Describes an extra credit science project in which students compete to see who can build the most efficient water rocket out of a two-liter pop bottle. Provides instructions on how to build a demonstration rocket and launching pad. (MDH)

Defines a learning locality as a learning site that has used purposeful pedagogical and methodological efforts to enhance learning, such as zoos and museums. Describes a regional learning locality as one in which children, youth, and adults actively explore their immediate environment. Describes two German regional learning localities, Old Town…

Describes a workshop designed to raise teachers' awareness of potential obstacles to student comprehension of test questions. The article presents the practical problems among the staff that created the workshop, describes the workshop, and presents its limitations and advantages as well as broader implications for issues such as curriculum…

With computer corpora firmly established as research tools in linguistics, their application for language teaching purposes is also increasingly advocated to the extent that corpus-based language teaching has even been praised as the new revolution in language teaching (cf. Sinclair, 2004b). This article takes a more critical view and examines…

The Whole Language (WL) approach is sweeping across classrooms in the United States, bringing with it motivating and innovative ways to teach language arts skills to primary school children. With its emphasis on individual discovery, language as a social activity, and diverse "literacy events," the approach employs many techniques that are used in…

This text reviews academic, emotional, motivational, and social learning theories that help children to be their own teachers and teachers to be aware of the advantages of taking charge of one's own learning, rather than depending on teacher education methodology. Learning is described as more than learning facts and figures or directive…

Those in the field of wilderness-adventure therapy (WAT) have come a long way in their attitude toward research, but their methodology has lagged behind their enthusiasm. This paper examines the literature in the field of wilderness adventure therapy for delinquent and pre-delinquent youth in order to evaluate the current state of research. The…

This guide to designing activity-oriented classrooms for grades K-3 is divided into six chapters. Chapter 1 provides an overview of research findings concerning the way children learn and the environments that best facilitate their learning. Chapter 2, which explains ways to set up an activity-oriented classroom, covers the administration's role…

This paper briefly describes two interactive multimedia research and development projects, the Palenque Project (1985-1991) at Bank Street College, and the Museum Education Consortium's Interactive Video Project (1988-1991) at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. It is noted that the designs of both prototypes share experimentation with a…

This text describes an approach to middle level education that focuses on the work children will be expected to do as adults. This approach requires teachers to use instructional strategies that support the development of thinking skills. Chapter 1 explains the rationale for adopting a new approach to middle level curriculum. Chapter 2 examines…

The Center for Child Development facility on the University of South Florida campus in Tampa was opened in 1990. The facility includes three classrooms, a playground, and a room called "the Exploratorium." The exploratorium is 2,304 square feet in size and contains three built-in areas: a kitchenette, a water/science/arts center, and an…

Providing suggestions for parents and teachers, this anecdotal collection of an early childhood educator's experiences and insights emphasizes the importance of developing the decision-making capabilities of young children. Fundamentally, the discussion asserts that one of the major responsibilities of adults is to give children freedom to learn…

Integrating concepts of basic citizenship education with community involvement, this experiential curriculum provides a means for developing decision making and critical thinking skills within the existing social studies curriculum at the kindergarten level. Consisting of 11 lessons, the guide introduces the meaning of rules, truth,…

Teachers and teacher educators seem to be little aware of some major concepts about instruction that provide important insights into the central requirements for learning. A common misconception is that motivation has to do with wanting or desiring. It is instead attention to stimuli that is influenced by two powerful agents--(1) suspense,…

Five instructional techniques for increasing the meaningfulness of technical or scientific information are summarized: (1) organization of prose; (2) use of concrete analogy and advance organizers; (3) use of inserted questions in prose; (4) elaboration activities such as note taking; and (5) discovery learning. Research on each technique is…