Beginning in fall 1982 the Aurora West Public Schools (Illinois) conducted a multi-year study to identify the nature of their instructional programs and to establish a set of position statements that would serve as guides for program review and change. A significant element of the process was the involvement of the entire staff in development of…

Three booklets focusing on dyed and printed textile techniques of Java, West Africa, and the Netherlands describe historical and ethnographic materials as well as the development of particular technical traditions. Each section may be used alone or with either or both of the others. When used together, these booklets illustrate the…

Suggestions for designing instructional practice activities, based on prominent instructional theories, are reviewed, and this is followed by a synthesis, in the form of a set of prescriptions for designing practice for various types of learning outcomes. The review of theories includes behaviorism and George Gropper's instructional model; Gagne…

It is often difficult to engage students, especially younger students, in authentic scientific inquiry. By authentic, the author means that the classroom activities are both good simulations of scientific inquiry as experienced by professional scientists and something that the students can relate to on an intuitive level. However, by engaging…

This paper reports the results of an empirical study that investigated the instructional design process of three teams involved in the development of an e-­learning unit. The teams declared they were using the same fast-­prototyping design and development model, and were composed of the same roles (although with a different number of SMEs).…

This paper examines some of the dominant discourses related to poverty and education such as those offered by the prominent political ideologies, those presented by educators who write about poverty, those embedded in popular culture, and those surrounding current teacher education curricula. Furthermore, this study evaluates the impact these…

The decision to increase distance education enrollment hinges on the factors of pedagogical effectiveness, interactivity, audience, faculty incentives, retention, program type, and profitability. A complex interplay exists among these scalability concerns (i.e., issues related to meeting the growing enrollment demand), and any program's approach…

One of the challenges facing pupils in the history classroom is conceptual understanding. Pupils also find it difficult to recognise themes or patterns across different parts of time and space. Ian Myson has recognised the importance of analogy as a way to facilitate pupils' understanding. He is quick to recognise, however, that poor use of…

Career and technical education research often centers around quantitative research designs. The Delphi Technique provides a structured communication process designed to produce a detailed examination of a topic and/or problem and discussion from the participating group. The contributions of individuals via this tool produce a group perspective not…

The purposes of this study were to determine if there is a significant difference in postsecondary business student scores and test completion time based on settable test item exposure control interface format, and to determine if there is a significant difference in student scores and test completion time based on settable test item exposure…

Psychological research has identified a number of cognitive processes and language abilities that are involved in the development of reading skills. This paper examines the ways in which research findings relate to current curriculum practices in such areas as learning letters and sounds; developing auditory perception skills; word recognition;…

The most legitimate role that the independent research can play in a collaborative research effort in the schools is that of intermediary or broker. Researchers need to establish good relations with school administrative staff and teachers, allaying their mistrust of outside researchers. Research should be carefully designed to relate as directly…

The Primary Reading Program was initiated in 117 classrooms in 40 North Carolina schools, to improve the reading achievement of the primary school students. The same number of control classrooms were also selected for comparison. Features of the program included increased funding for instructional materials; use of volunteers and teacher aides for…

Based on meetings held by the Women's Bureau in Baltimore, Boston, and Miami to explore the employment-related problems of women offenders and to propose solutions, this report in Part I describes the development and conduct of these three seminars, in Part II gives instructions for the organization of future such community programs, and in Part…

"Chamai" is an Eskimo greeting that conveys warmth to individuals and groups. The expression was selected by Alaskan high school students as the descriptive title of a curriculum approach to developing communication skills, primarily speaking and listening. Involving students in grades seven through twelve, the program emphasizes student…