An action research project was conducted to find ways of increasing the productive use of time in middle school applied technology laboratories. The population targeted for the study consisted of 26 middle school students in a growing middle-class Illinois community. The problem of nonproductive use of class time was documented through test…

This series of one- to two-page abstracts highlights a variety of innovative approaches to teaching and learning in the community college. Topics covered in the abstracts include: (1) internationalizing the curriculum through focused interaction; (2) improving the small group approach to learning; (3) writing across the curriculum with early essay…

An assessment of the activities of the Learning Center (LC) at South Plains College is provided in this 1991-92 annual report. Introductory material describes the scope of the LC's operations, including reading and study skills remediation, developmental communications instruction, collegiate instruction in reading and human development, peer…

The Flex Lab at Santa Fe Community College, in New Mexico, is a self-paced, computer-assisted training center that allows students to accommodate college credit courses into their schedules. The Lab offers courses in introductory computers, keyboarding, and various computer programs and emphasizes several features of the Personalized System of…

Teachers agree that utilizing a laboratory method of teaching is both expensive and time consuming. In addition to the cost of materials, one must consider the provision of laboratory facilities and the amount of teacher and laboratory assistant time needed for preparation, facilitation, and clean-up. The need to maximize learning while minimizing…

In response to a 1982 request by the U.S. Department of the Army, the National Research Council's Board on Army Science and Technology established the Committee on Army Manpower to investigate the professional environments and use of civilian and military scientists/engineers in Army laboratories. The committee's primary objective was to identify…

This work designs and implements a virtual digital signal processing laboratory, VDSPL. VDSPL consists of four parts: mobile agent execution environments, mobile agents, DSP development software, and DSP experimental platforms. The network capability of VDSPL is created by using mobile agent and wrapper techniques without modifying the source code…

This book includes 25 science activities in the fields of environmental science, soil science, life science, and physical science. The activities are designed to be used in outdoor settings. Each activity is composed of two parts--an explanatory section for the teacher and a student lab sheet. The teacher explanatory section begins with a brief…

A practicum was designed to change the traditional methods of writing instruction which had not been effective in meeting the developmental needs of first-grade children. Twenty-two teachers responded to two surveys to provide problem documentation data. Four goals and instructional plans were selected to address the problem. The first goal, of…

A review of the literature on writing across the curriculum (WAC) programs indicates that most such programs have four components. First, the programs require that students complete one of the following before graduation: (1) a timed writing test, (2) a departmental endorsement system, (3) a quota of regular content courses designated…

To determine students' metacognitive knowledge of the expository writing process, a study analyzed fifth and sixth graders' declarative, procedural, and conditional knowledge by means of group questionnaires and individual interviews at all stages of their participation in one of three year-long writing programs. The programs emphasized social…

Providing children and adults with appropriate learning experiences in astronomy is partly dependent upon having materials available with which to teach. This document attempts to provide a systematic approach to the dissemination of astronomy education materials which were not commercially developed and thus have not been widely distributed. This…

The Learning Support Center (LSC) at Taylor University in Upland, Indiana, has developed the Three R method--resources, retention, and renewal--of helping high risk students understand the material in their classes and remain in the university. The first method, resources, involves four types of resources--state-of-the-art equipment, qualified…

A tutor charged with the task of helping a third-grade child with good reading skills improve his writing skills developed a plan to move the student gradually from dictating stories to writing independently. The student had difficulty initiating and maintaining on-task behavior and disliked writing independently, although he had…

The laboratory tapescripts for a course in basic Pashto are transcriptions of instructions and exercises given on tape recordings made for use in a language laboratory. The course contains seven units, each consisting of five lessons. The laboratory tape to accompany each lesson contains instructions for completing exercises contained in the…