Indiana's declining SAT scores prompted the publisher of a statewide magazine covering the literary, performing, and visual arts to take action and create a program to use the magazine as a supplemental resource for students. It was believed that such a supplemental resource could enhance critical thinking and writing skills and help raise SAT…

Varied academic ability is a problem across the country and is the focus of this action research project report. The four teacher researchers were searching for way to reach all learners with their mathematics instruction. The purpose of the research was to increase mathematical performance in a varied ability math classroom. To address varied…

In order to develop an experiential learning curriculum for interdisciplinary social sciences that would take into account the needs and interests of students at Miami-Dade Community College, a review of the literature was undertaken in the following areas: philosophy and experiential learning theory; the role of the teacher; student…

This guide provides specific information and resources for course and curriculum development, beginning with an outline of the basic elements of a curriculum and a listing of exemplary curricula in computer science education from other colleges. The definition of, need for, and essential and secondary features of a goal are presented, as well as…

Community and culture significantly influence value orientation, perceived needs, and motivation as well as provide the ground for creating shared understanding. All disciplines have their own cultures, and all cultures evolve through cross-cultural exchanges. The computing community has created and documented a sound body of knowledge of…

This action research project devised a program designed to increase the use of visual elements in middle school core subjects and assessed its impact on student recall, teacher awareness, and use of visual/spatial elements. Observation, surveys, and interviews documented teachers' and students' limited knowledge and use of visual/spatial elements…

This field study was conducted to develop a performance-based course, including goal statements, performance objectives, and learning activities, for a light commercial building drafting course. The procedures used during the study were based on the 1975 Michigan Department of Education project for the development of competency-based teacher…

This action research project implemented and evaluated an intervention for improving student engagement in the learning process. The targeted population consisted of first, third, and fifth grade students in a small, traditional, middle class community, located in central Illinois. Evidence of non-engaged behaviors were documented from teacher…

A process that could facilitate a cross-cultural learning environment was designed. The process involved (1) developing motivational devices using an historical selection process that incorporated a "significant difference", evaluated reconstructed historical materials, devices that prevent a "past-present" dichotomy,…

This study presents a holistic framework which can be used as a basis for decision-making at various points in the curriculum-instruction development process as described by Johnson in a work published in 1967. The proposed framework has conceptual bases in the work of Thomas S. Kuhn and David P. Ausubel and utilizes the work of several perceptual…

This report defines a curriculum laboratory to be a center where educational materials are developed, modified, and stored. Included in the document are a history of the curriculum laboratory, a study of its characteristics, and a survey of the curriculum laboratories in the colleges and universities of Pennsylvania. The Wilkes College curriculum…

Study units integrating library skills into the day-to-day teaching curriculum were cooperatively developed by classroom teachers and librarians at The King's Christian Junior and Senior High School in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. Teachers filled out forms to express their preferences for study unit subjects. Librarians then met with teachers to: (1)…

Reported is an evaluation of the Child-Structured Learning in Science (CSLS) Curriculum using the intellectual models of Piaget and Guilford. A cognitive test instrument was designed to measure cognition of figural classes (CFC), convergent production of figural classes (NFC), evaluation of figural classes (EFC), cognition of figural relations…

The purpose of this project was the establishment of materials suitable for slow learners in a life science program. The research focused on the development and testing of an eight-week study in life science and evolved through three phases: preparation, writing, and assembly of a student text and a teacher's handbook; preliminary testing during a…

This report describes a program for improving students' depth of understanding through the use of alternative assessment. The targeted population consisted of students at one elementary, one junior high, and two high schools in two growing middle class communities in northern Illinois. Lack of student understanding was documented through teacher…