Describes how Anna Deveare Smith's "Fires in the Mirror" can be adapted for the secondary level language arts classroom. Describes a storytelling exercise, and then describes the six stages of the project as students adapted personal narrative for performance: theme; obtaining the interview; the peer-editing workshop; preparing for the…

Junior high students designed their own bicycles from scratch and built them from steel tubing and salvaged parts. The project led to discoveries in math and physics and confidence in working with tools and materials. (Author/JOW)

Argues that making a theater study guide is an excellent in-class project, encouraging research, analysis, writing, and creative thinking. Offers a framework for creating one as a classroom project using John Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men" as an example. Lists further resources. (SR)

Describes an experiment using applications and projects to motivate students in college algebra. Provides a few illustrative examples of the applications/projects used and shares some student comments. (Author/ASK)

In the quest to make learning more meaningful for middle schoolers, some teaching teams are finding a natural alternative to contrived thematic units: curriculum integrated around science. Examples include quadrat study of a pond, smoke-free studies, and the nervous system. (MKR)

Discusses a precalculus project in which students create a model United Nations to present and discuss the long-term prognosis for individual countries given data on population growth and food production. Students compare exponential and linear functions to determine whether starvation will occur and prepare oral and written presentations of their…

Suggests an approach in courses for mathematics majors and minors similar to the popular approach used in applied courses--using student projects. Describes strategy and implementation of the projects and provides examples from student projects on statistics. (Author/ASK)

Describes how two colleagues, an English teacher and a German teacher, taught interdisciplinary poetry units using multimedia and hypermedia, based on using computers as cognitive learning tools rather than as "teaching machines." Describes the interdisciplinary poetry project which focused on animals and on human interaction with animals.…

Analyzes two student group Hypertext projects and a MOO (multiuser domain, object-oriented) project. Finds the play element can enrich readerly experience through the creation of a dramatic experience of information. Suggests that composition instructors need to recognize the play element in computer-based composition and encourage the development…

Provides a framework that explores the design of group projects. The framework focuses on pedagogical purposes for using such projects and considers critical factors to consider when designing a group project. Discusses use of a systems approach, distinctions between product and process, and multiple evaluators. (Contains 35 references.) (JOW)

A study of undergraduates before and after participation in partnership projects with small businesses found that (1) the majority preferred working for larger companies; (2) they felt small businesses were less desirable for promotion, pay, and job security; (3) businesses were slightly more inclined to hire graduates; and (4) employers felt…

In a pilot program, Cambridge University students undertook project-based work placements in entrepreneurial organizations. Although small and medium-sized businesses recognize the benefits of such collaborations, few had taken placements before. An efficient communication process with employers was critical. (Contains 15 references.) (SK)

Describes a new instructional framework, Internet Workshop, designed around three themes reflecting how literacy is changing. Notes that the Internet Workshop consists of an independent reading of information on the Internet around a topic and a location initially designated by the teacher; it concludes with a short workshop session where students…

Describes a research paper in the author's high school English classroom which connected to the lives and interests of students, who delved into community problems with as much rigor (and using many types of research as traditional essays exploring arcane philosophical questions). Describes creating a context for exploration, and students' final…

The Independent Investigation Method is presented, a model developed to enable gifted students to grow in their independence as they move through a research assignment. The seven-step process guides elementary students from beginning to end in the research process, including topic, goal setting, research, organizing, goal evaluation, product, and…