Today's political environment continues to become more polarized as Americans find themselves taking sides on controversial issues. While this is certainly not new to the American democratic experience, the way we as a country are combating it is. With the nation engulfed in a political maelstrom, people are forgetting how to have a civilized…

In this article, we present details of a one-week interdisciplinary science camp for high school students in Denmark, "Criminal Camp". We describe the use of forensic science and simulated crimes as a common foundation for teaching the theory and practice of concepts in chemistry, physics, and medicine or biology. The main goal of the…

When Maya Saakvitne's parents sent her for a three-day school field trip two years ago at Nature's Classroom, a camp in western Massachusetts, they did not expect her to come home with a tale of her feet falling asleep after counselors asked her to kneel in the hold of a make-believe slave ship and keep her head down even though some of the other…

A Child Awareness Program was conducted by nine elementary schools to enhance acceptance of handicapped children by their nonhandicapped peers through child awareness activities. A manual of activities was developed containing lesson plans, lists of guest speakers, audiovisual materials, and suggested simulations of handicapping conditions. (SB)

A community education program developed to deal with negative attitudes in elementary and secondary students included sharing of personal experiences by handicapped persons and simulation activities. Followup activities include values clarification, role-playing exercises, and publication of a newsletter. (CL)

Typewriting students were given a pretest, prescriptive exercises, and a posttest. After reading, analyzing, and typing a variety of materials on the capabilities of the handicapped, students were more positive in their attitude that disabled persons can be satisfactory employees. (Author/ SK)

The article describes one aspect of an undergraduate college course entitled "Special Education 253: Physically Handicapped" in which students could elect to confine themselves to a wheelchair for 24 waking hours for 20 percent of their final grade. The reactions of the 87 students who participated demonstrate the usefulness of the experience.…

To sensitize medical students to the complexities of geriatric patient care, the geriatrics faculty of Upstate Medical Center's Clinical Campus developed Geriatrix, a role-playing game. Students attempt to win points in a board game containing Fact, Concept, and Crisis Squares. Crises promote exposure to ethical dilemmas and invite intense debate…

This study evaluates the effectiveness of an experiential approach to teen pregnancy (TP) prevention called "Baby Think It Over," a computerized infant simulator, on adolescents' attitudes and behaviors regarding teen pregnancy and sexuality. Recently, a more realistic model called "Real Care Baby" was developed. The small amount of research on…

The Challenge of Change teacher education simulation program provides opportunities for preservice teachers to analyze and follow up broad issues frequently experienced by classroom teachers. The objectives are a widening of the range of attitudes to educational issues and encouraging decision making on educational issues based on reasoned…

An active learning simulation game designed to increase pharmacy students' awareness of the physical, psychological, and financial difficulties of the ambulatory elderly in handling their medication is described. Questionnaires before and after the game, including a semantic differential tool, indicate that the program is successful in increasing…

The Westinghouse Hanford Company Total Quality Program includes the development of Hanford General Employee Training (HGET), an interactive video course. The commitment to total quality is developed in both new and requalifying employees by requiring them to make positive choices when confronted with real life scenarios showing violations of…

This paper describes techniques for bringing the elderly and topics related to aging to children into school settings. Through the participation of older adults in the schools and the inclusion of materials on aging in school curricula, students can develop positive and accurate views of aging and the aged. The first technique discussed is…

The author describes the use of Muppet-like puppets to demonstrate in a regular classroom what it's like to be handicapped and to illustrate the nature of positive peer relationships between disabled and nondisabled children. (SBH)

The CEPAC Project (Career Education, a Process of Attitude Change) is a consortium in rural southwestern Colorado having as its purpose to infuse career education concepts into the primary and secondary level curriculum being taught by all teachers and to provide as many career options for students as possible. The project covers an area of…