Alternative approaches to education can work well if they are based on common sense and sound research. Recent research findings are reported for alternative approaches to three areas: curriculum, testing and measurement, and instruction. (TE)

Examines what kinds of alternative postsecondary education will be available in the next century to students who are accustomed to alternative schooling. Reviews the history of undergraduate educational reform and notes the momentum for change in college and university education. Similarities with current school reform are discussed. (SM)

Research literature dealing with the adoption and diffusion of educational innovations is summarized, and factors important in the adoption-implementation process are identified. A framework for assessing factors that may affect implementation and long-term use of health education curriculum innovations is given. (PP)

An examination of the different ways in which the honors concept has been adapted from its elitist British university origins and of the assumptions underlying those adaptations reveals both the virtues and the problems inherent in the Americanization of honors. (Author/MSE)

Findings from four lines of inquiry that attempt to identify teaching skills are reviewed. Following a brief introduction, the first section discusses definitions of "skill" and outlines empirical attributes of teaching skills. In the following section, the four lines of inquiry are described. Results are analyzed in the third section.…

Reviews the research on the effectiveness of five thinking skills training programs: Instrumental Enrichment, Philosophy for Children, Structure-of-Intellect (SOI), Problem Solving and Comprehension: A Short Course in Analytical Reasoning, and Odyssey. Compares and contrasts the content of each program and describes the relative lack of adequate…

The role of social scientists and educators in the information revolution is to monitor the social, political, and economic consequences of increased use of technology and to research affective, cognitive, and social outcomes. Six issues provide a focus for addressing the impact of these changes. (1) An assessment of how the technological…

Explains nondirective or pupil-centered teaching, an alternative to traditional education in the Soviet Union. Uses Vygotsky's area of proximal development to envision teaching methods that anticipate and promote higher development levels. Stresses humanistic approach, involving students and responding to individual needs. Also proposes in-depth…

This paper discusses the history, development, and impact of the curriculum reform movement from 1950 to the present. It explores criticisms and accomplishments, outside influences, and the current possibilities of reform. Beginning with rumblings of dissatisfaction in the early fifties, the movement grew into a full reform of science education…