When controversial issues are being taught in the school curriculum, a key element in maintaining positive school-community relations is the possession of clear, written procedures for adoption, re-evaluation, and grievance procedures relating to the curriculum. Guidelines for handling complaints and clarifying rights of school staff, parents,…

Participant observation of an innovative art teacher's classroom technique suggested that, despite his popularity with students, this teacher did not fully engage his students' attention. His attempt at using cognitive dissonance to bring about attitudinal change in the classroom left many students baffled despite the effort expended to involve…

Because the numbers responding to the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) social issues survey were so small, any generalizations about the views of the membership of NCSS policy directions must be made with extreme caution. With this limitation in mind, survey results are discussed. (RM)

Students from elementary school through college need to understand more about the media: how information is gathered, processed, and communicated, as well as how the values are transmitted. The development of a comprehensive school media program is discussed. How schools in Norway teach about the media is also examined. (IS)

A University of Rhode Island course in pharmaceutical law and ethics has been redesigned to allow time for small group discussions, role-playing and case studies. This format was developed to elevate learning activities above the recall level and to incorporate activities into the areas of personal and professional ethics. Learning levels and…

Training programs for college administrators in New Zealand, Canada, and the United States are evaluated for their design and content. Among the observations: traditionalism predominates; a perennial dichotomy of theory v practice exists; program strength is in staff quality; interpersonal competence is not adequately addressed. (MSE)

Describes a course to present secondary teachers with an overview of the energy problem and provide technical background required for an understanding of energy conservation methods and future alternatives. Emphasis placed on subject matter that can be incorporated into secondary school curricula. (Author/JN)

Social, cultural, economic, psychological, and interpersonal dimensions of cancer and cancer patient management were addressed in an elective course conducted at the University of Pennsylvania. Student attitudes toward the disease were tested before and after taking the course. Significant attitudinal shifts, new insights, and new skills resulted…

Describes a course for undergraduate students that is intended to increase their study effectiveness. The authors recognize that there are many different routes to success and that each student must develop his/her own effective method. (Author/SA)

Investigated pragmatic transfer in American learners of Japanese responding to compliments. The study used a closed role play to collect interlanguage data from the learners and normative data from Japanese and American native speakers. Findings substantiate a utility of pragmatic transfer research for improving instructional approach and course…

Describes an experiment where faculty at two universities integrated six case studies on research ethics into their introductory psychology curricula. Suggests that students who received the ethics modules were better able to identify and understand moral issues. Includes a statistical analysis of assessment and a brief discussion of instructional…

Describes a technique for teaching the concept of unintentional racism in an introductory psychology course. A case study is followed by a lecture and class discussion on the nature of racism. Strategies for discussions and student responses to the unit are outlined. Presents evidence suggesting the benefits of this activity. (MJP)

A survey of 55 pharmacy schools found that of those offering a pharmacy doctoral program, three-fourths had a separate course devoted to physical assessment of patients, most offered in the third professional year. Most require students to demonstrate use of stethoscope, sphygmomanometer, ophthalmo-otoscope, tuning fork, reflex hammer. Reasons for…

A study compared scores on identical tests in internal medicine for two groups of graduating University of Toronto (Canada) medical students: those in a traditional, lecture-based curriculum (TC) and those in a redesigned curriculum with less didactic instruction and more clinical experience (NC). All comparisons showed a significantly higher…

Describes a course on social and personality development in which students wrote term papers about 10 aspects of child and adolescent development depicted in an animated film of their choice. Students had to provide two examples of each aspect from the films. Student response to the assignment was generally favorable. (MJP)