Presents a sampling of items from the ERIC database dealing with Asia and the Pacific Rim. Urges the inclusion of these countries in the curriculum as exchange of peoples, goods, and cultures increases. Emphasizes the growing importance of the region as a global force. Includes articles and books on culture, economies, and cultural exchange…

Offers ideas for teaching children about China. Includes suggestions dealing with geography, philosophy, history, and diet. Recommends means of bringing the topics to life through games, class discussion, role playing, and other activities. (SG)

Criticizes the intrusion into Australian higher education of the corporate management model. Considers the implications of this mechanization for geography instruction. Notes centralizing tendencies and merger policies with the corresponding market imperatives of efficiency and accountability. Argues that this produces employable manpower but does…

Presents three different articles on social studies. Includes an analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of textbook use in social studies and a teaching method using puppets to represent historical or political personalities for debate, discussion, and interviews. Describes a program in which students learn about geography and other cultures by…

Discusses the educational reform efforts to reorganize the social studies curriculum in the United States. Criticizes a return to conservative, traditional approaches to social studies than emphasize history and geography while ignoring more contemporary ideas. Suggests that, to develop a discipline of social studies, more scholarly pursuit and…

Describes a case study to determine whether performance tests are a feasible alternative to multiple-choice tests. Examines the difficulties of administering and scoring performance assessments. Explains that the study employed three performance tests and one multiple-choice test. Concludes that performance test administration and scoring was no…

Describes a learning exercise to combine the goal of global understanding and appreciation with global knowledge. Suggests that students (1) take a systematic inventory of their personal possessions, (2) record the origin of each on a world map, and (3) analyze and discuss their findings. Reports results of student surveys listing origins and…

Presents instructional strategies for teaching middle school students about time zones and why the earth experiences night and day. Provides instructions for helping students make and use sextants and sun dials. Describes class activities and student-teacher dialogue. (CFR)

Reports results of a telephone survey of Ohio educators. Examines what teachers need to strengthen geography instruction. Reports that the survey asked blocked improvements in geographic education. Determines major needs to include teacher education with inservice workshops and better instructional materials. (DK)

Suggests using classroom discussion as a tool in learning geographical concepts and critical thinking skills. Provides structure for preparing class discussion in small group environments. Considers direct student participation to increase the likelihood of long-term retention and interpersonal skills development. Presents an example of discussion…

Outlines lesson plans for teaching economics in the primary grades, designed to complement the video series, "Econ and Me." Suggests activities incorporate mathematics, language arts, geography, and science. Targets the following specific economic concepts in individual lesson plans: scarcity, choice, production, goods, opportunity cost,…

Discussion of Lois Lenski's children's books focuses on the realism that predominates in her work through the use of real-life observation as opposed to imagination alone. Ways to use her work as part of a whole language approach to teach reading as well as science, geography, and social studies are suggested. (23 references) (LRW)

Statistical analysis of racially polarized voting prepared for the Garza v County of Los Angeles (California) (1990) voting rights case is reviewed to demonstrate that ecological regression is a flexible, robust technique that illuminates the reality of ethnic voting, and superior to the neighborhood model supported by the defendants. (SLD)

Spreadsheets are well suited to many geochemical calculations, especially those that are highly repetitive. Some of the kinds of problems that can be conveniently solved with spreadsheets include elemental abundance calculations, equilibrium abundances in nuclear decay chains, and isochron calculations. (Author/PR)

Excerpts from discipline-based task force statements outline the range of activities of faculty in five disciplines: history; management and business; the arts; chemistry; and geography. The excerpts focus on the nature of scholarship and allow comparison of the varied roles, responsibilities, and perspectives of faculty in those fields. (MSE)