To improve a problem inner-city high school the principal placed emphasis on reading and writing skills and their practical application in other courses, developed a curriculum based on the real interests of the students, and encouraged involvement of parents and active participation by students in their community. (JD)

SIMIG, self-instructional modules and interactive groups, designates a method of teaching and learning that has been evaluated over a seven-year period. Its two components, instructional modules and discussion groups, constitute a complementary process popular with students and instrumental in more effective learning. (LBH)

The organization of instruction is described in terms of four basic aspects of teaching mathematics: (1) recognizing sufficient conditions for concepts, (2) recognizing characteristics of concepts, (3) selecting examples, and (4) determining when a concept can be applied. (SD)

Provides guidelines for systemic change in education. Presents an overview of the change process. Discusses preparing for change; building a core team to lead the design effort; transforming vision into system design; shifting focus from planning to implementation; and implementation, summative evaluation, and closure. (AEF)

Describes the use of process-folios with students who are gifted in the visual arts, for assessing student needs, identifying advanced ability, developing specific programming, and evaluating programs. Discusses factors that should be considered to ensure accurate assessment when implementing process-folios and activities for creating the…

It is argued that discussion of technology in college teaching commonly focuses on how to use it, while the important issues are when and why it is appropriate. Reasons for using technology are outlined, relating widely accepted goals in instructional development (improvement of communication, access to information, and effective presentation of…

Multimedia will produce fundamental changes in college teaching, affecting faculty and students alike. Implications are widespread, from budgeting for infrastructure to designing strategies for faculty development and reconceptualizing teachers' and students' roles. In the short term, hyperbole, frustration, and disappointment should be…

The mnemonic device "ATOMIC" refers to course and lesson design elements that can help make college teaching more effective. It highlights the importance of these design components: audience, arena, ambience, topic, theme, title, objectives, message, methods, materials, involvement, close, and check-up. (MSE)

Discusses the process of designing a series of case-based interactive videodiscs to be used within a constructivist learning environment for elementary school science. Topics include assumptions about learners and learning; implications for learning materials; and implications for the instructional design process, including process-based versus…

Considers the design of instructional materials to help adult learners use higher-order thinking skills, especially for future multimedia instruction. Topics include learning processes, self-directed learning for adults, effective and efficient learning, funding for adult education, and instructional technology. (LRW)

Reviews the potential relationship between visualization and effective instruction. Highlights include the use of graphical user interfaces for enhancing visual communication, integrating visual communication into courseware design, theoretical principles of visual communication, empirical research needs, AIME (amount of invested mental effort),…

Discusses a constructive approach to instructional hypermedia. Highlights include attributes of hypermedia, including links and nodes, multimedia environments, nonlinear access to information, and interactivity; instructional applications that stress the learners' active interaction and their control of the learning process; associative or…

Explores asynchronous communication perspectives and experiences of undergraduate students in an online course. Interviews with 22 preservice teachers, student-to-instructor email transcripts, asynchronous discussion transcripts, and two independent reviewers' reviews of the asynchronous discussions were used to collect and analyze the data.…

Discussion of problems that users have with Web searching focuses on a study of undergraduates that investigated three instructional methods (instruction by example, conceptual models without illustrations, and conceptual models with illustrations) to determine differences in knowledge acquisition related to three types of knowledge (declarative,…

Video conferencing uses telecommunications technologies to create an interactive learning environment. Incorporating video conferencing into the classroom takes preparation, and instructors must clarify purpose; make it personal; keep it short and small; prepare students; use a shared screen; plan for interactions; and use effective visuals and…