Presents a two-day activity for middle school students, focusing on freedom of assembly and the difficult balance between individual rights and community needs to ensure safety. Stimulates discussion on the right to assemble using an American Bar Association poster (included in the issue). Suggests inviting a lawyer to class to further explore…

Classroom assessment of writing is considered from an anthropological perspective as practitioners' tool use. Pan Canadian data from a 2002 English teacher questionnaire (N = 4070) about self-reported assessment practices were analyzed in terms of tool choice and use by secondary teachers of different experience and qualification levels. Four…

The "Learning Trail" is an innovative application of peer-mediated instruction designed to enhance student learning in large practical classes. The strategy specifically seeks to improve participants' attention to details of protocol that are often difficult to observe during teacher-centered demonstrations to large groups. Students…

Background: Teachers play a critical role in promoting interactions between students and engaging them in the learning process. This study builds on a study by Hertz-Lazarowitz and Shachar (1990) who found that during cooperative learning teachers' verbal behaviours were more helpful to and encouraging of their students' efforts while during…

Based on the assumption that the acquisition of language habits is in itself insufficient for the true mastery of language, small group discussion techniques have been used in conversation workshops for students in English as a second language (ESL) courses at New York's Bronx Community College. In the groups, students are induced to communicate…

This packet of instructional materials is designed to give social science students in grades 6-9 a first-hand experience in working out solutions to real-life problems involving the management of California's water. Students work in groups on one of three problems presented in the packet: (1) the management of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta that…

This book examines the effects of tracking on public education, makes a case for "untracking" as a key education reform, and describes successful untracking efforts. Tracking is an educational practice that groups children of similar abilities and achievement levels together into homogeneous groups. "Untracking" is the process…

Until recently, writing instruction had been dominated by an emphasis on rhetorical forms, rules, and written products. This view has been superseded for the most part by a mode of instruction whereby teachers assist students in developing planning and revising skills, with less emphasis on grammatical rules. Similar trends are evident in second…

Originally developed for the Department of Defense Schools (DoDDS) system, this learning package on grouping students and pacing instruction is designed for teachers who wish to upgrade or expand their teaching skills on their own. The package includes a comprehensive search of the ERIC database; a lecture giving an overview on the topic; the full…

Methods developed by faculty to involve students in the classroom are described in 13 articles, based on the experience of University of Minnesota faculty in the Northwest Area Program on Active Learning. Each article considers: how to get started, sample applications of the method, challenges and how to deal with them, rewards, and where to get…

A course in English for business administration using the case study method is described. The course is designed for graduate students and makes use of a common technique for analyzing and solving business problems. The approach is aimed at improving both oral and writing skills in English through small group discussion and written analysis. A…

Continuing education for physicians and other health professionals is considered a necessity. One of the methods that physicians could select for their continuing education is the use of self-learning materials (SLM) such as audiotapes, videotapes, slides, television, videodiscs, and computers in the home. A survey taken by the World Health…

This booklet is intended to help individuals teaching in extension programs select teaching methods that are appropriate to the subject of their particular course, the number of students enrolled in the course, its time and duration, and the place in which it is being held. The first chapter discusses the importance of making a conscious choice of…

A comparison was made of the verbal praise and criticism behaviors of teachers instructing in different types of classrooms. Fifty-seven teachers were observed in their various seventh and eighth grade classrooms: (1) nonhandicapped, small class size (5-15 students); (2) nonhandicapped, large class size (20 or more students); (3) special (students…

A study was conducted to describe change (and lack of change) in instructional processes and teacher and student behavior when class size was reduced by one-third midway through the school year. Two second grade classes from two schools participated; one school was in rural Virginia, the other an inner-city school in California. Information was…