If universities were serious about enhancing student learning, they would explore other ways of organizing work, including reorganization of the curriculum into learning communities that enable learning to span the disciplines, creating classrooms that promote collaborative learning experiences, and using forms of assessment that encourage shared…

Examines social aspects of literacy learning; presents some thoughts on reading development and literacy instruction. Suggests that teachers should promote literacy by incorporating students' interests in their activities. Developing chat rooms, posting messages on the Internet, and making a radio play for younger students all provide meaningful…

Outlines a thematic approach to a U.S. history survey course that focused on the struggles and achievements of women. Covers cultural images of femininity and beauty as well as political and economic issues. Includes brief biographies of Eliza Pinckey, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Alice Paul. (MJP)

Defines the role of the music specialist in designing and implementing a discipline-based music education program. Discusses team teaching and other collaborative efforts between the specialist and the classroom teacher. Includes a discipline-based teaching checklist and selected readings for thematic teaching. (MJP)

Examines specific approaches and strategies for teaching discipline-based music education (DBME). DBME incorporates history, aesthetics, and criticism into traditional music education. Discusses creating a DBME unit, what questions to ask, and what resources to use. Includes a sample approach. (MJP)

Provides a rationale and lesson plan for incorporating geography and art at the K-4 level. The lesson plan features a landscape painting by George Innes, a simplified chronology of his life, as well as a template of questions about the artist and the spatial significance of the painting. (MJP)

Presents an annotated bibliography of children and young adult's books notable for their emphasis on human relations, sensitivity to cultural diversity, originality, scholarship, and high literary quality. The books are arranged by categories and themes and keyed for their usefulness in implementing thematic strands of social studies curriculum…

Explores the relationship between drawing pictures and the development of reading skills in preschool and primary grades. Maintains that a definite link exists between the two and briefly notes some of the relevant research. Concludes that further investigation is warranted. Includes an 11-item related bibliography. (MJP)

Maintains that historical fiction provides children with the opportunity to vicariously live the events of the past, learn about their heritage, and develop a sense of the sweep of history. Recommends several books covering different historical periods and includes related instructional activities. (MJP)

Defines global education as learning about those problems and issues that cut across national boundaries and the interconnectedness of systems--ecological, economic, cultural, political, and technological. Briefly reviews some of the issues and approaches of global education. Includes a list of 11 suggestions for creating global awareness in…

Observes the pitfalls and possibilities of using feature films as educational tools for religious exploration. Praises film for its ability to synthesize a number of cultural, moral, and narrative elements. Lists several simplistic and reductionist approaches to be avoided. (MJP)

Describes a curriculum development project completed by undergraduate education majors. The project consists of a picture or graphic organizer serving as a focal point surrounded by citations to non-fiction and fiction sources related to that point. An accompanying essay allowed the students to justify their selections. (MJP)

Reports on a teaching method that combined assigned daily newspaper readings with weekly informal journal writing to teach basic sociological concepts. Assigned journal topics acted as a link between class material, the newspaper stories, and other texts. Student response was overwhelmingly enthusiastic. Provides several examples of the journal…

Discusses problems in putting education and sustainability together. Considers themes of planetary health and interconnectedness as an argument for redesigning core curricula to teach students to cope with future problems and live in harmony with their surroundings. Describes problems with the current education system, social values, and industry…

Argues for a greater and more explicit use of evolutionary theory in psychology courses. Provides examples of ways that this strategy can help students think critically about classic psychological theories, understand the importance of narrower domain-specific theories, and comprehend the rationales behind cross-species comparison in psychology.…