Describes a course entitled "Art and Art Theory of the 18th Century" designed for both undergraduate and graduate students that introduces them to the demanding work of scholars as opposed to the broad survey courses usually offered. Justifies and highlights the readings for the course and provides a sample schedule. (CMK)

Demonstrates that the ways people reflect individually are shared across cultures, but the ways they reflect collaboratively are structured differently among cultures, examining cultural differences in communication and discussion methods and concluding that these differences have implications for teacher education. Teacher educators must be…

Explores students' self-perceptions of their classroom participation as compared to peer and instructor perception. Finds significant correlation between instructor and peer rankings, while the correlation between self and instructor rankings was not significant. Concludes that students rated themselves as participating at higher levels than both…

Describes how one urban middle school teacher uses young adult literature to encourage lively class conversations, to develop students' fundamental skills, and to sharpen their abilities to connect literature with their own lives. Discusses parent/guardian permission and interdisciplinary connections, supplementary readings, literature…

Presents a number of suggestions for using reading circles in elementary school French second-language instruction, including reading text selection, grouping, organizing discussions, knowing when to intervene, and student assessment techniques such as reading logs, passports, critical presentations, and negotiated evaluations. (MSE)

Discusses how electronic mail helps foreign-language (FL) teachers by enhancing their curriculum, improving their FL contacts, and facilitating their own professional development. Electronic mail offers access to discussion groups and newsgroups. It allows teachers to design activities and projects that enhance their curriculum and provide…

The administrator preparation programs at the University of Texas at Arlington and Texas Christian University both have a strong critical-thinking component. The universities share a common vision to promote and maximize learning opportunities for all within a community of learners, explore appropriate instructional strategies, model the notion of…

Used the philosophy of Matthew Lipman as the basis for a discussion-group intervention to improve peer relationships, increase children's self-understanding, enhance their respect for others, and improve critical thinking in 3- to 6-year olds. Found that children improved in their understanding that others have opinions and in their ability to…

Describes focus-group activities designed to generate information for use in decision making about core and elective courses in a library and information science (LIS) curriculum. Discusses how focus-group activity fits with LIS program review. Also includes questions asked and responses; and feeding opinions into a decision apparatus. (AEF)

This qualitative exploratory study investigated what teachers and second graders learned when student questions were the nucleus of literature discussions. Data showed that students were eager to pose questions that addressed what they needed and wanted to understand about literature and life and that teachers have a tendency to impose their own…

New adventure educators frequently rely on lists of review questions to guide group processing of activities and experiences. An alternative tool is offered; a review table based on themes of hard (technical) and soft (interactional) skills encourages observation and critical thinking as educators modify the review process to fit a particular…

Advocates involving parents and family in science learning through photography. Students and their families are challenged to gather still or moving images of living or nonliving things actively engaged in using energy within their neighborhoods. Everyone learns more science through sharing information in discussion. In the process, teamwork,…

Discusses results of a survey that was distributed via email discussion groups to determine why and how librarians and graduate students decide to enter the field of science and technology librarianship. Topics include the influence of a sci-tech background on job performance and professional association membership. (Author/LRW)

Investigates the possibilities that a reader response approach offered strong female characters to four middle school girls reading and talking about two young adult novels. Examines issues involved in negotiating meaning in such literature discussions, including real talk, "inappropriate" talk, preferences in group talk, and privileged talk.…

Notes impact of high-stakes language arts assessments on teachers in Georgia rural districts. Provides additional support for what many English teachers already believe--that rich classroom discussion, reading from a variety of texts, student-centered writing assignments, and metacognitive awareness of one's reading and writing strategies…