Discusses the importance of standards in introductory programming courses that enable novice software developers to write correct programs to specification and time. Considers issues involved with assessing students' programming abilities. Provides an overview of an automated assessment system adopted at the University of Warwick (United Kingdom)…

Based on a communications course at John Carroll University (Ohio) that was developed to include communication on the Internet, this article describes areas to consider when planning Internet integration. Discussion includes campus computer services, computer labs and Internet programs, teaching strategies, and student reactions to Internet…

Describes a first-year composition course that used writing assignments to give students the opportunity to explore the transition from high school to college and their inclusion into campus culture, and to argue for campus policy changes. Offers preliminary data concerning the course's effectiveness in enhancing retention of first-year students.…

Shares ideas for effectively and efficiently gaining control over the volumes of paper generated in a reading/writing classroom. Suggests that organizing the flow of paper in a class, through such items as file boxes and hanging folders, is essential for an effective class. Provides 10 sample categories for filed materials. (MAB)

Reports on providing visual feedback to art students by sending compressed digital video clips as attachments to e-mail messages. Concludes that, although bandwidth constraints of dial-up links and the time taken for compression limit the amount of video that can be transmitted, the transmission of video by e-mail is technically feasible. (PEN)

Each designer contributing to this special issue was asked to prepare an introductory lesson on the physics of motion aimed at eighth to eleventh graders. This article presents a brief description of how a detailed physics content was researched, edited, and refined by subject-matter experts, and then ultimately presented to the instructional…

Summarizes a discussion by the authors of this special issue that took place after the five instructional designers created lesson plans for the same design task. Highlights include the specified content's convergent effect on the designs; design philosophies; things that surprised the designers; and their favorable responses. (AEF)

Describes a writing project, based on the reader's guide, that helps students get an overview of the literature on a psychology topic. Highlights the five components of the reader's guide (content outline, theorists and contributors, central concepts, hot topics, and major resources). Addresses the role of the assignment and student reactions.…

Provides a rationale for why high school social studies students should create children's picture books. Describes the procedure for creating picture books: (1) choosing a topic; (2) collecting information; and (3) writing and illustrating. Provides an example children's picture book. (CMK)

Describes instructional use of brief first-person accounts of mental disorders. Explores the benefits of using first-person, autobiographical accounts as required reading in a course on abnormal psychology. Finds that first-person accounts were more helpful in increasing student appreciation of the experience of having a disorder and empathy for…

Describes a three-part class assignment for a high school literary magazine course (and applicable to other student publications) in which students each select two poems for publication in an imaginary poetry journal and describe their reasons; collectively discuss responses and how they might be worked into an editorial policy; and end up with an…

Focuses on the use of assessment rubrics with musical composition. Provides guidelines for musical composition assignments and describes the construction and use of rubrics. Includes four example assessment rubrics. (CMK)

Considers the use of multiple forms of assessment in the social studies classroom. Focuses on writing assessments, such as response notebooks and the I-Search essay, utilizing a rubric, the change in student projects that accompanies the incorporation of multiple assessments, and changes in tests and quizzes. Provides three recommendations for…

Discusses the four assessment strategies used in the high school course "Social Advocacy: History, Theory, and Practice." The assessment measures class participation, journal writing, volunteer experience, and written assignments. Explains that the course focuses on social problems and self-discovery. Provides a course description. (CMK)

Describes a personal analogy exercise used to experience metaphors and understand the ability to think metaphorically. States that students engage in an "I am" writing exercise where they select a portrait and write answers to such questions as "how are you like the portrait?" (CMK)