Describes a Community Analysis course that gives students an opportunity to apply urban theory through direct community engagement. Notes course objectives and organization (as a condensed special topic to allow travel, or within the regular semester). Identifies benefits/risks of community experiential learning for instructors and students.…

Describes a set of community-problem assignments for upper-level undergraduate public policy courses which require students to connect public policy analysis and scholarly research to a specific policy problem in a community. Analyzes student evaluations of the assignments and suggests modifications to fit different curriculum needs. (Author/DB)

Applies Heidegger's hermeneutic circle to research in higher education, specifically use of the pilot study to experientially ground proposed research. Description of a pilot study on higher education leadership illustrates the principle. Implications for higher education research include the importance of (1) grounding research in practical…

Describes a journalism course that used an integrative approach to teaching about the principles, practice, and effects of civic journalism, combining theory, news writing, and evaluation. Describes the class project on the controversial issue of panhandling. Discusses goals of civic journalism and of the project, journalistic methods used,…

Ponders possible explanations for the connections among chaos, complexity, and a learning community. Challenges the Newtonian world model, suggests that the world operates in a complex, nonlinear, unpredictable pattern, and calls for a new science to understand this complexity. A true learning community values individual autonomy, risk taking,…

A survey of 120 co-op architecture students revealed that co-op work assignments should not focus solely on end-of-program evaluations. Rather, they should offer different experiences at different phases of the college career. Experiences at early and late stages of their placement were rated excellent/very good by 80%, but 10 points lower in the…

Presents some of the conceptions of balanced instruction. Provides information about the research and theory supporting each one. Describes some of the practical implications for classroom practice. (PA)

Working in partnership with parents is a guiding principle of Great Britain's Children Act 1989. Requirements cover care plans and reviews for children looked after by the local authority. This article examines whether working in partnership with parents has been translated into practice, using findings from a major research evaluation of child…

Discusses the importance of the tension between theory and practice in teacher education, noting that it energizes the relationship between schools and universities. Explains what makes a good theory so practical and describes the importance of teacher educators helping prevent underprepared teachers (usually unfamiliar with important theory) from…

Partnerships between nursing education and health service providers can provide financial benefits, bridge the theory/practice gap, and cultivate collegial interdisciplinary relationships. To realize benefits may require creation of more formal partnership strategies. (SK)

Cites the Lysenko affair as a good illustration of the relationship between theory, ethics, and politics. Provides the historical background of the scientist Lysenko and information on the political system of his time. (DDR)

Whereas prior conceptions treated cognitive development as a sequence of stages, current research points to recurring growth cycles between birth and age 30. Each recurrence produces a new capacity for thinking and learning grounded in an expanded, reorganized neural network. Cognitive spurts are evident only under optimal support conditions.…

Discusses how meta-analysis allows clinicians to determine objectively both presence and size of an effect or correlation within the existing literature by pooling the results of various studies and performing statistical analyses. Describes the risks and benefits of applying information obtained from meta-analysis into clinical practice.…

Argues for a cautious approach to transplanting theory from one culture to another, particularly considering the case for applying Friedrich Froebel's child-centered theory to early childhood education in Pacific Rim cultures. Uses a historical approach to distinguish three distinct versions of the theory, the Christian, the Progressive, and the…

Demonstrates how different experimental designs arise from variation of three basic distinctions: block versus treatment factors, fixed versus random factors, and crossed versus nested factors. Argues that understanding how these distinctions influence statistical analysis can reduce amount of experimental design. Presents an example of this by…