The University of North Carolina at Greensboro student financial aid office undertook a program to train staff in effective listening. Training involved personal videotaping of staff members, followed by feedback to staff and a handout for students (appended) to promote more successful interviews. Initial response has been positive. (Author/MSE)

A flexible strategy for large-group pharmacy instruction in drug metabolism has students prepare and discuss answers to fact-oriented study questions, addressing fundamentals covered in a textbook, with regular evaluation of in-class student responses to higher-order review questions. This discussion-based approach has brought sustained…

Examines why businesses need languages and in which contexts. This research encompassed an examination of published material; a questionnaire administered to officials in a service company, a manufacturing firm and a chemical company; and interviews with executives in these companies. Business people believe that language learning should begin…

Effects of question length and explicitness of directions (format) were examined for 97 university students answering open-ended consumer satisfaction questions at 9 health promotion workshops. Question format, but not length, was related to the usefulness of answers. Implications for use and construction of open-ended questions are discussed.…

Reports on in-depth interviews with two Australian, secondary school, social studies teachers regarding beliefs and practices about questioning techniques. Finds that the teachers hold implicit theories regarding questioning that are unique, idiosyncratic, and incomplete. (CFR)

Presents annotations of nine articles from the ERIC database that discuss the pedagogical relationship between reading teachers and their students. Includes articles that deal with whole-language instruction, student motivation, instructional grouping, questioning techniques, and the characteristics of effective teachers. (PRA)

A study measured the effects of a medical college faculty development course in medical interviewing on attitudes toward learner-centered learning. Even though the learner-centered approach was not explicitly taught, participants (n=29) developed favorable attitudes approaching those of the facilitators, and the attitudes were sustained six…

The author analyzes his 11-year-old daughter's investigation of patterns in multiplication. In an investigation initiated herself, Becca generates hypotheses, discovers patterns, asks questions, and discards procedures that do not produce desired results. Providing a classroom environment that values questioning is a key recommendation. (MLN)

The rates of both teacher responsiveness and student participation were examined in the classroom question-asking context with six science teachers and 165 fifth through eighth graders. Findings suggest the need to focus on the roles of both teachers and students in creating and maintaining sex differences in student-teacher interaction. (SLD)

Offers a guide to self-observation for instructors who want to improve their own teaching but do not know how to identify the changes they need or want to make. Offers practical suggestions on course planning and class preparation, effective communication, questioning and responding, and assessment and evaluation. Provides a method of observing…

Describes various tools, materials, and experiences used to facilitate critical reflection in teaching prospective science teachers. Tools discussed include portfolios, journals, learning maps, the use of metaphors, and proverbs. Such tool use may provide support to generate science-education reform. (AIM)

This article describes initial attempts by preservice and inservice teachers enrolled in university reading courses to devise questions that encourage students to read content texts strategically. Teachers at both levels tended to confuse questions that encourage the use of comprehension strategies during reading with questions that assess…

This paper is part of an investigation into 11-year-old students' interpretations of events in the environment. In particular, we analyse the use of a scale model constructed and manipulated by students when simulating a forest fire. We consider that their explanations involve the interrelation of three levels of organisation: the level at which…

Swain's (1985, 1995, 2000) output hypothesis states that language production is facilitative of second language (L2) learning. An important component of the output hypothesis involves "pushing" learners to produce appropriate, accurate, and complex language (Swain, 1993), which may occur when interlocutors provide learners with negative feedback…

The purpose of this research was to examine the extent to which teachers use question levels in the teaching of investigation skills. Six question levels based on Bloom's Taxonomy (1956) were examined in this study which included knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, evaluation and affective as well (Ghazali Mustapha, 1998).…