This resource was written to provide students with an awareness of critical issues facing the world today. In courses for college students, it can motivate their study of mathematics, teach them how to solve mathematical problems related to current global issues, provide coherence to mathematical studies through a focus on issues of human…

Case-based learning is one method that can be used to foster critical thinking and schema construction. Students need to be provided with problem solving lessons in meaningful learning contexts for critical thinking to take place. In order for schema construction to occur, a framework needs to be provided that helps readers to elaborate upon new…

Critical thinking skills were taught to students in a lower-track freshman English class through the use of cross-disciplinary subject matter. Given a set of three transmission electron micrographs, or photographs of magnified tissue used in histology and pathology, students were asked to support their conclusions on which two of micrographs A, B,…

Environmental education is generally thought to be an approach to teaching and learning that will help students develop the knowledge, skills, and values basic to environmental problem solving. This report addresses the need for environmental education and attempts to clarify definitions of some of the efforts such as outdoor education and…

The USMES Guide is a resource book containing information about the USMES project's background, goals and hypotheses, and methods of operation. Papers on real problem solving, USMES classroom strategy, and the Design Lab manual are included; the development, implementation, and evaluation programs are described. Also included are descriptions of…

This USMES unit challenges students to recommend and try to have a new road design or a system for rerouting traffic accepted so that cars and trucks can move safely at a reasonable speed through a busy intersection near the school. The teacher resource book for the Traffic Flow unit contains five sections. The first section describes the USMES…

This USMES unit challenges students to find the best way to produce in quantity an item that is needed. The teacher resource book for the Manufacturing unit contains five sections. The first section describes the USMES approach to student-initiated investigations of real problems, including a discussion of the nature of the USMES "challenges" and…

This USMES unit challenges students to find a way to design or make changes in things that they use or wear so that there will be a good fit. The teacher resource book for the Designing For Human Proportions unit contains five sections. The first section describes the USMES approach to student-initiated investigations of real problems, including a…

This USMES unit challenges students to recommend and try to have changes made which would improve the design or use of the school's play area. The teacher resource book for the Play Area Design and Use unit contains five sections. The first section describes the USMES approach to student-initiated investigations of real problems, including a…

This is the guide to a series of ten units that are available for use in the two year course of study required in New Jersey. The major goal of this curriculum is to provide an educational program to increase student involvement and therefore provide more vital learning experiences. The ten topics present a broad spectrum of American civilization:…

Describes the Warwick Process Science Project (WPSP), which uses teams of teachers for writing a process-oriented science curriculum for students in the 11-16 age category. Discusses the project's philosophy and priorities, and delineates some of the science process skills being integrated into this new British curriculum. (TW)

A required fourth-year course integrating the social sciences and humanities into the required clinical medical curriculum at Dartmouth Medical School is intended to prepare students to deal with the social and humanistic issues involved in medical practice, including law, ethics, economics, and social anthropology. (MSE)

This project was designed to develop a curricular and pedagogical model for teaching multidisciplinary engineering design to senior-level undergraduate students at the Colorado School of Mines. The two-semester course sequence involved students from seven engineering disciplines working in multidisciplinary teams under the direction of…

Describes a computer-assisted, interdisciplinary course in decision making developed to promote student participation and critical thinking. Students participate in 20 interactive exercises that utilize and illustrate psychological and economic concepts. Follow-up activities include receiving background information, group discussions, text…

Presents a continuing study on the Chesapeake Bay as an example of a problem-based approach to environmental education using real life problems. Argues that the approach gives students responsibility for their own learning. (DDR)