Debunks five misconceptions about improving creative thinking. To encourage students to think creatively, instructional techniques should reflect an integrated set of mental skills, use materials mimicking real-life situations, consider students' beliefs and tendencies toward creative thinking, show metacognitive sensibility, and foster a creative…

In one Colorado fifth grade classroom, math period begins with Mathematician's Chair, an activity allowing students to share their problems with entire class. Using this technique, students became adept at writing math problems, solving their own and peers' problems, using math-related writing as important medium of social discourse, and making…

As a dramatic arts professor's experience shows, children's lack of arts education inhibits their ability to communicate ideas spontaneously, respond with feeling, and discern quality from commercial junk. By contrast, a role-playing/research activity with 15 youngsters helped students express themselves creatively and build community in a…

Describes results of an Indiana study to determine what proportion of the typical teacher aide's time involved in instructional activities deals with different-size groups of children, pursuing various academic activities, and using various instructional materials. Teachers use aides mostly to assist them in discussion/review with a single child…

Evaluates Cornell University's Linking Up mentoring program for needy youngsters. Although the program achieved limited success, some valuable lessons emerged, including the necessity of finding a sufficient supply of suitable mentors, concentrating on youths in need, setting clear mentoring goals, focusing on competence-building activities,…

The author cites studies that demonstrate the value of peer group techniques for reinforcing learning in educational settings. She reviews the literature on peer group learning in nursing education, and presents a peer group teaching-learning strategy that she developed for a course in community health and psychiatric nursing. (Author/CT)

Not all learning activities are worth keeping. For kids to know and understand important curriculum concepts, hands-on activities should also be "minds-on." Backward Design is a three-step curriculum model that helps teachers identify desired results, determine acceptable evidence of student learning, and plan learning experience and…

This report examines the implementation of a five-day French immersion program whose goal was to expose rural secondary school students to French in cultural context, in order to develop cultural understanding and effective communication. Findings of the study show: (1) 14 percent of the program time was spent on instructional activity, 20 percent…

Studying global economic system helps middle-school students unravel complexities of world economics by focusing on other countries, their motivations as consumers, and their decision-making processes. By examining interrelationship of economics and everyday life, students can see their place in economic chain. Concepts such as marketing, stock…

Describes how use of panorama theater to teach middle school social studies can aid in teaching the academic skills of defining a problem, locating and collecting data, organizing and designing tasks, drawing inferences, creating and building interpretations, revising and editing, and interpreting data. Presents a classroom example of a panorama…

Experiential drama consists of short skits that address various value areas. Issues drawn from student experiences are used in the dramatizations, which portray the actual experiences and incidents. Students develop the scenarios and present them to classes, social agencies, churches, and businesses. Educational benefits abound. (MLH)

Summarizes a case-study evaluating the UNESCO Associated Schools Project in Poland. The educational objectives of the project, the learning activities used in the elementary and secondary schools, and the results of the evaluation are discussed. Future plans stress the improvement of teaching methods. (AM)

Describes two introductory college-level geography programs which use undergraduate students as peer teachers. In a human geography course, they act as small-group leaders in role-playing simulations. In a physical geography course, peer teachers serve as tutors for mastery learning. Socio-psychological, pedagogical, economic, and political…

Describes the Schoolwide Enrichment Model, a systematic set of strategies for increasing student effort, enjoyment, and creative productivity. Explains the Total Talent Portfolio, a model component and vehicle for systematically gathering, recording, and acting on information about students' abilities, interests, and learning styles. Illustrates…

Science centers and children's museums, such as the New York Hall of Science and the Orlando (Florida) Science Center, offer rich programs linked to students' classroom learning and provide an informal, inquiry-based setting for exploring major concepts. School/museum partnerships can further teachers' and students' lifelong learning progress.…