Reports that the International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS) was administered to 20 member countries of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in 1998. IALS identified a very large proportion of adults with very low levels of literacy, most of whom did not see literacy as being crucial to their well being. (Contains 12…

Evaluates the International Adult Literacy Survey (as reported in OECD 1997) from a New Literacy Studies perspective. Criticism of the survey includes charges that: it provides only a partial picture of literacy; culture is treated as bias; and the test items do not represent the real-life items as claimed. Contains 30 references. (PGS)

The International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS) has serious limitations. Interpretation of data often manifests an ethnocentric Western attitude, ranking handling of data-based information higher than experiential and contextualized information, and ignoring how people solve problems in their life context. Proposes an alternative model, called…

Points out the difficulties of defining and operationalizing literacy and literacy development across communities with diverse socioeconomic profiles. Proposes consideration of diverse socioeconomic patterns and level of community (in addition to macro-level of nation-state and the micro-level of individual) to analyze matters relating to literacy…

Examines fourth and fifth graders' ideas about historical evidence through a year-long qualitative study of two classrooms. Discusses the results, focusing on understanding the reliability of sources, evaluating evidence and reconciling conflicting accounts, and using evidence to reach conclusions. Addresses the implications for instruction. (CMK)

A study explored working memory (WM) capacity, WM task requirements, as well as effects between WM, skills, knowledge base, and intelligence in adults with mental retardation and children aged 3-6 years. Adults were better on measures reflecting skills and knowledge base. Children performed better in phonological and visuo-spatial WM tasks.…

Suggests that political apathy among young people is the result of not having the conceptual tools necessary to comprehend present issues. Argues that to grasp many issues, students need to be mathematically literate, which many are not. Suggests that instructors should expose students to comparative numbers more often. (DSK)

Examined the world views of children after they had experienced a natural disaster, Hurricane Andrew, in Florida in 1992. Responses of 127 fourth and fifth graders indicated differences and similarities in the children's world views by ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and gender. Discusses implications for promoting science literacy for all…

A survey of staff of 10 Australian medical schools investigated whether their teaching covered the knowledge, skills, and attitudes outlined by experts on the health care of people with an intellectual disabilities. Half the medical schools displayed significant gaps in their teaching when compared to the ideal curriculum. (Contains references.)…

Abstracts and descriptions of Special Interest Group (SIG) sessions include such topics as: knowledge management tools, knowledge organization, information retrieval, information seeking behavior, metadata, indexing, library service for distance education, electronic books, future information workforce needs, technological developments, and…

Evaluates whether preservice primary teachers' confidence to teach music might be influenced by their experiences in a music fundamentals course. Reveals that this type of course developed their musical knowledge and skills and provided them with a strong model for teaching strategies that, in the end, significantly affected their overall…

Investigates how the process of knowledge formation in teaching and learning can be identified through teachers' definitions, decisions about assessments, and what criteria they use in an assessment situation. Reveals three dominant bipolar constructs among instrumental skills, expressive modes, creativity, and interpretative modes and two further…

Evaluated the impact of a reproductive health community mobilization initiative in Cameroon. Baseline and followup survey data indicated that at a rural site, the intervention positively influenced family planning knowledge and practices, HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted disease knowledge and attitudes, and use of health services. At an urban…

The case study is an excellent method for teaching and assessing students' knowledge and skills. Using two examples, we present a step-by-step approach for analyzing cases and evaluating students. The advantages and disadvantages of using cases are discussed and methods for identifying cases are presented.

The value of conceptual physical education knowledge has long been acknowledged (American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, and Recreation, 1969; Kneer, 1981; NASPE, 1995) yet has not been formally measured or assessed. Seven multiple choice tests with established validity and reliability (Ayers, 2001b) were used to assess the concepts…