States that the traditional instruments used to measure teacher performance at the end of the semester promotes a student-as-consumer analogy. Presents an alternative end-of-semester questionnaire that enables students to assess their own efforts and responses to learning processes. Includes a copy of the student opinion survey and lists…

Examined the relative importance of three variables on changes in students' orientations toward learning for self-knowledge. Academic and out-of-class experiences influenced students' learning orientation and also exerted a modest joint effect. Implications for theoretical models of student learning, for future research, and for administrative…

Introduces research conducted by the Santa Barbara Classroom Discourse Group, a collection of teachers, researchers, and students affiliated with the University of California, Santa Barbara. The group is concerned with understanding how everyday life in elementary and secondary classrooms is constructed by teachers and students through their…

The author discusses how she learned to accept the differences in approaches to living and learning among herself, her mother, and her daughters. She achieved this by drawing on her own learning experiences, spirituality, and experience in teaching her adopted Native American daughter to read. (LP)

This article relates experiences and insights gained by a nurse educator directing the University of Utah College of Nursing's Utah Early Intervention Personnel Preparation project, a graduate-level interdisciplinary program to prepare early intervention specialists. Recommendations are offered for development of preservice or inservice…

The Learner Report (LR) (A. D. De Groot, 1974) is an instrument to identify educational objectives that resist obvious measurement. An overview is presented of studies using the LR and problems and solutions found in the literature and identified in a survey of 16 Dutch LR users. (SLD)

A high school teacher describes student experiences of meeting resistance when attempting to learn more about community issues or problems. These negative encounters, although causing some anxiety and distress, taught beneficial lessons that enabled students to grow and learn. (LP)

Uses the metaphor of the experiential educator as midwife to illustrate the importance of creating a safe and nurturing educational environment. To accomplish this, teachers must manage logistics, guard the initial learning environment, serve as nurturer, establish relationships, acknowledge commonalities and differences, remain a learner, create…

Defines authentic technology and describes how it can be developed and tested. Proposes collaboration among practitioners, technologists, scientists, craftspeople, and artists to develop authentic educational technologies. Offers three examples of current social and educational technologies. (AEF)

Redesigned curriculum materials support curricular and pedagogical change in mathematics education in uncommon ways. Observation of two fourth-grade teachers using a new mathematics textbook focused on the learning that occurred and the pertinent characteristics of the text, the teachers, and the teaching context. Activities such as analyzing…

Expounds that student involvement in social studies competitions helps students develop a spirit of inquiry, enhance thinking and research skills, and even shape their world views. Considers the competition process addressing the teacher's role, student preparation, and students' reflection on their learning. Lists a variety of national social…

Highlights development of a comprehensive core curriculum program at Ursuline College in Ohio in which the curriculum is integrated, interdisciplinary, and sequential, and embodies both learning and developmental goals. Several themes are identified that can be relevant to any college: (1) importance of theory, (2) importance of mission, (3)…

Reviews constructivist and sociocultural approaches to child development and early education. Outlines a neo-Piagetian systems approach to early learning and development which examines development as the result of coactions between multiple levels of hierarchical individual-environment systems. Discusses a neo-Piagetian curriculum, Rightstart, for…

Describes a science enrichment program for 5- to 8-year- olds that used constructivist theory to create a social learning environment conducive to science learning. Considers the strategic actions and roles the teacher adopted to achieve theoretical objectives. Presents evidence that the children engaged in knowledge generation and critical…

Addresses the importance of implementing outdoor training courses for women only to provide a supportive environment in which women can gain the confidence and skills needed to become outdoor leaders. Describes the experiences of the author (a black woman) in dealing with her race and gender during outdoor training courses. (LP)