This study focused on the teaching methods needed to change gymnastics lessons from teacher command and whole-cohort teaching to lessons where pupils take more responsibility for their own and others learning and where emphasis is on individual and social development as well as physical development. (MT)

Compares teachers' perceptions of the school-based curriculum development process during the 2-year development of three new multidisciplinary courses in nine Scottish secondary schools. Suggests reasons for differences in perception including influence of the action research approach. Considers implications for future school based development.…

Sources for thinking about and doing new paradigm research are reviewed. A variety of nontraditional approaches that address the role of subjectivity and consensus in research are discussed. The effect of personal and social processes on the researcher, including how one's construction of reality depends on the chosen methodology, is emphasized.…

Describes an environmental education project which engaged teachers as collaborative investigators of their own practices. Provides an outline of an action research approach and presents examples of curriculum and methodological issues related to environmental education. A group meeting report form and response sheet are included as appendices.…

Argues that collaborative research by practicing teachers and university faculty can promote educational reform. Looks at educational reform in North America, teachers' roles in educational reform, classroom action research at the Cambridge Institute of Education Network, team research involving teachers and university faculty, and advantages of…

This Fourth Edition contains many lesson plans that cover a variety of subject areas and grade levels (1-12), as well as action research activities that investigate the various dimensions of teaching. Many of the lesson plans are written by actual classroom teachers, and all of them have been examined by practicing teachers. More than simply a…

"Using Action Research to Foster Positive Social Values" provides teachers with a unique framework in which to consider classroom violence. It uses actual case studies and working models done through classroom research to produce more effective classrooms that foster positive social values. The author lays out a theoretical framework for: (1)…

What should the curriculum of a graduate program that focuses on education, technology, and society be? What would be the proper balance of skills, theory, and concepts? What should be the difference between such a program in the School of Education and a computer science program? What do students expect of such a program? These were questions…

This report describes a plan for using authentic assessment tools in the Fine Arts classroom. The targeted populations were classes of fourth and eighth grade students in two suburban school settings. Analysis of the data about the Fine Arts classes, based on surveys completed by teachers, parents, and students, showed that traditional assessment…

The main purpose of this study was to look at how we used specific writing assignments in our courses to encourage metacognitive reflection in order to increase the learning that takes place. The study also aimed to aid in the development of higher order processing skills through the development of student reflection. The students involved in the…

This paper describes a course for education majors, Educational Inquiry, in which students completed action research investigations in their public school classrooms. The primary responsibility of designing, implementing, and sharing study results belonged to the college students rather than their cooperating teachers. Action research based on new…

This study describes a recruiting method designed to increase the number of students involved in beginning band. The targeted population consisted of fifth and sixth grade students in a growing urban community in the Midwest. Evidence for the existence of the problem included numerical data and surveys. Analysis of probable causes was evidenced by…

An action research project was conducted to measure any difference in spelling achievement after Word Study activities were used during spelling instruction. Word Study approaches to spelling instruction offer hands-on experiences with the manipulation of letters to form words. It was hypothesized that students taught spelling skills with a Word…

In an effort to meet the new challenges for improving teacher education and student learning in P-12 schools in New York, and to develop a shared vision among partners of a National Council for Accreditation in Teacher Education (NCATE) conceptual framework, the faculty and staff of a school of education in New York conducted a school-college…

A teacher had always allowed 20 minutes for silent reading in her classroom. But when she looked at her Year 3/4 composite class, she noticed that although some students were reading, some were not. She decided to explore why they might not be reading. She focused on three students--a boy with severe learning difficulties and an auditory…