Short-term or "one shot" professional development experiences are sometimes deemed less effective because they lack mechanisms for deep and ongoing engagement. Using the music conference as an example, I outline a simple framework on how music teachers might nevertheless use short-term professional development experiences as an impetus…

Study abroad programs offer a unique opportunity for students to immerse themselves within different cultural backgrounds as they continue to further their education. By experiencing this first-hand, in-service and pre-service educators are better prepared to address diversity issues within their classrooms. The "Handbook of Research on…

Teaching researchers commonly employ group-based collaborative learning approaches in Teaching of Psychology teaching activities. However, the authors know relatively little about the effectiveness of group-based activities in relation to known psychological processes associated with group dynamics. Therefore, the authors conducted a meta-analytic…

The amount of time allocated for learning and the way that time is used is one of the few variables that can be influenced rather directly by school leaders. Fortunately, it is also a variable that has shown consistent links to student performance. Now that schools are focused directly, and in some cases exclusively, on student achievement, there…

Reports on college-level microeconomic classes to compare learning in short-term intensive course with traditional semester-length course. Found students in three-week courses performed better on achievement tests than those in traditional semester courses but this advantage disappeared when knowledge retention was measured. Raises policy…

Data from 249 providers of pharmacy continuing education and for 6,670 programs for 1989 are summarized and compared with data from 1980 and 1985. Results show more providers, a 2.5-fold increase in programs offered, slightly lower tuition per program, continued decrease in program length, and increased availability of correspondence programs.…

An overview of research studies on the relationship among time factors and student achievement is presented. The California Beginning Teacher Evaluation Study is cited as a seminal work in this area. A brief summary of findings on allocated time, engaged time, and academic learning time includes a discussion on how these studies have been expanded…

This paper summarizes and critiques the literature concerning the development and use of time-compressed, intensive course formats in colleges and universities and suggests directions for future inquiry. The paper begins with a discussion of the origins of intensive courses and their development over time. Briefly reviewed are related educational…

An international study investigated social work field instruction in 51 countries and the educational context in which it occurs. Results are reported, including (1) general findings concerning program affiliation and size, student age, program length, placement, field instructor affiliation and training, and payment patterns; and (2) summaries of…

Alberta's curriculum guide for a two-year German program to begin in grade 7 or 8 outlines the program's philosophy and rationale, goals and objectives, minimum expectations for communication skill development and cultural understanding, required and elective content and themes, recommended instructional materials, suggested time allotments,…

This document consists of the three issues of the journal "The Teacher Trainer" published in 1994. This journal is designed for those interested in modern language teacher training. It makes use of a variety of formats: article, letter, comment, quotation, cartoon, interview, spoof, Haiku ideas. Typical article topics during 1994…