Maintains that student-centered curriculum embodies the progressive and constructivist principles of active, participatory learning. Advocates emphasizing the importance of context as part of a constructivist approach. Includes instructional examples of connecting contextual information about artworks to constructivist activities. (MJP)

Describes an upper-level undergraduate seminar on race, ethnicity, and social inequality that included an Internet discussion list consisting of over 300 faculty, students, and administrators from around the world. Discusses organizational and pedagogical challenges involved in creating and maintaining the list. (MJP)

Presents a multifaceted method for teaching engineering mechanics to satisfy several desiderata. This approach includes design projects, group work, basic competency exams, computational environments for simulating and visualizing phenomena, multimedia instructional tools, hands-on experiences, and student presentations. Describes the materials…

Describes two current educational reform strategies: "implementation-of-innovations," which fails to promote sufficient change for all children to succeed; and "indigenous intervention," which encourages indigenous school and community members to create change that will engage students. Describes the Educational and Community…

Provides an excellent overview of the major arguments for and against elimination of tenure. Considers the positions of tenured faculty, faculty unions, administrators, boards of regents, students, and parents. Neatly summarizes and critiques each of these positions. Concludes with a set of creative and productive options. (MJP)

Discusses the National Standards use of Bloom's Taxonomy and how it relates to increasing levels of expectations for students. Includes several examples illustrating middle school level expectations, such as distinguishing between governments with a constitution and constitutional governments. Maintains that effective civics education can offset…

An overview of the innovative curriculum and program design of Hampshire College (Massachusetts), a liberal arts college opened in 1970, looks at its educational philosophy, nontraditional curriculum structure, underlying economic assumptions, recordkeeping, administrative organization, employment policy, governance, and student life. (MSE)

Reports on activities and concerns of the Soviet Union's Academy of Pedagogical Sciences in conjunction with educational reform. Calls for systematic improvement, of which "the pedagogy of cooperation" is only a part. Emphasizes creative teaching methods and better coordination between research and classroom practice. Reviews individual…

Discusses the author's attempts to incorporate small group learning into college mathematics courses. Gives suggestions for beginning to use small groups (including alternative ways of evaluation), reactions reflected in student journals, and an urging to find institutional and personal support while attempting change. (MKR)

Profiles an undergraduate college class that critically examines newspaper, map, and poster representations of the developing nations. Beginning exercises reveal how a person's gender, race, and background influence his or her construction and interpretation of cultural images. Includes a 29-item bibliography concerning deconstruction of images…

Instructors who consider creation of an experiential course in race relations at the university or college level may benefit from information provided in this article. One of the coauthors, a licensed psychologist and pioneer in this type of educational experience, provides insights regarding challenges of the course from an instructor's…

While researchers continue to debate teacher qualifications, explore how to get more qualified teachers into urban schools serving low-income students, or try to determine whether teachers who are successful with middle-class students would also be successful with pupils in low-income urban schools, one practicable idea can easily be overlooked.…

The partial immersion program at Key Elementary School (Arlington, Virginia), where half the day is taught in English and half in Spanish, continued to be successful in its ninth year. Reasons for success include: dedication and in-depth understanding of immersion philosophy among principal, coordinator, teachers, and staff; innovations in both…

This document contains 47 selected papers from the 1995 International Visual Literacy Association (IVLA) conference. Topics include: the cultural significance of tombstone iconography; the predicted impact of multimedia on education and entertainment; the effects of digital imaging on the art of photography; visual representation of the structure…

The abstracts in this volume describe innovative approaches to teaching and learning in the community college. Topics covered include: (1) the use of message mapping for speaking and writing instruction; (2) group projects and portfolios as evaluation tools; (3) helping students become strategic learners; (4) using writing assignments to ensure…