This study of graduate students examined the process and outcomes of novice and expert teachers who learned a classroom-observation coding system through a hypermedia learning environment. The training program was designed as a modular, skills-based approach that allowed user-controlled access to tutorials, guided practice, and independent…

Investigates the teaching, research, and management entailed in four new degree programs--physics, agricultural engineering, agricultural food-processing technology, and pharmacy courses--at Spain's University of Santiago de Compostela. Reports students' opinions of reforms in these courses, revealing dissatisfaction with facilities for practical…

Discusses the integration of technology into the learning environment and considers how best to equip the teacher of the future to accommodate such changes. Summarizes the findings of student and teacher reactions to online Web-based courses at the University of Central Florida and suggests further research. (Author/LRW)

Reports the result of a study on faculty perceptions of reasons for student attrition. Describes the implementation of recommended strategies for reducing attrition at a community college, including seeking to know the students, tackling non-academic factors (such as scheduling), addressing academic and affective barriers, identifying student…

Discusses how teaming, attaching a group of students to a block of teachers for an extended period of time, can provide a supportive environment that facilitates middle school students in their developmental tasks. Describes how one middle school in Utah uses this strategy. Includes discussion of stage theory and its impact on teaching practices.…

Examination of the workplace as a learning environment reveals it is far from ideal and poses unique challenges to the practicum supervisor, especially when that role is assumed by a workplace supervisor. Specific interests of student and employee may not coincide, and the interests of both diverge from those of organizations and owners. (MSE)

An academician explores major issues in higher education labor law during the 1990s: union organizing by graduate teaching assistants, bargaining and workload issues, developments concerning grievance arbitration, and rights of individual faculty members within unions. Issues likely to arise in the next decade include alternatives to tenure,…

Daily contacts between teachers and students, reviewing students' work, student-to-student interactions, and faculty members' availability to students can leave an indelible impression on students. However, higher education may be moving toward an atmosphere much less conducive to student-college connections. This is due to distance learning,…

Provides a historical background on the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered, and queer/questioning (GLBTQ) legal turf, describing legal tools available for challenging school violence and harassment. Discusses the related legal work on behalf of GLBTQ teachers in public schools and addresses the legal defense of student groups, which play a…

Investigated factors associated with academic success and coping of low-income, urban, minority adolescents transitioning from 8th to 9th grade. Interviews with high- and low-performing students indicated that the transition brought challenges related to school, friends, and family. High-performing students coped more actively and had a wider…

Explores problematic charter-school characteristics that must be changed to improve American education: lack of innovative practices and improved academic outcomes; disproportionate administrative costs; segregation of students by ethnicity, income level, and special needs; and deplorable physical learning environments. More competition, planning,…

Describes characteristics of higher education students in the 21st century, focusing on the nontraditional aspects compared to the majority of today's students; discusses lifelong learning, distance learning, and learning processes; describes collaborative learning networks; and considers elementary and secondary education changes. (LRW)

Educator and author Tom Armstrong talks about events that influenced his radical educational philosophy; the interconnectedness of spirituality, culture, and the inner learner in all of us; the difficulty of linking spirituality to education in light of the First Amendment; attention deficit disorders and the medicalization of education; and the…

Chris Mercogliano's book about a free school in Albany, New York, advocates liberating children's life energies from the destructive forces of regimentation, repression, and control on which public education is based. An educational philosophy is needed that pays attention primarily to emotional and interpersonal issues, since academic learning…

Examined the extent to which English primary schools are increasing involvement in teacher training and the impact this has on school development plans, classroom teaching and learning quality, and teachers' career development. Data from 1997 surveys of 462 primary schools that had recently received student teachers are being used to examine…