"Threshold concepts" are concepts that, among other things, transform the way a student looks at a discipline. Although the term "threshold" might suggest that the transformation occurs at a specific point in time, an "aha" moment, it seems more common (at least in computing) that a longer time period is required.…

THE EFFECTS OF TWO TECHNIQUES FOR TEACHING CHILDREN'S LITERATURE TO SAMPLES OF FIRST-GRADE CHILDREN WERE INVESTIGATED. THE EXPERIMENTAL TREATMENT WAS BASED ON LAWRENCE KUBIE'S MODEL OF THE CREATIVE PROCESS. THE CONTROL GROUP RECEIVED THE CONVENTIONAL PRESENTATION OF CHILDREN'S LITERATURE WITHOUT KUBIE'S EMPHASIS ON METAPHORICAL AND PRECONSCIOUS…

The case for integrating the problem-solving approach to learning with traditional explanatory and demonstrative approaches, but not replacing them, when teaching biology is presented. (ND)

The major curriculum issue in Norway focuses on the form of learning as opposed to the content of learning. At the turn of the century the school program emphasized content; teaching centered around the acquisition and storage of knowledge. During the 1920s and 1930s, however, theorists stressed the form of the educational process. The process of…

The theoretical landscape in which scholars of comparative education work has become increasingly diverse and fragmented in recent years. This paper contends that cognitive maps can enable scholars to see better this shifting landscape. Mapping also is offered as a rationale by which social and intellectual worlds may be uttered and constructed in…

Contends that Westerners are accustomed to learning about the world through our senses of sight and hearing, and that "lower" senses--smell, taste, and touch--tend to be associated with "savagery" or sensualism. Provides a cross-cultural look at the Colombian Desana people who acquire knowledge through full-bodied experience…

A study in two countries investigated college students' conceptions of "academic literacy," defined as the system of information exchange or mastery of the elements of such a system. Subjects were nine students, four at Ohio State University, a long-established "mega-university," and five at Universitat Pompeu Fabra, a small, newly-established…

Curriculum guidelines are given for social studies instruction in primary grades in New South Wales. No compulsory topics are suggested, but the rationale, objectives, and areas of inquiry provide a framework within which teachers can work. Based on the assumption that social studies should contribute to the development of individuals who can…