The Teacher Enhancement Institute (TEI) on the campus of Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, Pennsylvania involved a diverse group of teachers actively pursuing instructional improvement through workshops in thinking skills, content area, and group seminars. This test was prepared by a team of middle school science and mathematics teachers at the…

The importance of evaluating student interns as part of a regular performance appraisal system for all employees is discussed, along with the role of the internship coordinator or faculty sponsor. The first step is deciding what should be measured: interns' personal characteristics, job performance, and results. The most useful form of performance…

This evaluation package contains two model tests, one for the Alberta (Canada) French 20 course (intermediate 4/5) and one for French 30 (intermediate 5/6). The tests were designed for holistic evaluation of high school students' language performance based on an experiential/communicative approach. They allow teachers to obtain a sampling of…

A skills model and clustering system are presented, based on the assumptions that the tasks of all work, including scholarship, require many similar skills that can be identified and clustered. Six levels of competency are addressed: possession, combination, application, quantity, quality, and mastery. These skills can be clustered into adaptive…

Describes some of the characteristics of "herps" (amphibians and reptiles). Contains teaching activities dealing with ancient herps, learning stations that encourage sensory experiences with herps, and games, puzzles, and a dramatic play about herps. Includes reproducible handouts designed to be used with the activities, as well as a quiz. (TW)

The Self-Knowledge Inventory of Lifelong Learning Strategies (SKILLS) was developed to measure adult learning strategies in real-life learning situations. SKILLS consists of a series of 12 scenarios from real-world situations that reflect Shirk's (1990) nine general categories of learning for real-life situations and that necessitate various types…

The application of structural-developmental theory to experiential education practice is discussed. The theory is based on the concept of stages, which are structurally whole, internally consistent systems of thought that organize the individual's understanding of, feelings toward, and actions on the world. Stage theory presents the image of an…

The Partners in Elementary Science (PIES) program of the National Science Foundation (NSF) is a model Teacher Enhancement project. Its goal was to develop and test a program to help elementary teachers strengthen their science teaching by addressing areas of need, specifically teachers' confidence in teaching inquiry science and helping teachers…

A study examines the influence of a Sunship Earth education program on fifth and sixth grade students (n=578). Results indicate that students who attended the program increased their ecological knowledge significantly. Participation did not result in more positive environmental attitudes. (17 references) (MCO)

Describes some of the characteristics of amphibians. Contains teaching activities ranging from a "frog sing-along" to lessons on amphibian adaptations, and night hikes to identify frog calls. Includes reproducible handouts to be used with the activities, and a quiz. (TW)

Designed to examine the nature of ideas that students hold about specific scientific concepts and to investigate modes of instruction that would effectively help them gain an accurate understanding of their world, this study focused on students' conceptions of ecological concepts and the influence of field instruction strategies on students'…

This report describes a project at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (New York) to develop a curriculum that focuses on the social construction and use of science and technology in diverse cultural contexts. The program consists of both a minor and a three-course concentration on cross-cultural studies of science and technology. Courses covered…

This curriculum guide discusses civic responsibility, how it is tied to service learning, how faculty can integrate concepts and exercises in a practical way, and how faculty can assess the development of civic responsibility in their students. Civic responsibility is defined here as active participation in the public life of a community, in an…

The summer institute phase of the Hartford Effective Schools Initiative is evaluated in this report. Part 1 includes (1) an overview of training content; (2) a section on trainers' methods, assessing strengths and weaknesses; (3) participants' responses to training based on observations by the evaluation staff and informal interviews with…

Reports results of a survey of 36 college students who played the Commons Game. This game was developed to illustrate the behavioral patterns, complexities, and frustrations involved in management of commons resources, cited as a major concern for future generations. (10 references) (MCO)