Discusses orientation of present educational and training systems toward preparing individuals for specific jobs; outlines disadvantages of this approach relative to current employment trends; and describes an alternative training approach, the assembly model, which identifies similarities among jobs so that skills learned in one field can be…

A comparison of three instructional methods (frontal lecture strategies, mastery learning strategies, and experiential mastery learning strategies) in a paramedical course showed that frontal lecture produced the highest scores on the lower mental process subtest while experiential mastery learning produced the highest scores on all measures of…

Discusses the "Philosophy for Children" program developed by Matthew Lipman and Ann Margaret Sharp of the Institute for the Advancement of Philosophy for Children at Montclair State College in New Jersey. Explains how the teaching of philosophy can also be incorporated into the teacher education curriculum. (FL)

Describes a study of 200 employers in which the key questions were: How many people do you train each year? How many person hours of training occur? What subjects are studied? How much money is spent? Results are reported and analyzed. (CT)

The author discusses the importance of having respect for the student as a professional teacher competency. He encourages the use of poetry, drama, and fiction in teacher education, as well as more writing and performing arts experience; and competence in the ability to relate to a variety of people. (CT)

Described is a project that involved undergraduate geography students in developing a model of the accessibility of the pre-school population in Cardiff (England) to child care clinics. Programing skills were acquired through spatial modelling. Networks of mini- and micro-computers were used. (Author/RM)

A group of first-year medical students who demonstrated inadequate interviewing skills in a test with proven reliability and validity were identified. The usefulness of individualized tutorials as a means of helping them improve their skills was assessed. (Author/MLW)

How classroom debates can be used in a developmental psychology course to teach students about controversial issues and to help them improve their thinking and oral communications skills is described. Evaluations indicate that students consider debates to be a positive learning experience. (Author/RM)

A selection from a U.S. history textbook dealing with the problems of the Northwest Territory during the eighteenth century is used to show how teachers can teach students to recognize different points of view, in this case those of the British, the American settlers, and the American Indians. (RM)

Describes a study that explored the collaborative writing processes of a group of business executives over the course of a year as they prepared a vital company document. Shows how context affected the writers' conceptions of their rhetorical situations and their writing behavior and how the rhetorical activities influenced the structure of the…

Reviews studies of children's drawings and summarizes experiment which tested 5- to 11-year-olds for ability to execute color use differences and sensitivity to differences in heraldic, gradation, harmonic, and pure color use. It was found that children go from being completely unable to consistently able to produce appropriate differences. (MBR)

A professor entered a four-year engineering program together with student volunteers to obtain information on their problem-solving skills. This information as well as information on student characteristics and characteristics of freshmen and sophomore years are discussed in terms of curriculum modification, available resources, and needed changes…

Offers suggestions for building oral communication programs. (FL)

Describes the keyboarding program at Nicholls State University in Louisiana for gifted and talented junior and senior high school students. Gives results of a questionnaire distributed to 93 students concerning favorite activities, scores of timed writings, uses for keyboarding skills, computer accessibility, and student and teacher assessment of…

Examines the theoretical basis of suggestions that children's brain size and intelligence grow in periodic spurts and plateaus and that schooling should be planned accordingly. A "mock debate" presents excerpts from researchers holding conflicting viewpoints on this issue. (TE)