This response to Jesse Bazzul and Heather Sykes' paper, "The secret identity of a biology textbook: straight and naturally sexed," explores their critiques of textbooks and curricula that authoritatively present scientific accounts of the natural world without engaging students in critical thinking. It proposes that we need to go beyond such…

Examining media artifacts as a learning method has received little attention in human resource development (HRD) despite it being a predominate form of information and influence in popular culture. As Giroux (2002) opines, media functions as a form of public pedagogy by offering situations and contexts through which viewers can vicariously…

The process of content analysis lends itself to sophisticated efforts to unravel the messages sent through various media forms. The simplified version presented here is probably most effective and easily undertaken, and the desired results, development of critical and analytical thinking skills, will be accomplished. (JOW)

A number of authors have observed a pronounced discrepancy between the problem-solving and action-oriented goals associated with the contemporary philosophy of environmental education and an emphasis on the acquisition of environmental knowledge and awareness in school programs. Content analyses have revealed that curriculum materials commonly…

Reviews the terminological, methodological, and pedagogical confusion present in the German textbooks of the past 15 years, and proposes an improved terminology for teaching 4 basic grammatical components: strong verbs, mixed verbs, declensions, and the subjunctive. The new terminology is based on the principle of rational simplicity. (21…

Suggests the possibility of combining aspects of a transformational generative theory such as deep structure case grammar with concepts from a nontransformational, nongenerative theoretical framework such as form content analysis, for practical application in the area of foreign language teaching. (SL)

Examines the strength of Prospero's feelings against those who wronged him and uses that as a focus for a consideration of the way in which readings and interpretations change. (CRH)

Discusses three major theoretical approaches in using feature-length films to teach gender roles: semiological analysis, Marxist analysis, and sociological analysis. For each approach, relevant literature is cited and specific examples of films are given to illustrate some applications of that approach to gender role analysis. (MBR)

Describes an exercise in which students must compare Congreve and Shakespeare and suggests that it is ultimately unfair to the student to remove the quotes from their context and pass judgment on them. (CRH)

This paper argues that if thinking skills are to be integrated into the curriculum two needs must be addressed: (1) the manner of teaching content must be revised so that thinking skills are used and reinforced during the learning process, and (2) courses whose primary focus is the improvement of thinking skills must be offered. A comparison is…

Presents the results of a survey of several freshman composition instructors who offer their opinions of teaching writing and empirical research into the writing process. Notes the problems with such research, as well as the problems of overburdened composition teachers who receive little recognition. (JC)

In the early months of 2005, much of the world celebrated the 60th anniversary of the World War II Allied victory over Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan. Around the same time, protests erupted in Asia against a revised Japanese history textbook, "The New History Textbook," which critics said covered up Japanese World War II atrocities.…

Contrasts the traditional method of teaching college reading, which is based on behaviorist theory, with the modern model, which is based on psycholinguistic theory. Categorizes 20 current, popular reading textbooks as traditional, modern, or mixed. Argues that psycholinguistic theory will dominate in the next century, not only as a theory for…

Intended for use by instructors of college level interpersonal communication courses, this paper offers examples of theoretical concepts of interpersonal communication that can be illustrated through literature and popular film. The first part of the paper discusses the criteria on which the selection of novels, plays, and films for the study of…

The opportunity to discover the flaws in newspaper letters to the editor and to evaluate the ensuing consequences can help beginning persuasive writing students, who have had little practice at forming arguments, begin to conceptualize for themselves the ways that principles of persuasive discourse apply in particular writing situations. The study…