Most college fundraising volunteers are uncomfortable asking for money. A training technique designed to help volunteers overcome these fears takes three hours and addresses attitudes about money and requesting it, good and bad solicitation, and the elements of effective solicitation. A program schedule and practical exercises are offered. (MSE)

New college fundraisers are encouraged to be optimistic, act confident, ask for a specific amount, and expect a positive answer when requesting a donation. Anecdotal evidence illustrates how effective this approach can be, and how the benefits extend beyond achieving a fundraising goal to inspire others about the college. (MSE)

Teaching techniques are means of achieving learning goals. This article shows the questions that a teacher can ask to check the effectiveness with which a technique is used. Although the information transfer technique is used for illustration, the questions are applicable to any technique. (13 references) (LB)

Five publications on the teaching of thinking skills are reviewed. The reviews address the quality of the publications in general and their value to the field of gifted education. The publications cover educational levels from elementary through college. One publication specifically emphasizes an across-the-curriculum approach, and one focuses on…

Analysis of 61 inpatient medical writeups by 23 third year medicine clerks found smoking history notations in 74 percent but quantification of exposure much less commonly. None detailed patient addiction or willingness to quit, or included smoking cessation in the patient plan. Students' smoking assessment and cessation skills are seen as poorly…

This study seeks to provide an introduction to some linguistic features of adolescent-therapist conversation, focusing on characteristics of adolescent speech that may appear during therapy. These include problems of expressing feelings, therapy talk as schoolroom talk, powerful forms of questioning, adolescent narrative, and lying. (26…

The article describes the system used to hire new faculty at Atlantic Community College (New Jersey). Critical components are descriptive interviewing, which focuses on how the candidate has behaved in real situations, and a teaching simulation. (DB)

Twenty grade 5 and 6 students with reading disabilities and 40 average readers were taught to use a self-questioning strategy for the identification of main ideas under either a standard instruction or a generalization induction condition. Results indicated the self-instructional training was equally effective under both conditions and performance…

High-low sponges are short, science-related activities or questions that require students to analyze a situation or produce a new idea during extra time that otherwise would be wasted. (PR)

In this study, 143 creativity researchers completed a survey to rate the importance of various traits and developmental influences on creative achievement. Behaviors in the Motivational Composite were rated as most important for recognized creative achievement, followed by problem finding and questioning skills, and traits reflecting adaptive…

An effective way to conduct writing conferences and support primary students in writing is to find questions that encourage more thinking and writing as they work. Four strategies include: avoiding yes/no questions, encouraging students to value work, evaluating many writing samples, and refocusing in conferences. The paper offers sample writing…

Presents and responds to questions the author would ask himself before meeting with a client whose Self-Directed Search he has reviewed. The client in the case is a 29-year-old female high school teacher faced with four occupational opportunities from which she is trying to make a choice. (MKA)

Describes a graduate seminar on qualitative research methods in which 19 European-American men and women educators interview African-American educators and students on issues of race and racism. The data reveal six ways that race conflated with racism. Racism is also constructed as an all-black/white experience and a social agenda in public…

Suggests that classroom instruction can be aided by training students in question generation. Encourages secondary and postsecondary content area teachers to encourage student questioning instruction as a basis for higher level thinking about subject matter. (RS)

Uses questioning techniques to teach about caloric consumption and weight gain. Starts with defining questions about calories and includes the stages of measuring calories, analyzing data, and conducting inquiry research. Includes directions for the experiment. (YDS)