The process of effective teaching--teaching that directly leads to student learning of standards-based content--is tenuous at best and easily disrupted by contextual and behavioral factors. In this commentary, I discuss the role of student support and mediation in teacher effectiveness and curricular reform. The most vocal students in physical…

This viewpoint proposes a model of art therapy integrated into an alternative art education program. Because of the pressure to meet educational standards, school systems may be less likely to support clinical programs that take students out of their classes. A blended model of art therapy and art education that utilizes effective strategies from…

Addresses the potential value of the Developing a Curriculum (DACUM) occupational analysis methodology in curriculum development for health occupations education programs. Presents strengths and weaknesses of using DACUM in the context of traditional procedures and applications to health-related programs. (JOW)

Describes the process used in developing custom-tailored workplace basic skills programs. Examples show that learning objectives are mainly the same skills that are taught in more generic classes. The difference is that they use scenarios and text directly from the workplace. (Author/JOW)

The author suggests that the specification of common literacy demands that are valid on the societal level, that is, which are applicable and meaningful to diverse adults living in diverse environments, is an impossible task. He further suggests that the development of a valid and uniform national curriculum for functional literacy is equally…

Developing A CurriculUM (DACUM) is an approach to job/occupational analysis. The profile chart that results from DACUM analysis is a low-cost, effective method of quickly determining what tasks must be performed by employees in a given job or occupational area. The DACUM analysis can be used as a basis for the following: curriculum development;…

This is the concluding part of an article published in the August 1983 edition. A number of arguments are developed to demonstrate the inadequacy of behaviorally defined objectives as a basis for curriculum planning. (SSH)

Considering a behaviorist's viewpoint focusing on specifics regarding learning and knowledge, this document discusses the psychology of learning and how it provides the reading/language arts teacher with a basis for making sound decisions in lesson and unit construction. It provides two examples of objectives for pupil achievement pertaining to…

First discusses the philosophy, structure, and content of instruction for students with severe disabilities and then presents procedures to define and incorporate strategies to meet the unique needs of students with visual and multiple impairments. A five-step analysis process is suggested for modifying a core curriculum to individualize…

This booklet describes Job Analysis for Continuous Improvement (JACI), a five-step process incorporating strategic planning, job task identification, needs assessment, solutions, and evaluation. The JACI was developed as a result of a collaboration between the Minnesota Technical College System and 3M's Corporate Plant Engineering Services…

Over the past decade, vocational and technical education teachers were encouraged to use commercially produced task lists to develop their curriculum materials. Unfortunately, however, many commercially developed task lists distributed by private companies, state departments of education, universities, and many other agencies may, to some extent,…

Enumerates procedures for design of library science programs: designation of broad aims of librarianship; task analysis; elucidation of curriculum design concepts; selection of educational goals; learning experiences; addition of subject content; designation of program structure; planning of ancillary elements. Checklist of recommended procedures…

Advances in cognitive science have greatly increased our knowledge of how the human mind stores and uses information. That knowledge can be used to decompose curricular objectives so as to increase the specificity of instruction to a level of precision that should greatly enhance student writing. This article identifies some major types of…

Because it is a well-accepted fact that young persons have more than their share of automobile crashes and because the task of driving is a complex one that requires practice to be mastered, it is proposed that a careful human factors analysis of the task of driving be undertaken based on empirically demonstrated differences among driver groups.…

The DACUM (Developing A Curriculum) occupational analysis process provides a systematic way to look at worker duties and tasks so that important knowledge, skills, standards, tools, and attitudes can be handed on to the next generation of workers. Revamped by The Ohio State University's Center on Education and Training for Employment, DACUM…