This ethnography explores the leadership qualities of a public school district media director, the person who "orchestrates" the use of technology. Using observation, interviews, and artifact analysis, the following questions were investigated: (1) What are the beliefs and values which underlie this media director's decisions?; (2) What are the…

This collection of essays analyzes the history, philosophy, and politics of the forms of early childhood provision outside the home for young children in Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. In particular, the essays examine the extent to which that provision is considered educational and intended to…

Constructivism is a perspective on learning that is initiated from the learner's perspective rather than by that of the teacher; understanding is constructed by the learner rather than placed upon the learner. If constructivism is fostered in teacher education, practical reasoning can encourage teacher development to its fullest. (The concept of…

This paper explores whether taking a course in health has an effect on college students' lives. Gettysburg College (Pennsylvania) redesigned a health class and taught it to all incoming freshmen during their first semester. Student journal entries, written at the end of each class, provided feedback to instructors; instructors read and responded…

Creating a learning and instructional environment for teaching students in a "humane and efficient" manner, this book is designed to empower teachers by providing them with specific suggestions for problems they will encounter as they provide students with direct, explicit instruction in reading. As in earlier editions, the book devotes…

Although the number of English as a Second Language (ESL) students in United States colleges and universities has increased over the past decades, there has been no corresponding increase in the level of attention given to the special needs of these students in composition classrooms. ESL students are likely to be found in writing classrooms at…

Public financing for education and an array of other children's services has become a topic of significant interest and political concern. Elected officials and policymakers have sought to respond to public concern and dissatisfaction through a more explicit focus on results. To assist in this work of achieving and measuring important outcomes for…

Whole language is an approach to, or attitude toward learning that sees language as a whole entity, and writing, speaking, reading, and listening should be integrated when learned. It is not a teaching method. Each whole language teacher implements the theories of whole language as he or she sees fit for a particular class. Whole language…

Robert Gagne's theories and research have had a significant impact on practitioners in general, especially instructional designers. He has influenced teaching and curriculum development and used standard practices as a stimulus for the development of theory. This paper explores Gagne's influence on practice by examining the relationship between…

This study examines the gap between instructional development (ID) theory and practice, then proposes a conceptual framework to illuminate how expert ID practitioners work in the corporate world. Historically, the bulk of instructional development research has focused on model-building: identifying critical ID component tasks and organizing and…

Robert Gagne has been a central figure in the infusion of instructional psychology into the field of instructional technology, and in the creation of the domain of instructional design. Gagne's design principles provide not only a theoretical orientation to an instructional design project, but also have prompted a number of design conventions and…

The evolution of the concept of communicative competence (CC) in language learning and teaching is traced since 1966, when D. H. Hymes first discussed it publicly. His concept of CC had its theoretical origins in the convergence of transformational generative grammar and the ethnography of communication, and was first discussed at a conference on…

This paper summarizes ongoing theoretical work and the findings of a recent research project in nursing and midwifery education to understand the problems encountered with using scientific knowledge in actual health care practice and to address these problems with educational program redesign. Case studies and mini-studies are used to investigate…

One of a series of educational packages designed for implementation either in a workshop atmosphere or through individual study, this Hot Topic guide presents a variety of materials to assist educators in designing and implementing classroom projects and activities centering on the topic of integrating the language arts. The Hot Topic guide…

Recent research in the visual arts has resulted in the development of a range of methods for assessing student learning. Theoretically based in cognitive conceptions of learning, assessment systems discussed in this paper have been applied in practice. Possibilities for the art teacher to apply such assessment methodologies directly in the…