In the online learning environment, communication and collaboration occur from a distance. In the absence of non-verbal communication cues (such as facial expressions, gestures, and tone of voice), understanding, communication, and interaction rest largely on individual assumptions and interpretations. The magnitude of these communication…

A case study was conducted at a small Catholic college attempting to change the cultural environment for people who identify themselves as different from the white, Catholic, middle class, heterosexual norm represented on the campus. Thirty members of the college faculty, students, and administration and staff were selected through stratified…

This digest discusses two prominent definitions of learning styles, describes studies that have found differences between the learning styles of American Indian/Alaska Native students and students of other cultural groups, and presents instructional interventions stemming from learning styles research. The research literature on learning styles…

On May 3-4, 2003, the Foreign Policy Research Institute held its tenth History Institute for Teachers. Forty-two teachers from fourteen states participated in a weekend of lectures and seminars, featuring seven outstanding scholars. Although Muslims define themselves and the Christian West in terms of religion, Western countries view relations…

The three papers presented here are critiques to a Doctoral Dissertation defense titled "Interlanguage Pragmatics: Requests, Complaints, and Apologies." The responses are written by the "disputants" or members of the candidate's dissertation review committee. The first paper, "Den empiriske undersogelse i 'Interlanguage Pragmatics'" (The Empirical…

This volume presents papers presented at an international seminar conducted as part of the Six Nation Education Research Project, a project identifying aspects of higher education that currently confront educational systems in all countries. A keynote address by Robert Zemsky, titled "Seminar on Post-Massification," examines trends in the United…

Counselors, ministers, parents, and educators, need to know about adolescent date selection because it is normal for adolescents to seek assistance and affirmation from adults. An overview of the literature revealed that some of the factors influencing adolescent date selection were the developmental stage the adolescent is in, the expectations…

Exploring diversity instills in children an awareness and respect for themselves and others. Research projects that address stereotyping, race relations, and prejudice within ourselves can be developed through collaboration between the librarian and classroom teacher (who may themselves be of different cultures). These research projects help…

Translated children's books can play an important role in helping children develop an understanding of other people. Outstanding picture books in this specialized genre affirm the fact that each person is unique, but there are universal themes and feelings that every person possesses, regardless of culture or language. A comparison of 1992-1997…

An Australian study was conducted to develop a strategy for safe use of farm chemicals by Asian migrant market gardeners in Western Sydney. The researchers chose to use participatory approaches for which policy makers and development practitioners had in other studies shown enthusiasm, although this enthusiasm could not at times be sustained…

Noting the profound demographic changes affecting the nature of how young children are raised and socialized in the United States, this book discusses how child care must be redefined in order to support the development of a next generation with the skills and capacities to thrive in an increasingly multicultural world, based on interviews with…

This source book contains essays and annotations on issues related to multicultural education. The literature in this volume includes materials published in and after 1976. The scope of the book includes research and theoretical and practical information related to the implementation of a multicultural perspective in early childhood and elementary…

This guide from Iowa is intended to: clarify changes in the state's new rules on special education; make the state's definition of mental disability operational; provide practical guidelines on preferred practices for determination of mental disability and the need for special education services; and highlight prescriptive assessment practices…

As the number and size of different ethnic groups in the Australian population has increased, so has the demand for a measure of ethnicity that goes beyond data collected in earlier Australian censuses, including birthplace, religion, race, and more recently, birthplace of parents. This report and the data in the attached sets of Appendix tables…

The emptiness and nothingness associated with writer's block is often described as a kind of death, a place where there is nothing to decide, nothing about which to express an opinion. However, for students who enter the writing classroom from a different culture, the problem may not be lack of ideas, but conflicting ideas. Some of these students…