GENTRAIN is a modular program for interdisciplinary humanities instruction. The authors recount the development of the program from creating their own textbooks, arranging teaching teams, organizing the vast amount of available material, deciding on class format, to discovering a group of enthusiastic supporters among the community's senior…

Provides a series of guidelines for overcoming resistance and problems with cooperative projects in an introductory sociology course. These include coordinating common interests and common free time between team members, requiring allocation of various roles (presider, scribe, coordinator), and ongoing monitoring of the research teams. (MJP)

Describes the Pew Charitable Trusts' Pew Leadership Award for revitalization and reform in higher education and summarizes characteristics of the 45 nominated institutions. The institutions develop portfolios documenting accomplishments in the areas of curriculum redesign, faculty roles and responsibilities, and resource reallocation. Profiles the…

Discusses the effects of change and innovations on teachers. Describes the use of the Stages of Concern Questionnaire of the Concerns-Based Adoption Model to examine teachers' concerns about the introduction of microcomputer technology in an elementary school. Addresses the importance of teacher training. (LRW)

Discusses problems with two common Web-browsing instructional activities and suggests ways that teachers can improve lessons to develop students' critical thinking skills. Focuses on search-and-print and Web page design activities. (AEF)

Celebration, Florida, is a planned community (8,000 households) newly developed by Disney Corporation. Its K-12 inclusive school, in partnership with Stetson University, implements learner-centered features such as multiage classrooms, multiple intelligences, and multidimensional assessment with students managing their own electronic portfolios.…

Reports on a class project that examined the manufacture of boxes and packaging to teach about design and technology. The class discovered basic manufacturing techniques by examining and disassembling cereal boxes. Field trips to stores provided more examples. Appraises the children's final projects and discusses acquiring materials. (MJP)

Provides a brief overview of salient facts to be incorporated into a lesson plan on Australia. Several lists contain interesting facts concerning geography, resource utilization, culture, and population. Includes suggested list of research/discussion topics and a list of annotated references. (MJP)

Illustrates the possibilities for teaching and learning music materials using interactive multimedia. Uses HyperCard as a model to discuss how interactive media works and suggests some possible applications. Briefly describes some authoring programs. (MJP)

Analyzes findings from a 3-year study of 10 racially mixed schools that decided to reduce ability grouping. Discovers that decentralized decision making and local control inhibit systemic reform because the micropolitics of autonomous schools will act as an obstructionist influence. (MJP)

Presents a learning activity encouraging students to obtain a greater understanding of the relationship between symbols and the apparent dimensions of political phenomena. Students design symbols to represent objects, activities, issues, or meanings. Includes a list of student symbolic representations of law and justice issues. (MJP)

Provides an in-depth look at the National Standards for Art Education and attempts to correct some of the misconceptions associated with them. Articulates a number of the objections and concerns regarding the standards. Answers each objection with a thoughtful response. (MJP)

Describes the Preparing Tomorrow's Teachers to Use Technology (PT3) at the University of Pittsburgh which includes participation by public and private schools, a nonprofit educational consortium, and industry partners. Encourages technology integration by mentor teachers and student teachers, and supports innovation, adoption, and resource sharing…

Contends that educational organizations must shift their focus from innovative online product development to a standardization of the product with an increase in process innovation and development. Asserts that an increase in process design is the next step toward developing, implementing, and refining collaborative learning, learning communities,…

This article reflects on the gap between research and practice and three approaches that might be used to promote evidence-based strategies: increasing awareness; improving teacher training; and mounting a focused research agenda. A response echoes the need for research-based practice and discusses the benefits of teacher education programs…