Interactive digital media, or video games, are a powerful new medium. They offer immersive experiences in which players solve problems. Players learn more than just facts--ways of seeing and understanding problems so that they "become" different kinds of people. "Serious games" coming from business strategy, advergaming, and entertainment gaming…

The author regrets the de-emphasis of the past in the social studies. She contends that students' lives are poorer, perhaps even impoverished, without an appreciation of the past and a nodding acquaintance with its heroes and villains. (Author/KC)

Emphasizes that the theme of safety should be built into each outdoor education course as a thread tying all the skills together. Examines the make-up of the Red Cross Basic Canoeing course as a model to illustrate this point. (NEC)

This paper argues that if thinking skills are to be integrated into the curriculum two needs must be addressed: (1) the manner of teaching content must be revised so that thinking skills are used and reinforced during the learning process, and (2) courses whose primary focus is the improvement of thinking skills must be offered. A comparison is…

The facts and ideas of subject matter are of little or no value unless such facts and ideas are used to promote thoughtful discourse. Those who teach with this idea in mind can be said to be thinking-skills centered or procognitive; those who teach without this idea in mind can be termed content-centered or procontent. The procognitive viewpoint…

Presents arguments for and against teaching music reading skills. Opponents say that students rarely use music reading skills after high school and that this music reading objective has never been successful. Proponents claim that a major objective of music programs is to produce musically independent students. (AM)

This article explores the impact of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) on the behavior of teachers and school leaders, specifically the centralizing, standardizing tendencies of the legislation, and juxtaposes their reactions to the types of teaching and leadership required to lead 21st-century schools. The authors argue that the isomorphic…

Content has dominated and will likely continue to dominate high school social studies education. Process, or learning how to learn, except in a minority of classrooms, will continue to receive only accidental attention. Reasons why are discussed. (RM)

Addresses the need for a balance between skills- oriented and content-oriented approaches to teaching social studies. Suggests a program in which an updated skills sequence could be interposed over an identified scope of prime content. (Author/KC)

Contends that the methods used to teach social studies become secondary to the emerging trend in elementary schools of putting social studies aside in favor of the basics. Also suggests that problem-solving and decision-making skills are basic to survival in our society. (Author/KC)

Argues that all instructors, regardless of field, share responsibility for improving students' writing skills. Advocates (1) establishing academic objectives for all students to meet by the end of their college career, (2) requiring essays and papers, rather than objective tests, and (3) requiring effective writing in every course. (DD)

The first roadblock encountered in an effort to develop an interdisciplinary communications skills course at the university level was the discovery that no suitable textbooks exist for such a course. First, texts widely used for basic speech courses do not attempt to incorporate written and spoken communication, much less computer skills. Second,…

Drawing upon the experiences of a participant in the Visiting Professor Program sponsored by the Advertising Education Foundation of the American Advertising Federation and the American Academy of Advertising, this paper discusses the advantages such programs can have for both the host company and the participant. The first section of the paper…

Outlines stages in curriculum development to achieve a balance between concepts as the essence of the curriculum and skills and content as the vehicles. Includes evaluation methods, approaches for in-service teacher education, and suggestions for educating the public on the importance of the social studies. (Author/KC)

Three arts educators comment on the relationships among skills, knowledge, and creativity in the arts curriculum. Charles H. Ball states that these elements should be balanced in the curriculum. Eunice Boardman suggests that adequate statement of curricular goals does away with the need for balancing. Karen A. Hamblen notes that the three elements…