators develop learner outcomes at the local level. Chapter 1 defines the State Board of Education's values, philosophy, mission, and goals. Chapter 2 explicates the process for identifying what is being taught and what ought to be learned. This process guide provides a list of the…

The distinguished teachers and historians on the Bradley Commission on History in Schools suggested the basic themes, narratives, topics, and questions essential to the study of United States history, of Western civilization, and of world history. This guide provides teachers, administrators, and parents with principles of selection and…

Twenty-nine high-school students were taught ratio and proportion word problems using either an interactive videodisc program incorporating empirically validated curriculum design principles or a teacher-taught program with basals. Both groups, composed of remedial and learning-disabled students, made substantial performance gains, with the…

Review of experimental evidence concerning the effectiveness of problem-based learning suggests that the approach may not improve content-free problem solving; may initially reduce learning levels but fosters long-term retention; may enhance transfer of concepts and integration of concepts into clinical problems; enhances intrinsic interest of…

A University of Redlands (California) calculus course was redesigned to include computer demonstrations and homework assignments in which the computer could play an important role. Comparison of results of this instruction with that using traditional methods suggest the approach using computers has merit. (MSE)

A study investigated differences in National Board of Medical Examiners Part I scores for students at the College of Human Medicine (Michigan) in two preclinical medicine curricula, one problem based and one traditional, during four distinct periods. Results illustrate the difficulty of comparing the curricula, given revisions over time. (MSE)

Concept-teaching procedures in five basal language programs for kindergarten were analyzed on the basis of 11 design-of-instruction criteria. Concepts such as position, color, shape, size, and directionality were examined. Results suggest that the programs' concept-teaching procedures failed to adhere to essential principles for designing…

A model for teaching social work students and professionals about widely existing severe, subtle, and overt forms of male controls and violence against women is described. Topics addressed during a three-hour workshop ranged from sexist language to harassment, battery, and femicide. Evaluation of workshops using the model suggest participants…

Examines issues medical schools must consider before requiring students to own computers, including appropriate kind of computer, impediments to teaching with computers, and how they are to be used. Data from a study of 15 medical schools that require computers, surveyed information on software, hardware requirements, expectations of student use,…

Recent activation of a 1940 Italian law allowing equal amounts of elementary school subject area instruction in French and Italian in the Valle D'Aosta (Italy) are described. The plan uses paired bilingual teachers who alternate both languages and grades during the school day. Extension of the program to higher grades is discussed. (six…

A study investigated reasoning processes of medical students in schools with different curricular formats, a conventional curriculum with basic science taught before clinical training and a problem-based curriculum with basic science taught in the context of clinical problems. Strengths and weaknesses of each curriculum type emerged. (Author/MSE)

A study of 30 first-year medical students in a physiology course found that frequent evaluation had a profound negative effect on learning, with students adopting a surface reproductive approach geared to passing exams rather than integrating knowledge. Lectures and curriculum organization failed to affect student use and structure of knowledge.…