By offering children the opportunity to speak up in the classroom, educators help build a vital foundation in open-mindedness that is essential for critical thinking. Teaching children to be critical thinkers requires that teachers listen to what children say, encourage them to talk, and not insist that they share the teacher's beliefs. Young…

This paper describes a case study approach to multicultural education and examines what was learned from a project utilizing teacher-written cases in a seminar for new teachers. A case is described and analyzed. Data were gathered by reflecting on what had been taught about teaching in diverse classrooms and discussing potential implications for…

The 28 papers in this sourcebook relate to the evaluation of children's services in public libraries: (1) "Introduction to Evaluation" (Jane Robbins and Douglas Zweizig); (2) "Research and Measurement in Library Services to Children" (Adele Fasick); (3) "Evaluating Children's Services" (Diana Young); (4) "What Is…

This book is designed to help new faculty members in engineering and the sciences become effective teachers and researchers. Part 1 focuses on teaching, and includes six chapters which cover: characteristics of student learning, planning a course, conducting discussions and lectures, preparing examinations and assignments for students, and working…

Beginning teachers' learning is complex and personal: they learn about themselves as teachers; they fight with newly revealed selves endeavoring to change; and they engage in a struggle that is both emotional and intellectual. This report presents narratives, based on both journals and taped conversations, of the learning experiences of six novice…

This conference presentation describes study groups as a mechanism for changing teacher behavior. The history of study groups is discussed, beginning with the first American study groups organized by Benjamin Franklin; the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle; the waning of study groups in the early 20th century as college enrollment…

This monograph examines the nature of active learning at the higher education level, the empirical research on its use, the common obstacles and barriers that give rise to faculty resistance, and how faculty and staff can implement active learning techniques. A preliminary section defines active learning and looks at the current climate…

A learning cycle consists of three phases: exploration; conceptual invention; and expansion of an idea. These phases parallel Piaget's functioning model of assimilation, disequilibrium and accomodation, and organization respectively. The learning cycle perceives students as actors rather than reactors to the environment. Inherent in that…

The Education Game, a simulation designed to help professional educators experience what schooling means to students, was originally developed to introduce rural Ecuadorian farmers, who had little formal contact with schools, to the schooling experience, and was later expanded to stimulate discussion among Ecuadorian teachers on school-related…

To examine the relationship between student writer and audience, five volunteers from a college freshman composition class were asked to think aloud on tape as they revised three out-of-class drafts of a paper. The subjects gave one protocol after getting feedback on an early draft from their own writing group, another after a student-teacher…

For several years an interdisciplinary course called "Healing and the Arts" has been offered to undergraduates and medical students in a BA/MD program at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Its stated purpose is to give students a theoretical and practical understanding of how the arts can be a healing force in people's lives.…

In higher education, online discussions are an integral part of collaborative based e-Learning systems. However, there can be problems associated with current online discussion models. For example, it can be easy to set open-ended discussions which attract little participation and assessing contributions can be difficult or time-consuming.…

A content-analysis examined the discussion practices recommended in postprimary reading methods textbooks published in the United States before and after 1970. Fifteen textbooks were selected and 37 topics related to discussion were eventually grouped into three categories--(1) functions of textbooks, (2) functions of questions, and (3) roles of…

The purpose of this report is to explore an analysis of discussions, among groups of elementary school children, of a social problem. The intent of the research is to contribute to the advancement of methods for program and student assessment, particularly toward goals not usually evaluated by traditional testing programs. The analysis method used…

One of a series of six portraits of high school literature classrooms, this paper gives a detailed, evocative characterization of how one "master teacher" introduced, undertook, and guided the study of literature, focusing in particular on how the teacher interacted with students in the context of discussion of a literary work in class.…