Five steps designed to take anxiety out of statistics for social work students are outlined. First, statistics anxiety is identified as an educational problem. Second, instructional objectives and procedures to achieve them are presented and methods and tools for evaluating the course are explored. Strategies for, and obstacles to, making…

Contends that, during the past generation, a new social history that concerns itself with the lives of ordinary people has changed history research and teaching. Describes an eight-unit college course in the history of United States sports. Includes a selected bibliography of books for students and teachers. (CFR)

Reviews the objectives and strategies of four faculty members for nurturing critical reasoning skills as a specific instructional component in introductory sociology courses. Describes results of a questionnaire assessing students' perceptions of the program. Concludes that most students reported an increase in critical reasoning skills. Discusses…

These books are, in many ways, companion volumes addressed to educators working on curricular issues and educational reform. Both consider how postmodernism, feminism, and cultural studies contribute to contemporary educational theory and social criticism. The authors make a convincing case for critical "border pedagogy" that examines…

Presents four curricular alternatives and teaching strategies to improve the general-mathematics curriculum. Teaching strategies include reading mathematics, classroom discussion, an interdisciplinary approach, field trips, use of manipulatives, varied assessment methods, cooperative learning, use of technology, and team teaching. (MDH)

Outlines a course designed to enable distance teachers to develop and teach courses using computer-mediated communication and emphasizing basic pedagogy. The teaching strategies and learning points of each module, as well as the organizational and technical set-up, are described. (Contains seven references.) (EAM)

Argues that designing aids and tools to perfect the mind is one of the primary goals of educational research. It discusses the need for appropriate theories to design instructional materials and methods and explains why school practices have not changed to reflect advances in the understanding of learning and development. (GLR)

Reports on a study of an improvisation curriculum used with 66 fifth-grade music students. Finds that students who received instruction emphasizing improvisation performed at significantly higher achievement levels than students who did not receive such instruction. (CFR)

Stresses key areas of political conflict in the certification of a national curricular content and explores trade-offs a national-standards approval group must make. The article analyzes left-wing support for explicit opportunity-to-learn standards and right-wing objections to educational outcomes and focuses on initial approval stages, not…

Presents a framework for initiating multicultural learning during early childhood through active family involvement. This framework includes the rationale for multicultural education, opportunities for multicultural learning, sensitive issues, specific educational strategies, and resources. Each aspect of the framework is examined in relation to…

Describes the United Kingdom's National Writing Project, examining schools in Berkshire that emphasized writing to teach secondary school students science, math, design, and technology. Results suggest teachers need more knowledge about writing for learning in school subjects if they are going to stress the role of writing across the curriculum.…

The reasoning abilities to be expected of the concrete operational and formal operational student, the percentage of secondary science students that are capable of each type of reasoning pattern, and effective strategies to teach science to concrete reasoners are described. Implications for curriculum development are discussed. (KR)

Mathematics educators have led the educational reform movement in recent years. New curricula and innovative teaching methods are emerging in elementary and secondary programs, as illustrated by the work of the College Board, University of Chicago, University of California at Berkeley and San Francisco, and the National Science Foundation. (MSE)

The NCTM Standards present a picture of classroom instruction different from present practice in secondary schools. Presented are three instructional practices: (1) presenting open-ended problems, (2) communication of ideas, and (3) probing for diversity and recommendations for restructuring mathematics instruction based on the California…

Argues for an increased emphasis on global education in the elementary school curriculum. Contends that cooperative learning and decision-making skills are essential strategies for effective international education. Provides suggestions for development and implementation. (CFR)