Assessment has at two purposes--to improve teaching and learning and to promote greater external accountability. Determining an appropriate assessment approach depends on clear knowledge of what is intended, solid research about available instruments and about the experiences of other institutions, and a diagnosis of the local organizational and…

Discusses current research and personal experience in designing courses in English for academic purposes that help develop generalizable, transferable skills. Helpful research includes: (1) looking at needs and learning as a continuous process; (2) qualitative rather than quantitative studies; and (3) expert-novice juxtaposition. (Author/LMO)

Describes a model for training instructional designers who will work as members of videodisc development teams. This model develops and integrates competencies relating to instructional design, project management, interpersonal skills, storyboarding and flowcharting, programming, video production, and interactive video system knowledge. Three…

Examines the effects on student performance in an undergraduate engineering design course of two techniques designed to engender professional attitudes among student engineers and shift learning responsibility toward the students. Neither the awarding of a prize for the best project work nor Socratic dialog in the classroom significantly affected…

Four experimental reading-treatment classes (n=94) and four control classes (n=100) wrote pre- and post-compositions which were evaluated for overall quality, syntactic density, T-unit length, productivity, and selected grammatical errors. Analysis of results found significant differences in reading skills but no differences in writing skills. The…

Discusses educational uses of microcomputers in context of development theories and models of education and describes the development of a computer-supported writing system for the development of academic skills--a children's newswire service--and its influence on the improvement of low-achieving students' reading and writing skills. (MBR)

Discusses the transition from school to work via what is currently being done by many school counselors and other professionals, and why this assistance for an increasing number of youth has proved ineffective. Outlines some of the underlying basic causes of this transition problem and proposes an alternate approach. (CT)

Describes Phaladelphia's four semiautonomous high school academies designed to provide disadvantaged students with a carefully aligned academic and vocational program and, ultimately, with relevant, marketable job skills. Discusses administration, academics, integration of academic and vocational courses, career education and counseling, work…

Provides a framework for assessing uses of the video recorder in the second language classroom in terms of learning objectives and learner needs. The input or receptive mode can be exploited either intensively or extensively. The productive mode can be geared to process or product. (SED)

Among the barriers to acceptance of clinical problem-based medical education are institutional complacency and lack of rewards for teachers with academic competence in education rather than biological research and clinical care. (MSE)

Students academic development, as reported by students themselves, was unattributable to precollege characteristics, and significantly tied to participation in classroom activities. (Author/MLW)

At the request of governing boards and legislatures, increasing numbers of state colleges and universities are using "value-added" tests and surveys to measure student learning in college. The measures compare academic achievement and student analytical skills before and after certain periods of college study, usually using standardized…

Describes a learning strategies training model that engineers the instructional environment following study skills training to prompt students to use previously taught learning strategies during study. Empirical and theoretical evidence supporting this model are presented, and a basic skills curriculum incorporating this model--the Job Skills…

Describes 12 video films constituting the "What About" series of the Skills Essential to Learning project. Films begin with an introductory sequence showing a teenager using a particular science skill and concludes with a longer sequence showing a scientist using the same skill. Programs last 15 minutes and follow an identical format. (BC)

The experience of teaching both detached and participant observation methods in a graduate level competency based counseling course is described. An evaluation indicated that the course increased students' awareness of basic issues in psychological inquiry and helped them develop skills and attitudes necessary for social and cultural…