A critical examination is made of the central thesis of "Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know" that the acculturative responsibility of American formal education is an essential teaching obligation and each American child should become culturally literate. (JD)

Discusses the "hidden" ideology in traditional bibliographic instruction's treatment of intellectual property rights and copyright laws, and suggests that protection of these rights constitutes a form of stealing thoughts and ideas that should belong to the public. Reactions from two librarians who defend the current bibliographic…

Examines the relationship between instructional design (ID) activities and perceived project success. Analysis was based on interviews with 40 practicing instructional designers involved in 77 ID projects. Results indicate that designers don't implement all the ID activities prescribed by traditional models and that certain activities are…

Assesses the impact of computer-assisted psychoeducation of psychiatric inpatients as a complement to traditional classroom lectures. Subjects who received computer-assisted psychoeducation were found to have higher test-passing rates and lower rates of absenteeism than subjects who received cognitive training on the computers. (Author/AEF)

Presents steps taken in planning, implementing, and evaluating a descriptive study that compares student approaches to learning in two settings: (1) a traditional university class with face-to-face instruction; and (2) a distance education course. A discussion and figures analyze student responses to questionnaires and interviews concerning…

Discusses fair use guidelines based on the Copyright Act of 1976 and their applications to distance education issues. Topics include concerns of users and publishers, copyright permission that is needed for distance education and not for traditional instruction, multimedia fair use guidelines, and licensing systems. (LRW)

Compares distance education using PictureTel, a compressed-digital-video system via telephone lines (audio and visual interactive communication) in terms of its costs and effectiveness with traditional in-class education. Costing less than half the traditional approach, the study suggested distance education would be economical if used frequently.…

Indicates the reasons for the lack of success of lecture method among high school students. Compares the constructivist approach to the objectivist approach and discusses student learning differences. Makes recommendations for student learning needs. (Contains 37 references.) (YDS)

Describes Blackboard CourseInfo, a software package for distance learning; defines elements that are used in an on-campus graduate class; and gives results of a survey on how useful and usable the software was. Discusses results of group interviews, usability testing sessions, and an end-user survey, as well as staff and faculty interviews.…

Discusses the results of an online survey that was conducted to investigate the competencies needed for instructional designers to prepare Web-based instruction. Highlights include analytical skills; creative ideas; design ability; handling course management tools; and similarities between instructional design for traditional instruction and for…

Explains how learning occurs in the brain, specifically in the limbic system. Compares traditional teaching methods and diverse learning modes. Describes the characteristics of diverse instructional approaches. First published in 1994. (YDS)

A study to determine the extent of differences between inmates who used computer-assisted instruction and those who received traditional instruction in a prison education program found no differences in posttest scores. Possible explanations included attitudes toward testing, motivation, teacher support, dynamics of prison culture, and software…

Describes a study that investigated whether exposure to multimedia and presentation software on laptop computers influenced student achievement in a high school science course. Compares results with the use of traditional paper-based materials and reports that computer use had a favorable effect on students' grades. (LRW)

Describes a study conducted at the University of Nevada at Reno that compared final grades received by on-campus students and those completing interactive televised distance learning (ITDL) courses at remote sites. Results showed off-campus ITDL students had higher grades and suggests further research is needed to determine why. (Author/LRW)

Teachers improve society by helping the students to read and write and by exercising authority, not relinquishing it. The advocacy of inquiry method by Neil Postman and Charles Weingartner and the impact of the critique of conventional schooling on the preservice teachers in the English language arts classroom are discussed.