Research on the communicative competency of faculty indicates that students can be motivated to learn by competent communicators. In general, communication experts have better competency skills, (i.e., they use more effective verbal and nonverbal immediacy behaviors) than do faculty as a whole. An area much in need of development for most faculty…

This document describes a school-museum-university collaborative model for the effective use of museum resources to develop scientific observation and thinking skills in minority children. Participants in the program were 268 Hispanic American fourth-graders, most of whom were from low socioeconomic backgrounds. Over a 12-week period the students,…

"En peril," a variation of the television game show "Jeopardy," is a team or individual quiz game designed for use in the French language classroom. The game calls for a knowledge of thematic or topical vocabulary, drills a wide range of interrogative constructions, tests general knowledge and cultural information about the target country or…

A double cloze activity, designed to use the cloze procedure to create a realistic context for the exchange of information in the classroom, uses two versions of the same text with different words deleted in each. The administration of the double cloze can be divided into four parts. First, the students listen twice to a reading or recording of…

The process of studying different orientations to teaching introductory biology through interviews designed to elicit teachers' beliefs was analyzed. College teaching assistants were questioned about their beliefs. Interviews were analyzed in terms of teaching, learning, curriculum, and "governance." Each teacher identified most strongly as…

In an attempt to explore the type of classroom environment that contributes to the development of critical thinking, and the questioning techniques and strategies employed there, prolonged observation was conducted in a fourth grade gifted classroom. The teacher of this classroom attempted to relate all her questioning strategies to the…

Secondary school and college students can learn how to shape thought through shaping language by using tagmemic heuristics. To approach writing as a thinking process, students apply three heuristics: one for identifying and stating problems, one for exploring problems, and one for evaluating hypotheses or solutions. Guided by a series of…

This paper reviews some of the findings of research on classroom questions, and considers ways in which sociolinguistic theory may help resolve some questions it leaves unanswered. The paper is divided into three sections, which correspond to three features of questions. The three features are the "context" of questions, the "content" of…

Seven papers address the teaching of self-management skills to disabled persons in supported employment settings. In "Competitive Employment: Teaching Mentally Retarded Employees to Maintain Their Work Behavior," (Frank Rusch and others), external cues managed by job coaches are contrasted to self-generated cues leading to employee self…

Asking questions in class can be a routine effort for some students, but many find this particular act to be an extraordinary task. Research demonstrates that at least 15 to 20% of all students suffer from debilitating apprehension when speaking. The number who experience moderate nervousness may be even higher. As a result of not asking…

This program presents a method for improving geographic literacy in a logical and meaningful way and for inclusion of geography in every social studies class. The third grade program utilizes six questions per week over a period of 32 weeks and is designed to be used during the first five minutes of each social studies class. The program focuses…

This program provides a way to enhance student understanding of social studies subjects by increasing their basic knowledge of geographic information. It enables teachers to make geography a part of every social studies class and is designed to be used during the first five minutes of each class period. An important aspect of the program is to…

Student understanding of geographic aspects of the world will be enhanced by utilizing these questions during the first five minutes of each social studies class. One goal of the program is to improve students' ability to locate geographic features, such as landforms and water bodies, natural and political boundaries, and capitals. This method…

A study focused on the first phase of a longitudinal program of research designed to investigate the feasibility of constructing reading tests closely articulated with specific reading curricula and consistent with the current scientific understanding of reading processes. Participants, 298 beginning third-grade students, took two types of tests…

Summative evaluation is the final stage of the evaluation framework developed by the Center for the Study of Evaluation. Evaluation is a decision-oriented activity. The four-stage evaluation framework consists of needs assessment, program planning, formative and summative evaluation. The handbook presents exercises in summative evaluation. The…