Describes limitations of traditional approaches to assessment and curriculum as they relate to the needs of children with autism and severe disabilities who are functioning at presymbolic levels of development. Alternative assessment strategies are identified, and suggestions for instructional design are provided. (Author/BN)

We report on a study of a laboratory teaching apprenticeship program designed to improve graduate teaching assistant (GTA) performance. To catalyze GTAs as laboratory teachers we constructed learning goals, synthesized previous literature into a design model and a developmental path, and built two instruments to measure 12 strategic pedagogical…

Looks at the crucial role of evaluation and assessment in developing a means to integrate environmental education into biology curricula. Focuses on the development of evaluation instruments that allow information to be collected on aspects of pupil behavior toward aspects of the environment. (LZ)

Expanded the curriculum of an assertiveness training program. Found that boys and girls benefited similarly in the cognitive acquisition of assertiveness information from this program. Discusses results in terms of the difference between having stored symbolic information regarding assertive responses and in recognizing appropriate contexts for…

A comparative study that accesses the environmental knowledge of in-service classroom teachers (n=166) enrolled in the certification program at Yarmouk indicates the need for coursework in environmental sciences and environmental education. Recommends the integration of an environmental dimension into the general methodology course and subject…

Subject matter experts play an essential role in technical curriculum development by providing accurate and up-to-date information that matches education, training, and workforce needs. The Subject Matter Expert (SME) COMlist is proposed as a tool that enables instructional developers to evaluate an SME's capability and suitability to support…

Argues that educators should be proactive in building computer-based curricula that place technology in a facilitating role, have sound educational objectives that are measureable, and reflect awareness of how students learn from computer interaction. The educational theories of reinforcement, closure, short-term memory, and mastery learning are…

Topics include: (1) Culture and deep structure of literature curriculum; (2) Literary criticism and educational measurement: towards an evaluation framework; (3) Measuring: knowledge and its application to literary texts, understanding of a literary work, interests, and attitudes; and (4) Evaluating expressed responses to literary works. (RL)

Investigated were students' beliefs about the tentativeness of scientific knowledge, various sources of students' beliefs as well as those factors that have altered students' beliefs about science, and the implications of students' beliefs for daily personal and societal decisions. The research methodology and instructional implications are…

More than 1,600 middle school students, including an experimental group exposed to the Biological Science Curriculum Study (BSCS), were administered the Modified Nature of Scientific Knowledge Scale. Results indicate that the students utilizing the traditional science curriculum possessed a significantly better understanding of the testable nature…

Utilizing student interviews, this study assessed fourth, eighth, and eleventh graders (n=105) in 11 Maine schools concerning their understanding of 4 natural and social science concepts related to pollution. The results hold direct implications for teaching strategies and curriculum design within the environmental and science education domains.…

Offers a report on Visions for Children--an early childhood demonstration program with the goal of facilitating intellectual development and academic achievement and enhancing self-concepts of African-American preschoolers. Base-line data from the first two phases of child testing comparing program participants and control group children is…

This sourcebook indicates the range of instructional technology currently being used in community colleges. Issues discussed are: overcoming the barriers to faculty involvement by organizing the staff and creating an effective reward system for instructional development; how a learning resources center can assist instructors in applying…