Discussion of program evaluations in educational institutions reports on the use of focus groups in the evaluation of a program of school library education at the University of Alberta (Edmonton, Canada). Topics include self-study, a literature review, and reflections on models of professional education. (Author/LRW)

Describes a model that can be used to supplement systematic training approaches to behavioral skills. Presents four phases used to teach counselor trainees cognitive skills and self-instructional strategies related to attending and seeking information, forming hypotheses and conceptual models, and intervention planning and self-instruction. (RJM)

Compares the decisions facing teachers in current reform proposals to decisions made by teachers participating in the Madison Project in the 1960s. Discusses teaching methods utilized, lesson planning, and teacher/student interactions. Reports Madison Project teacher's responses to interview transcripts of the tutoring project at Berkeley,…

This article examines issues that child protective agencies might consider when evaluating the impact of risk assessment implementation on service delivery. The paper recommends using qualitative and quantitative measures in a process and an outcome evaluation to determine the degree of model implementation and the impact of implementation on case…

Curriculum-based measurement (CBM) is presented as a system linking data collected for special education eligibility with intervention planning and evaluation. The paper describes CBM problem-solving procedures, research outcomes of CBM problem-solving model implementation, effects on student achievement and goal awareness, and effects on teaching…

The seven articles of this theme issue bring together recent theoretical work in investigating the kind of conceptual change that occurs in the learning of the physical sciences. How conceptual change occurs and the implications for science instruction are considered. (SLD)

A review of the literature on effects of homework for students with and without disabilities offers a homework process model, and suggests that homework policies and practices for students with learning disabilities should emphasize: simple, short assignments; careful monitoring by and prominent rewards from teachers; and parental involvement to…

Discusses relevance and its role in evaluating the effectiveness of information retrieval. Highlights include an information retrieval interaction model; a review of research; evaluation and measurement, including recall and precision and utility and user satisfaction; judges and judgment conditions; user criteria; decision making; and cognitive…

Compares seven positions on media influences on learning that were presented in a previous journal issue; discusses the conflict between advocates of a given approach versus integrated approaches to the solving of complex problems; and presents a model that links cognitive processes to computer-based prescriptions for improvements in learning. (35…

This article promotes the use of contextual constructionism in evaluation research. The call for truth in sentencing in Tennessee (and across the country) is used to illustrate the conflict among stakeholders that arises from program evaluation and to show how their multiple realities make a contextual constructionist approach pertinent. (SLD)

A collection of creative pupil activities in science lessons is presented, discussed, and illustrated. The activities include drawing, acting, gaming, and modeling. The relative merits of work of the types described are analyzed. (KR)

The HyperCard-based computer-assisted instructional environment described--called the Virtual Computer (VC)--uses simulation to help learners acquire basic concepts about the functioning of computers. Discussion of the instructional design of the program includes Elaboration Theory, four learning phases, use of metaphors and analogies, other…

A process approach to writing instruction for students with learning disabilities is presented. The approach involves students sharing their work with each other, receiving frequent response to their writing, using word processing to support fluent text production and ease revision, conferencing with teachers to develop writing strategies, and…

Presents a model that relates Polya's ideas on problem solving to teaching practices that help create a mathematics learning environment in which students are actively involved in doing mathematics. Illustrates the model utilizing a high school geometry problem that asks students to measure the width of a river. (MDH)

Discusses the development of computer-managed instruction (CMI) and possible changes for the future. Topics addressed include the management function; the current tutorial method that focuses on verbal learning; a closer relationship to performance and practice; resolving conflicting goals in computer-based training; and the psychology of…