Considers what high school activities helped prepare students to write papers in college. Discusses how students' responses help teachers to see what students found useful (or not) in their high school preparation. Concludes that students addressed four aspects of their high school writing experience that affected their level of preparation:…

Describes the prototype of a self-authored project that uses the Internet as a platform for disseminating information on the social geography of Nottingham (England). Provides background to the project along with the project design and content. Reports that both students and the designers' colleagues find the project to be successful. (CMK)

Describes a brief, pre-internship, observation assignment that has increased student awareness and provided some of the same benefits as internships. Finds that student reactions and other data support pre-internships as an effective learning tool. Concludes that pre-internships are most beneficial when used in combination with long-term,…

Discusses how to implement multimedia into the university history classroom and the different functions involved when producing a multimedia lecture and presenting it to the students. Characterizes the benefits of using multimedia through the students' reactions, compiled in course evaluations and an informal survey, and overall student…

When teachers punish students through the use of external control, they associate themselves and learning with negative feelings and consequently alienate students from education. Teachers must apply principles of friendship to connect with students and gain entry into students'"quality worlds." (Includes an outline of basic principles of…

Provides the results from the Homerton pilot study where year 5/6 pupils were asked about their perceptions of nature and the environment in order to assess the current environmental education policies. Indicates that children overall have a positive attitude, but there are certain limitations and dichotomies involved that environmental education…

Despite federal and state regulations prohibiting the sale of nonnutritious foods in competition with school lunch programs, powerful market forces are keeping vending machines in schools. In 1997, schools generated $750 million for the vending machine market. Soft-drink companies are offering million-dollar contracts to some schools. Student…

Explores the multilayered nature of a single picture book by Anthony Browne and the sophisticated responses (including their own pictures) children ages 4-11 bring to interpreting such a text. Suggests that some children who are not yet confident at reading print have developed impressive capacities for analyzing image. (SG)

Explores students' psychological responses to an introductory Internet course delivered using computer-supported collaborative learning. Data were collected in pre- and post-course surveys and through observation of patterns of participation. Students' self-efficacy for learning and preference for collaborative work increased, while their…

Through use of two prepared surveys, Power Reader and Power Learner (from the Information Power Action Research Project by the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) Research and Statistics Committee), high school students can track their library skill growth during a research project and report and reflect on their reading…

Investigates whether students perform best after using computer-based learning (CBL) courseware with three types of animation-control strategies: program control, linear control, and learner control. Results suggest that accommodating learners' individual differences in the design of computer-based learning lessons is an important concern. (AEF)

Analyzes the racial politics within the women's studies course "Women of Color," taught from a sociological viewpoint. Uses Ruth Frankenberg's concepts of whiteness, power evasiveness, and race consciousness to gain insight into the racial dynamics of the classroom. Addresses the implications for teaching and proposes teaching strategies. (CMK)

Examines some simple and more complicated ways for faculty to obtain meaningful feedback in the middle of the semester, while there is still time to make changes for the students in that class. (EV)

Provides information about how faculty can use the data on their own student ratings to develop a narrative that will help others (such as administrators and the public) understand what the numbers mean and how they should and should not be used. (EV)

Ideally, school would be a place where all students feel that they belong. However, the reality is that many students feel as though they do not belong to their school community. Alienated or disaffected students are an endemic problem in schools in Australia, as elsewhere, affecting the whole school community along with the life chances for the…