This study examines a feedback portfolio developed by student teachers in their secondary science methods courses. The portfolio preparation requires students to reflect and select their best five learning experiences during the course and provide a short explanation regarding the value of those experiences. This study also involves emergency…

These four volumes of a quarterly newsletter offer a collection of articles on teaching English as a Second Language to refugees. The volumes in this document are: Volume 7, Fall 1999 - Special Edition; Volume 8, Spring 2000; Volume 9, Spring 2000; and Volume 12, Fall 2002. Topics covered in these volumes include: "Fort Dix, NJ: Operation…

This "First Teachers" training manual details a research-based and field-tested program in which elementary school children and their families create a family portfolio album of their stories and drawings that becomes a family keepsake. The manual provides information on the goals of the program and its intended audience, and the need for schools…

This report addresses the extent to which students in Connecticut are receiving world language education that meets the Board's expectations. Data are presented on key world language opportunity-to-learn indicators, such as the following: staffing (e.g., with dramatic increases in enrollments in world languages at all levels, the demand for…

Since 1999, and as part of an Ameritech grant, the author has systematically investigated use of streaming media to enhance face-to-face classes. Technology invites experimentation but raises questions about such things as student acceptance, student use, academic performance, and what to do with class time when lectures are put online. Students…

This paper describes a study that used WebCT Bulletin Board, a program for breaking down geographical barriers to collaborating in distance education. Participants were preservice teachers, mentor physical educators, and university professors. WebCT was used to support electronic bulletin board communication. Students utilized WebCT's internal…

This report discusses the outcomes of a study that investigated how visual media would affect the communication skills of a 13-year-old nonverbal girl with cerebral palsy and whether the use of visual media would provide documentation of higher cognitive functioning. For the study, the subject used three different tools to add visual information…

The goals of this study were to investigate problem-solving in a context that requires a rich interaction among social, motivational, and cognitive processes and to compare the effects of the mediated and discovery models of learning on students' problem-solving processes in the complex technology-based learning environment. Subjects were 88…

This document consists of four issues from 1998-1999 of a newsletter for members of the North American Montessori Teachers' Association. The March 1998 issue describes the first Montessori training course in Romania. The May 1998 issue presents information on presentations from the NAMTA conference in Baltimore. The March 1999 issue presents an…

This report describes a decision-making tool designed to inform special educators of the most up-to-date participation and test accommodations guidelines and to assist educators in the process of making informed decisions. It reports on the results of a study that examined the tool's feasibility and practicality. The decision-making tool is an…

This paper outlines the University of Melbourne (Australia) Library's response to the changing organizational environment. The first section provides background on the university and library, including the creation of a new position, Research Consultant, that was designed in response to concerns expressed by academics that the library was not…

The Texas Education Agency provided statewide Public Education Information Management System (PEIMS) data to the Texas State Occupational Information Coordinating Committee (TSOICC) in May 1998 to determine employment information and college enrollment for 1996-97 senior students. TSOICC used the Automated Student and Adult Learner Follow-up…

The Mass Communication and Society section of the Proceedings contains the following 17 papers: "Interactivity and the 'Cyber-Fan': Audience Involvement within the Electronic Fan Culture of the Internet" (Vic Costello); "A Reassessment of the Relationship between Public Affairs Media Use and Political Orientations" (Kim A.…

This paper describes efforts at East Carolina University (North Carolina) to develop a survey instrument and related procedures to assess distance learning courses. The survey was conducted during the 1998-99 academic year via the World Wide Web and combined the Student Opinion of Instruction Survey (SOIS) with additional questions that assessed…

This paper describes a year-long program which is in place at Nashville State Technical Institute (Tennessee) to train faculty in the development of World Wide Web-based instruction. The program is based on seven principles that assert that good practice in undergraduate instruction encourages student-faculty contact, encourages cooperation among…