Outlines a working model of the 10 elements that make up the teaching method, "instructional conversation." Profiles the use of this method to teach moral education and reading comprehension to an elementary class making the transition from Spanish-reading instruction to English. (MJP)

Paraphrases the book "A River Ran Wild" by Lynne Cherry, contrasts how Native American and European settlers use a river, and discusses the pollution and cleanup of the river. Provides classroom discussion questions, and individual or group activities in language arts, art, role-playing, geography, and interviewing. Includes an annotated…

Describes two federally-funded rural teacher education networking programs designed to introduce telecommunications to practicing teachers. The projects mobilized school personnel, introduced some students to information technologies, provided focus for discussions and interactions, and made administrators aware of the issues and possibilities.…

Presents several types of functions which fit a given set of data and create opportunities for classroom discussion comparing different kinds of functions and identifying some of the potential hazards associated with extrapolation from best-fit functions. (DDR)

Recommends establishing literature study groups as early as the primary grades. Outlines the steps for implementing a group and describes several classroom experiences with them. Includes a discussion of follow-up activities, and a bibliography of related works. (MJP)

One of five articles in the second section "Deepening Relationships through PDS Brings Change in Practice," this article details some of the hard-to-discuss problems that occur in professional development school partnerships, suggesting that discussion cases can help facilitate communication. A sample discussion case is presented, with suggestions…

Five learning-disabled Latino elementary students read stories and participated in alternating lessons using traditional instruction (basal approach) or interactive instructional conversation (IC). Analysis of videotapes and of postlesson narratives constructed by each child found that IC resulted in more complex academic discourse, greater…

A grade 6/7 teacher and a teacher educator-researcher team-taught science to 29 students by framing science projects as adventure. Ethnographic data revealed that small-group instruction, whole-class discussions, and presentations to outside audiences provided progressive opportunities for students to exchange ideas and motivated students and…

Investigates and describes the current instructor experience of teaching college courses over the Web versus in face-to-face formats in terms of teaching strategies, social issues, and media effects. Discusses communication styles, relationship between students and instructors, instructor workload, and discussion patterns, and proposes a model…

Three effective strategies for case-based teaching in clinical medicine are described: case-bedside teaching involving case discussion and bedside demonstration; a combination of quick case reviews with more formal presentations on relevant topics; and discovery learning using complex cases. Five general principles of experiential learning in…

Contends that the English coffee house was a social and economic institution that served as a daily newspaper and a center of commerce. Discusses coffee house origins, development, significance, and decline. Concludes that the coffee house served as a transition from medieval society to an age of rationality and industry. (CFR)

Maintains that efforts to initiate classroom discussions of controversial topics often provoke uncomfortable silence. Describes a classroom exercise that encourages students to analyze from a sociological perspective classroom dynamics that make discussion difficult. (CFR)

Assessing user needs is vital to planning and development of collection and service policies in depository libraries. Community surveys, published surveys, library internal reports, and databases are alternative sources of user information. A group process, such as the Nominal Group Technique, which creates a listening forum, may be more effective…

An exercise used to address a serious college classroom communication problem is described. The activity consisted of small group discussions of the important dimensions of teacher performance and subsequent feedback to the teacher and larger group. It provided students with valuable experience in providing useful feedback and improved class…

College faculty are not trained for intensely emotional discussion of non-Eurocentric topics that may arise in a diversified curriculum. They must learn to teach students to separate facts from cultural assumptions; shift perspective and acknowledge the validity of other viewpoints; and differentiate between personal discomfort and intellectual…