Reading courses at the college level strive to improve advanced reading proficiency as well as basic reading skills. The use of a problem-solving model is one way to provide students with an organized approach to comprehending, investigating, and resolving problem statements. The problem-solving model begins with a problem statement provided by…

The goal of an introductory graphics course is fundamental visual literacy, which includes learning to appreciate the power of visuals in communication and to express ideas visually. Traditional principles of design--the focus of the course--are based on more fundamental gestalt theory, which relates to human pattern-seeking behavior, particularly…

While there is a need for basic oral competence, speech communication programs should provide more sophisticated training in public eloquence. Such an advanced course should first be genre-centered instead of interaction centered. Instead of emphasizing the audience-speaker interaction, the course should center on the creation, analysis, and…

In the fall of 1980, a course titled Developing Critical Thinking Skills was approved at the University of Minnesota-Duluth for offering as one of the options in the liberal education category called Communication, Language, and Symbolic Systems. This paper provides a description of the course (designed to provide experiences with methods and…

This paper presents findings of a study conducted to identify where and how Japan is taught in the Canadian social studies curriculum. Social studies guidelines were obtained from the various provincial ministries of education in Canada and carefully scrutinized for treatment of Japan in the social studies. Findings are presented through a series…

This document offers a detailed description of the Oak Park, Michigan social studies program. The program is built around four goals: knowledge, skill, value, and participation. Knowledge goals pertain to acquiring facts, concepts, or generalizations from history and the social sciences. Skill goals pertain to the ability to collect, organize,…

Reported in this document are the Secretary of Education's personal recommendations for a sound elementary school core curriculum, presented by means of a report on a fictional "James Madison Elementary School." The report opens with discussion of the importance of commitment to course content and instruction in basic skills in…

After much discussion and several false starts, Nassau Community College (New York) has developed a two-course core curriculum designed to cover significant material from the sciences, social sciences, and humanities in practical proportions. The first course in the sequence, "Exploring Nature and Society," deals with Perceptions of the…

This New York state social studies curriculum guide for kindergarten focuses on helping students develop awareness of self as growing individuals and contains two sections, the Teacher Notebook and the Syllabus. The Teacher Notebook's goal is to elaborate on the key features of the program while suggesting relevant classroom applications. The key…

In February 1988, a survey was conducted at Piedmont Virginia Community College (PVCC) to determine the extent to which the general education objectives established by the college were included in classroom teaching and the college's instructional programs. All full- and part-time PVCC faculty were asked to complete a survey form for each course…

Two instructors at Bunker Hill Community College in Massachusetts have developed a unit of study designed to teach biology as a process, improve students' critical thinking and reasoning skills, and provide students with the opportunity to express these skills in writing. The instructional strategies employed in the unit are superimposed on a…

These appendices present the protocols used in research (reported in Volume 1) on the cognitive processes of students while learning from teaching. Curriculum outlines are given for the videotaped lessons used in the second and third studies: lessons in sleep and elementary psychology. Included in the appendices are: (1) the illustrative script…

In light of substantial declines in enrollments in liberal arts mathematics courses in two-year colleges, this paper looks at some of the reasons for these declines and suggests ways of revitalizing the traditional "great ideas" mathematics course. First, a brief outline is presented of the history of liberal arts mathematics, focusing on the…

Compiled from the experiences of the staff of the Critical TV (Television) Viewing Skills Project for High School, this booklet presents ideas for designing and leading critical television viewing workshops as part of high school teacher inservice training sessions or training programs for other youth-serving adults. Sections discuss: (1) a…

Information is provided explaining the incorporation of global issues units into an introductory earth science course at Skagit Valley Community College (Mount Vernon, Washington). First, a short description is provided of the original format of the earth science course, which was designed as an introductory level survey course covering topics in…