A Head Start volunteer project was designed for a college-level child development course and implemented in three different sections of the class across two semesters. Overall, 70 students participated (65 females and 5 males) with assessment data collected from student volunteers and Head Start teachers and administrators. Students reported a…

When evaluating instructional practices, adolescents (n = 128, ages 14-19) coordinated knowledge of epistemology, fairness, and motivation in their conceptions of procedural justice. Adolescents ranked the fairness and effectiveness of instructional practices differently for controversial and noncontroversial topics. They raised epistemological,…

In this article, the author discusses teaching library and information science (LIS) students about online searching. She discusses the many changes that have taken place over the years in terms of searching and also in terms of the role of the librarian in helping with searches. The author also mentions that although searching now has become a…

America has been called "the argument culture," but you would not know it from many social studies classrooms. Despite a longstanding tradition in social studies of teaching controversial issues, all too few of today's classrooms accommodate this kind of intellectual activity. Perhaps it is the pressure of high stakes testing, or the emphasis on…

In this paper, we report some reflections on science and education, in relation to teaching and research in the field of complex and controversial socio-environmental issues. Starting from an examination of the literature on the epistemological aspects of the science of controversial issues, and introducing the perspective of complexity, the…

In this article, I offer a clarification of the ambiguities surrounding the pivotal concepts that have shaped and will continue to shape environmental education movement in the United States and beyond: nature, conservation, sustainable development, and environmental justice. I point out that dualistic frameworks not only polarize environmental…

A recent United Nations' report claims that nearly two-thirds of the Earth's natural systems are unhealthy or failing, and many point to education--environmental education, education for sustainable development, or sustainability education--as a key means of addressing these issues. In this article, the author discusses the literary description to…

Though distance education can be a different educational experience from more traditional classroom instruction, it is, nonetheless, founded in instructional systems design (ISD). As such, the creation of effective distance courses should be based on a theoretical model that takes into account considerations specific to distributed learning…

We compare the content that was expected with what actually was put into practice in a course of ongoing education of secondary education (12-16 year olds) science teachers, and describe the most relevant problems that arose. We believe that the educational content--its nature, how it is organized and presented to the teacher participants, and so…

The practical learning experience that internships provide can be effectively incorporated into the sport management curriculum as a way to link classroom theory to professional practice. The authors stress the importance of establishing and maintaining academic rigor within internship experiences. The article addresses specific learning outcomes…

Describes an art assignment used in an oil painting class in which the students create a nonrepresentational painting using acrylic paint. Explains that the second stage of the assignment involves students in finding a face in this first painting and using oils to create the face on top of the original artwork. (CMK)

This paper proposes a framework for evaluating the doctoral curriculum. Noting that much previous research and evaluation in doctoral education have focused on the outputs of the degree or the supervisory process, the paper identifies the content of the training students receive in particular fields of study, the doctoral curriculum, as in need of…

This study reports on the attitudes towards biotechnology of 905, 15-16 year-old students from 11 Western Australian schools. Students were asked to read 15 statements about biotechnology processes and to draw a line to separate what they considered "acceptable" statements from those they considered "unacceptable". Overall, the…

What is a teacher to do when confronted with a student who says "I understand that theory (e.g., evolution), but I don't believe it"? The purpose of this article is to provide a rationale for answering this question. First we describe the various ways in which the terms "know/knowledge" and "believe/belief" are used and summarize the distinctions…

I report on a study of 301 sociologists to determine which concepts, topics, and skills they deem most important to cover in the introductory course and in the sociology curriculum. Respondents indicated high agreement that the list of skills, topics, and concepts adequately represented the range of possible items. I use both the raw ratings and…