Describes an initiative that enabled applied linguistics' students to collaborate on academic writing assignments outside the classroom using a network of wireless laptops to facilitate flexible meeting times and locations. (Author/VWL)

Discusses results of interviews with five university teacher education professors that asked about their first-time experiences offering online courses. Recommends four categories for improvements: preparation, including a good introductory Web page for students; structure, including promoting interactivity by limiting class size and using…

Characterizes middle school teachers' discussions of assigned readings from a variety of content area materials. Finds that the teachers' purpose appeared to influence the type of discussion they conducted and that their actual discussions seldom resembled their articulated abstract definitions of a good discussion. (KEH)

Investigates the effects of highly structured versus less structured lessons on student narrative writing. Finds that the less structured lessons resulted in superior student writing and the highly structured lessons resulted in mechanical, fill-in-the-blank responses. (MG)

Shares ways in which teachers who use a basal reading series can go beyond the manual and integrate the whole language approach into the language arts program. (MG)

Shows how findings from science education, instructional design, and educational psychology can help journalism students develop explanatory skills for technical phenomena. Emphasizes understanding readers' key difficulties, appreciating distinct explanatory goals, and practicing well-tested explanatory strategies. Discusses key difficulties and…

Maintains that in order to get quality engaging essays, students must be fully cognizant of what is expected of them. Discusses areas that need to be defined for students. Proposes four C's for designing assignments: clearness, completeness, conciseness, and candidness. (RW)

Describes ways to increase students' writing and communication skills in high school chemistry and physics classes: term papers in chemistry, shorter papers on fascinating physics questions, and oral presentation of the results. (SR)

Describes and evaluates four assignments used as part of the coursework component of the British General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) Business Studies Syllabus A examination. Exercises cover the structure of industry in the local area; communications in the school; marketing techniques; and the establishment of a new business. (LS)

Describes interactive games that can be used to encourage students to complete reading assignments, and gives suggestions for improving the usefulness of readings. The games emphasize instructional objectives including verbal fluency, recall of facts, perceiving important points, summarizing, heuristics, debating, and tutorial support. (LRW)

Describes a special language arts/social studies unit inspired by students' response to a Channel One newscast about starving Somalians. Letter-writing and fund-raising activities helped these middle-level students make closer connections with the world, construct powerful meanings around their own concerns and those of society, integrate self and…

Describes the contending rhetorics of two basic objectives for assigning students the task of writing research papers. Considers the assigning of research papers a problematic exercise. Provides student responses concerning their conceptions of research writing. Considers what teachers might do to change student perception of research assignments.…

Presents an approach to computer science teaching developed at the University of Warwick (England), in which students can choose different tools and techniques according to their needs and preferences; the approach allows the system to evolve with advances in technology. Describes the software designed for the automatic submission of assignments…

Discusses ways that whole-language teachers can address the concerns raised by parents and others about why they do not teach spelling and handwriting in isolation but as part of various reading and writing activities. Notes that teachers often need to explain and justify their expertise and teaching methods to individuals not familiar with the…

Examines the origins of the U.S. Bill of Rights in Pennsylvania's Antifederalism movement. Suggests methods for teaching about Antifederalists' demands for the Bill of Rights. Recommends class discussions, writing assignments, student speechmaking, and the viewing of relevant films. Includes discussion questions. (SG)