Examines the influence of an innovative reading and writing curriculum on the expository writing and content learning of middle grade students. Presents three studies that triangulate evidence indicating it is possible to teach students knowledge of expository prose structure and strategies for reading and writing that can be applied in situations…

Investigates the issues and procedures of assessment in English and considers what advice the Association of Departments of English can usefully offer to departments and chairs engaged with the problem of developing assessment initiatives, especially initiatives focused on the documentation of student learning. Discusses comments from the field in…

Describes an approach to teaching complex models in science that uses a model construction cycle of generation, evaluation, and modification. Reports on a case study of a student in a tutoring experiment in the study of electric circuits. Focuses on the role of analogies, discrepant events, and the student's moments of surprise as motivators of…

Describes a French department's efforts to free itself of course sequences organized by century, questions the value of curriculum based primarily on the past and recommends that faculty members be more open to new approaches made accessible through theater, cinema, and cultural studies. (Author/VWL)

Reviews evidence on the effectiveness of "sequence of teaching activities" on student learning and the design and evaluation of science teaching sequences. Discusses the social constructivist perspective on learning and offers a generalized approach to planning a science teaching sequence. Provides an example of how to plan an…

Presents activities that have been proven to teach young learners to sort and classify objects that contain more than one attribute. The activities require that students employ the use of sorting hoops and attribute blocks to create Venn diagrams, the assembly of which requires practice. Includes cross-curricular uses of these learning tools.…

Wenger's "learning architecture" concept, a support structure for learning communities, was applied to a web-based course for health and social services professionals. Data show the course offered an environment in which a learning community flourished. Course design was fundamental in providing opportunities for engagement, use of…

Considers how a critical literacy perspective encourages readers to use language as a tool for interrogating and critiquing the difficult things that happen in the world around them. Reports the findings of five teacher education interns who explored the use of critical literacy text sets with elementary and middle school children. Describes…

Presents an approach to teaching a consulting course that uses instructional frameworks and a service learning perspective. Notes the course explores consulting by using theoretical frameworks for thinking about and conducting consulting activities. Discusses the consulting research assignment, the service learning assignment, and considers course…

Addresses issues raised by the Special Libraries Association's (SLA) 1988 Policy Statement of Graduate Education regarding program length, accreditation procedures, education for other branches of librarianship, and models of the ideal library curriculum. Several additions to the SLA statement are suggested, and a copy of the statement is…

Interviews with 75 women faculty and administrators revealed how a cohort of academic women came to challenge and revise traditional content and organization of academic knowledge. Intellectual biographies and career histories gave insight into how knowledge organization has constrained or facilitated feminist scholars advocating…

Outlines helpful steps to assist the foreign language teacher in integrating video into the foreign language curriculum. Information is provided on where to find, review, and select video materials; on setting instructional objectives and uses for video; and developing and selecting support materials. (Author/OD)

The study found that a curriculum which incorporated three empirically derived principles of curriculum design (e.g., use of a wide range of examples to illustrate each concept) was significantly more effective than a basal approach in teaching fractions concepts to 40 low-performing or learning-disabled high school students. (Author/DB)

Examines trends in curriculum planning and development in Great Britain, Australia, Canada, the United States, and the United Nations. Argues for cooperative curriculum planning and development with shared authority focusing on the global community. (12 references) (MLF)

Comments on the negative aspects of discipline-based art education (DBAE), focusing on standardized instruction and testing. Criticizes the designers of DBAE for using a technocratic, rationalistic model of education. Expresses concern that DBAE evokes identical student responses, rather than the diverse outcomes that should be the goal of art…