Presented are assessment techniques to help improve instruction. Included are the formative assessment techniques observation and questioning, diagnostic interviews, and problem-solving-based investigations and the summative assessment technique of performance-based tasks. Examples of these methods are provided together with at-home activities…

Teacher's abilities to remain sufficiently faithful to predefined learning scenarios are examined via case studies. The behavior of 2 teachers during problem-solving sessions in geometry with 13-14 year olds exhibited 2 types of factors that tend to hamper scenario reproducibility: constraints on the teacher resulting from the teaching situation;…

Described are problems of the teacher's management of computer use during the learning process and student acquisition of new knowledge that can be transferred to situations outside the software environment. Choices made to address these problems are illustrated as students learn axial symmetry using the microworld Cabri-gomtre. (MDH)

Describes the Plane Geometry System computer software developed at the Educational Computer Systems laboratory in Sofia, Bulgaria. The system enables students to use the concept of "algorithm" to correspond to the process of "deductive proof" in the development of plane geometry. Provides an example of the software's capability…

Discusses how children's literature can be used as a context to develop problem-solving tasks. Illustrates this idea by developing tasks to teach concepts related to multiplication through the context of "The Patchwork Quilt," a children's book by Valerie Flournoy. Suggests activity extensions to determine unit sizes, draw scale models,…

Describes a methods course to prepare teachers of computer science for the secondary schools. Aspects of the course include goals and objectives, programing projects, assignments related to teaching methods, group projects, planned teaching experiences, and lesson planning assignments. Provides a list of 38 assigned readings. (MDH)

Presents the reactions of a mathematics educator and a mathematician to a seven-year-old student's response for finding square numbers. Reflects on the mathematician's focus on the mathematics of the problem and the mathematics educator's focus on the student's systematic way of working, and discusses the common focus of student creativity. (MDH)

Presents five activities focusing on mental computation and estimation for the K-3, 3-5, 4-6, and 6-8 grade levels that require the student, acting as a judge, to review solutions to problems and to pronounce and justify a verdict. Provides suggested materials, questions, possible extensions, answers, and worksheets for each activity. (MDH)

Reports on subtle and intricate relationships among hierarchy, competition, and collaboration in medical education, with specific emphasis given to the daily working and teaching rounds conducted by attending physicians. Addresses the interdisciplinary education with health professionals, other than physicians, for three levels of participants in…

Presents a series of five activities that introduce division of fractions through real-world situations. Discusses problems related to resurfacing a highway, painting dividing stripes on a highway, covering one area A with another area B, looking for patterns, and maximizing the result of a division problem. Includes reproducible worksheets. (MDH)

Presents an account of the historical evolution of the definition of variable and the way the concept is currently treated in textbooks. Shares activities to promote student discussion on the use of variables as constants, as quantities that vary, and as parameters. Provides a reproducible worksheet. (MDH)

This paper urges the use of Theatre Rehearsal Technique activities as communication learning experiences for adolescent African-American male learners with behavior disorders. The paper proposes that students may then gain quantifiable success in social communication interactions, and resultant reassessments of their special education placements…

Discusses ways in which library media specialists can help teachers who are using the whole language approach. Topics addressed include reading aloud to children; wordless picture books; decoding; writing; core literature selections; automaticity in reading; independent reading; re-reading; reading across the curriculum; literature as content; and…

This article examines trends in the education of adults with learning disabilities, focusing on dropout prevention, postdropout education, disability self-awareness, transition, Adult Basic Education, higher education, vocational education, employment, and psychosocial issues. Organizational sources of further information and a table listing…

Mail survey, telephone survey, and keeping time were compared as methods of assessing teaching time for 74 sixth grade teachers teaching language in the Netherlands. Results suggest that each of the three methods can be used to assess the mean total score, but none can assess individual scores. (SLD)