From 2005 to 2008, the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) is funding a series of distance education (DE) studies in its Pan Asia Networking (PAN) region. Eight collaborative projects are under way in Bhutan, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Laos, Mongolia, Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Viet Nam. The…

This teacher's edition presents a chronological adaptation and extension of the classic text, "The Writing Road to Reading" by Romalda and Walter Spalding, to teach a practical, step-by-step language arts instruction which integrates all of the language strands. The method described in the book uses non-consumable teacher materials,…

Province-wide school-leaving examinations had been an integral part of education in British Columbia (Canada) until 1973 when they were abandoned for a period of 10 years and reintroduced in 1983. This study investigated the effects of the grade 12 examinations in secondary science, and of science assessments conducted in grade 10. Researchers…

This volume represents a variety of current efforts to incorporate thought-provoking methods into teaching. There are three sections. "Curriculum Developments" defines key curricular terms and offers a framework and general examples of teaching tactics. In this section, Barbara Presseisen distinguishes thinking from other cognitive…

A study sought to identify and examine key factors that influence adult basic education (ABE) mathematics instruction in Massachusetts and to develop a detailed picture of the adult basic math learning environment. Phase I involved a survey by questionnaire directed at the entire Massachusetts population of instructors and program directors…

This article discusses the advantages and disadvantages of using the mother tongue in foreign language instruction, specifically in the explanation phase, in exercises and drills, in testing, and in the presentation of new grammar. (CLK)

Problems involved in providing practical research experience in research methods courses are discussed. The two points in the research process where time is most critical are selecting measures and data collection. This paper suggests using a data base from previous research and having students conduct simulated studies based on randomly selected…

The interaction between fluid aptitude and two levels of instructional method (expository and discovery) was investigated. The methods differed in the completeness of the support provided for cognitive processing of procedural knowledge. Four performance outcomes were measured--immediate and delayed recall, and near and far transfer of the…

A review of literature on communicative competence reveals many meanings of the concept and of the way it should be used in second and foreign language instruction. In the literature there are two views: that communicative competence includes grammatical competence, and that it does not; or at least the ability to communicate one's meaning is…

Student team techniques, involving two conceptually distinct components--a cooperative reward structure, in which students are evaluated and rewarded based on the performance of the group as a whole, and a cooperative task structure, in which students are encouraged to peer tutor--have had positive effects compared to control methods on academic…

The first portion of this paper discusses the procedure for placing freshmen in a remedial composition course at a small liberal arts college. The design of the basic skills test used for placement is criticized on the basis of the inappropriateness of both content and format (multiple choice) in determining which students required remedial…

THE EFFECT OF INTERIM TESTING ON THE IMMEDIATE ACHIEVEMENT AND THE SUBSEQUENT RETENTION OF COLLEGE SCIENCE STUDENTS IS EXAMINED. EXPERIMENTAL AND CONTROL GROUPS WERE RANDOMLY SELECTED FROM TWO INTACT GENERAL SCIENCE CLASSES FOR STUDENTS OF TEACHER EDUCATION. BOTH GROUPS WERE TAUGHT ATOMIC STRUCTURE AND BONDING THROUGH THE USE OF PROGRAMED…

The Degrees of Reading Power Test was developed to address some existing problems in testing comprehension. The test design reflects the need to consider problems of passage dependency, difficulty of questions, tests for continuous text, and sensitivity to gains. It emphasizes a set of response options controlled for familiarity, a text that is…

A study was designed to identify highly teachable composing skills that have a strong statistical relationship with composition quality across various grade levels. Sample compositions were randomly selected from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (1972). A total of 750 compositions written by 9-, 13-, and 17-year-old-students (250…

A TECHNIQUE FOR ORAL TESTING IN THE LANGUAGE LABORATORY IS OUTLINED. TO PROPERLY TEST STUDENTS' ORAL ABILITY, THE TEST SHOULD BE PREPARED LIKE THE LESSONS--CUE OR QUESTION, STUDENT RESPONSE, CORRECT RESPONSE. SO AS NOT TO REQUIRE EXCESSIVE GRADING TIME ON THE TEACHER'S PART, THE LABORATORY SHOULD HAVE FACILITIES TO START AND STOP STUDENT TAPE…