Presents a multifaceted approach to identifying facility needs in academic libraries that applies different evaluation methods to different functional areas, defines problems from more than one viewpoint, and considers the interrelationships of various areas. The strengths and weaknesses of this approach are discussed using examples from its…

Nine articles in this festschrift for Herbert Goldhor explore relatively new and innovative approaches to problem solving in libraries. The articles identify and discuss methods and techniques of applied and evaluative research, consider conceptual and practical issues related to problem solving in libraries, and recognize Goldhor's many…

Reviews the reasons for conducting institutional assessments regardless of college size. Identifies the elements of institutional effectiveness and translates them into six questions with quantifiable answers, which when tallied produce an overall assessment of program effectiveness. (DMM)

A discussion-oriented, direct approach to teaching decoding and spelling based on word origin and structure is proposed. The instruction leads students to a comparison and contrast of letter-sound correspondences, syllable patterns, and morpheme patterns in English words of Anglo-Saxon, Romance, and Greek origin. (Author/JDD)

Presented is an astronomy activity in which students use an apparatus to illustrate the various positions and movements of the sun, earth, planets, stars, and constellations. A test of the heliocentric theory of the solar system is included. (CW)

Shows that two theories of stereochemistry were very different theories, grounded in different assumptions and were intended to explain different phenomena. Presents the original theories and later developments which caused a blending of the theories. (Author/MVL)

The article describes the neurolinguistic programing model and applies it to teaching orientation and mobility skills to congenitally blind students, who have access to only the auditory and kinesthetic primary systems. Understanding the effects on thought of limited representational systems can help trainers teach more effective cane or dog guide…

Describes a business-writing course based on academic and industrial collaboration and the conceptual model of social communities. (MM)

Dental students were videotaped presenting a child's case presentation to a parent. Students who viewed a model videotape demonstrated a significant improvement in performance from their first presentation. Students who evaluated their own tape showed no significant improvement. (Author/MLW)

Examines two different planning models (creative and rational means-end) used in a teacher preparation program to determine what influence the different planning models had on preservice English teachers' thinking before, during, and after teaching. Finds the creative planning model more effectively encourages active worldmaking. (MS)

Reviews the literature in the area of cognitive psychology that is relevant to training for transfer of skills. The roles of models, schema, and principles in transfer are discussed, the way in which examples facilitate schema acquisition is summarized, and the relation of schema to procedural and discovery learning is outlined. (43 references)…

Development of a student learning model, based on the analysis of 14 students' classroom experiences in 3 elementary and middle school studies, is described. Data analysis rules derived from the model predicted learning with 80-85% success across the studies. (SLD)

Qualitative features of teacher-student interaction during classroom teaching and learning while modern technological thinking and problem-solving skills were mediated were studied for 22 seventh-grade boys in Finland. Reciprocal understanding between teacher and student were necessary in order for the teacher's special instructional assistance to…

Describes a project making a model of the celestial sphere that will show how the ancients imagined the universe. (PR)

Reviews recent theoretical, methodological, and analytical developments in language testing, focusing on more refined models of language ability, reliability and validity, performance testing, innovative test formats, new applications of Item Response Theory and Generalizability Theory to test performance. An annotated bibliography discusses seven…