Two continuing medical education (CME) projects illustrate how theory may be used in practice. In a change project, a theory was generated to explain the role of CME in change and learning. A program on early detection of cancer tested social and behavioral theory in solving a health care problem. (SK)

Curriculum theorists must raise their own institutions' level of consciousness about fundamental principles in the curriculum development process. Curriculum researchers must align themselves with curriculum decision makers in other institutions and curriculum inquiries must study actors, actions, and the consequences of actions in natural…

Careful work in comparing, analyzing, and critiquing the positions and communications put forth by various professional curriculum organizations would be valuable to the curriculum research community. Provides an example: "Principles for Australian Curriculum Reform," prepared by the Australian Curriculum Studies Association (ACSA). (MLF)

Replies to Burbules's criticism of Maddock's 1990 article, "The Relevance of Philosophy to Educational Administration," which critiques Burbules's 1989 essay on the same topic. Burbules confuses matters of relevance with the communication of relevance and fails to distinguish between authoritative and authoritarian positions. Includes 32…

Like Gresham's bimetallic currency system, the field-based and the conventional Ed.D. represent two types of programs operating within the same marketplace. Because the field-based program is likely to displace resident graduate study, the education profession should seriously inquire into the nature and purpose of its highest degree. (MLH)

Includes statements and discussion by six college educators about the new rhetorics. Underscores the need for both new approaches to rhetoric and understanding of its history. Suggests that the term "rhetoric" may have become a grab bag of assorted concepts. Argues that disagreement over rhetoric is preferable to general acceptance of a single…

Describes four writing assignments designed to transform the reading and study of literature by challenging students to become vital agents in the construction of textual meaning. Discusses the theory behind the assignments which states that reading is a dynamic process of making connections. (RS)

Teaching is a trade that hasn't yet discovered the power of self-transformation and self-rejuvenation. To become empowered, teachers must stop seeing themselves as victims of bureaucrats, citizens, and recalcitrant children. Only by restructuring their jobs from the ground up (by determining to serve children better) can teachers emerge as…

A method of estimating conditional standard error of measurement at specific score/ability levels is described that avoids theoretical problems identified for previous methods. The method focuses on variance of observed scores conditional on a fixed value of an observed parallel measurement, decomposing these variances into true and error parts.…

Recounts an earlier case analysis describing ethical differences in collectivist and individualistic rhetorics experienced by a writer in a literature seminar and a public relations office. Examines how this analysis is problemmatized by alternative interpretations demonstrating how collectivist rhetoric practiced by researchers involves the…

Compares a traditional approach to teaching spelling to a new approach which emphasizes competent independent spellers, learning the language system through practice, and student self-pacing. The new approach emphasizes strategy development, useful generalizations, proofreading, and appreciation of the history and structure of English. (RJC)

A clinical case of penile obsession and compulsive hypersexuality is interpreted from four different theoretical frameworks--psychoanalysis, behaviorism, Bowen-type multigenerational therapy, and structural/strategic systems theory--to illustrate how conceptual frameworks implicitly or explicitly underlie all therapeutic approaches. Implications…

Legal education is falling short of any meaningful effort to shape the legal profession. Too many members of the law school community are either indifferent to or hopelessly naive about the problems of legal practice. Law schools must address major structural problems threatening the legal system. (MSE)

A Spanish instructor recounts his attempt to implement Krashen's Input Hypothesis in teaching elementary Spanish. His and his students' reactions to the approach helped the instructor to conclude that the hypothesis could only have a chance of succeeding at the level of absolute beginners with no prior exposure to the language. (CB)

Discusses the relationship between theory and application in the field of educational technology. The relationship of technology to education is examined, including the role of the teacher; the theory and practice of instructional design is discussed; and the importance of integrating design with instructional implementation is emphasized. (60…