The Texas Examination of Current Administrators and Teachers (TECAT) is a basic literacy test that was administered to 202,000 educators in Texas in March 1986. An in-depth case study was undertaken to examine the effects of the TECAT. The 2-year project involved 10 separate data-collection studies including structured interviews with key…

Using the Dunkin and Biddle model, this field study examined the effects of the application of the assessment and goal-setting stage of the Enhanced Normative Systems Model (ENSM) on change at a state university. The ENSM, a blending of the Normative Systems Model and Metanoic Principles, emphasizes participant decision making and cultural change.…

This manual on peer counseling in higher education describes the theory and techniques used for this practice. The first chapter, on academic peer counseling, uses V. Tinto's synthesis of the literature to illustrate the theory and stages of peer counseling based on academic and social integration models. The second chapter discusses the qualities…

A learning center-based instructional unit on newspapers for middle school grades is presented. The purpose of the unit, which is designed to take three weeks, is to develop student understanding of the wide variety of topics included in a newspaper. The learning centers may be presented in any order. Teacher instructions include a list of the…

Five speech-making activities for junior high school students are presented in this unit from the Greenfield Express Management System (GEMS) program, a California Demonstration Program in Reading. A project overview form from the California Centers for Educational Improvement (CCEI) describes the GEMS program and lists other units included in the…

Prepared as part of a series applying recent research in oral and written communication instruction to classroom practice, this booklet provides teachers, administrators, and curriculum planners with suggestions for ways to develop more effective oral communication instruction in the content areas as well as speech classes. Following a brief…

One area explored in the second (in-depth) phase of the Learning in Science Project was "children's science," defined as views of the world and the meanings for words that children have and bring with them to science lessons. The investigation reported focuses on students' thinking regarding their views on gravity. Students (N=42) were…

The South African Schools Act No. 84 of 1996 requires that school governing bodies develop school mission statements and, by implication, school development plans. The Gauteng Regulations and Rules for Public School Governing Bodies specifically direct school governing bodies to draw up and amend school development plans. Whilst training in…

More and more faculty members are using web-based instruction as part of their course or as complete courses, which has resulted in an entire web-based instruction programs and virtual universities. As such, web-based instruction is one of the major areas that are becoming key to the development of the Web. To the contrary, despite having…

The purpose of this comparative case study was to explore English language teachers' beliefs, assumptions and knowledge about learner-centeredness and to see how they implement learner-centeredness in their classrooms. The study was conducted at one public and one private primary school in Istanbul. Focus group interviews were held in each school…

It is often stressed that the pedagogic models and approaches of Collaborative Online Learning support a learner's shared knowledge building within collaborating groups of learners, the individual construction of knowledge and the formation of an ongoing learning Community of Practice. Based on a recent case study of a Danish Master's programme,…

This paper explores the role that language can play in the development of technologies or other processes within an organisation. Examples and lessons from the literature of the learning organisation are looked as a key in the development of language. The paper uses a practical example of a customer complaints management system to demonstrate how…

As beginning teachers experience and process new information during their initial acts of teaching, reflection is an inherent part of the process. The following study was designed to explore technology as a tool for reflection by introducing first-year teachers to three technology tools designed to elicit and encourage their reflections on…

In this article, the authors seek to re-conceptualize the perspective regarding students' difficulties with algebra. While acknowledging that students "do" have difficulties when learning algebra, they also argue that the generally espoused criteria for algebra as the ability to work with the syntactical rules for solving equations is…

Introduction: Women are active information seekers, particularly in the context of managing health for themselves and their families. Rural living may present particular challenges and opportunities for women in their health information seeking. Method: Forty women living in a rural part of Ontario, Canada were interviewed using a semi-structured…