Stephen Prothero's "Religious Literacy" makes a strong case that minimal religious literacy is an essential requirement for contemporary U. S. citizens. He argues further that high schools and colleges should offer required courses in the study of religion in order to help students reach that baseline literacy. Beyond the general recommendation…

Traditional education, employing lectures or telecommunicative instruction methods, has been very effective in providing topical facts. However, the development of student skills and thinking ability require higher levels of instruction and more opportunity to practice and apply acquired knowledge. As students progress through a particular…

Identifies different types of statements that make up the structure of a lecture, including concepts, definitions, formulas, theories, models, and predictive statements. The selection of statements and their relationship to pedagogical processes is described, and the importance of knowledge of the abilities of the intended audience is discussed.…

Reviews the historical evolution of computer-assisted instruction (CAI) and discusses recent advances in intelligent systems. Intelligent tutoring systems are described from the system designer's and learner's perspectives, and possible future applications are considered. A list of existing intelligent CAI systems is provided. (14 references) (CLB)

Elementary school children in the United States are not developing acceptable levels of mathematical proficiency (National Center for Education Statistics, 1999), and a major concern of teacher educators is that teachers lack the depth and flexibility of mathematical understanding and the corresponding beliefs they need to teach for proficiency…

Suggests that intermediate microeconomic theory instruction should emphasize individual elements of the topic as part of a general equilibrium model. Summarizes a model that can be used to highlight the unifying thread running through the subject. Discusses the submodels of the market, the consumer, the firm, and the economy as a whole. (SG)

The subtleties of instruction include interpretation, interaction, and longitudinality. Instructional leaders can help teachers make decisions about how to verbally mediate students' understanding during lessons. Includes references. (MD)

Describes in detail six component features of teaching reference: lectures by instructor; assigned readings for class discussion; student reports; library "lab" sessions; case-study discussion; and speakers and library visits. Importance of planning and time-scheduling, comparative value of each component, grading, and element of…

Describes four-step approach to educational demonstration: tell learners they will have to perform; what they should notice; describe each step before doing it; and require memorization of steps. Examples illustrate use of this process to demonstrate a general mental strategy, and industrial design, supervisory, fine motor, and specific…

Proposing that Socratic seminars can lead to true educational reform, this article examines the use of these seminars to enlarge elementary and secondary students' understanding of ideas and to encourage instruction that is not restricted by established syllabi, courses, or examinations. Socratic discussion is lacking in most classrooms but should…

Presents a model for instructional software design as a collaborative effort involving computer scientists and educators, which stresses the process of design through documentation. The documentation used to exchange information at each phase of the process is described, and the advantages of this model are discussed. (CLB)

Describes a course which uses integrated electronic spreadsheets for computer assisted instruction in teaching multiple regression analysis. The process of implementing the method is explained, tips on worksheet arrangement are given, and advantages of using electronic spreadsheets are delineated. (Author/MBR)

Argues that students will accept and even learn from homework provided that its design takes into consideration students' learning styles and study skills. Describes an effort at an all-boys high school in Brooklyn, New York, to tailor class instruction and homework to results obtained from a Learning Styles Inventory. (BCY)

Presents a list of recommended practices for designing computer-based instruction courseware based on principles derived from learning research. Research-based principles and the corresponding design practices are outlined for the areas of stimulus design, learner responses, feedback, and lesson control. (6 references) (CLB)

Discusses benefits of keyboarding instruction for elementary school students, emphasizing the integration of keyboarding with language arts instruction. Traditional typing and computer-assisted instruction are discussed, six software packages for adapting keyboarding instruction to the classroom are reviewed, and suggestions for software selection…