The question of human origin has always been disputed by evolution theorists. This book provides a comprehensive survey of the debates over human evolution from the time of Darwin to the 1940s. Part 1 discusses the early controversies, noting that they focused on philosophical issues rather than causes or details of the evolutionary process. A…

Most preservice teacher preparation schools include a tripartite set of courses--Foundations, Methods, and Practica. Since many Foundations educators currently are required to teach non-Foundations couses, they are in a situation to infuse many of the concepts and concentration areas of Foundations content into methodological and practicum…

A digest of ideas and initiatives to make higher education more responsive to young people is provided. Part 1 includes excerpts of articles and reports concerning the International Youth Year (IYY), a United Nations' sponsored year of celebration of youth and a program of meetings to discuss youth problems and solutions. The themes selected for…

Because outdoor education programs occur in every geographic location, are sponsored by all levels of educational institutions, state and local government agencies, and private entrepreneurs, and have no nationally standardized curriculum or measures of competency or knowledge, outdoor education may best be defines as "education in, about, and for…

Essays focusing on creativity in the humanities and sciences are contained in this proceedings of the Creativity and Science Conference. The presentors, who represented many academic disciplines, agreed that creativity is as essential to the scientist as to the humanist and that one can prepare for it but not instruct or be instructed in achieving…

The didactic principles determining the structure, general direction, methods, and results of the process of foreign language instruction in the Soviet Union are outlined and discussed. Didactics are defined as the branch of pedagogy concerning the process of teaching in relation to its content and giving a scientific basis to teaching practice.…

Speculative philosophical methodology was used to generate ideas about ways science teachers might help students recognize and unlearn erroneous notions about science and replace them with sound new science concepts without lessening students' intellectual self-confidence or alienating their receptivity to further science learning. The research…

From a practical, eclectic, and teacher-centered vantage point, this paper reviews previous attempts to classify curriculum development processes, proposes an analytic schema for examing such processes, and explicates an alternative process which has been found to be effective in working with teachers. First, critical distinctions are drawn…

New methods are proposed for teachers to increase the cultural knowledge of their students. Rather than emphasizing food, festivals, and famous faces from other lands, there should be an attempt to use culture in the classroom as content in the regular instruction of speaking, listening, writing, mathematics, reading, and science. Teaching…

The choice between the fusion of literature and life and a pedagogy of engagement, on the one hand, and the separation of literature and life and a pedagogy of detachment, on the other, is a painful one. Philosopher of education James Gribble would rather risk some form of aestheticism than allow that a great work of literature could be viewed in…

Teaching adults more effectively is a concern common to business, industry, professionals, and educators. An examination of research dealing with effective teaching shows that six functions can be identified and followed as steps in the instruction of adults: (1) review of previous learning and skills; (2) initial presentation of material through…

Educational circles in Europe have recently proposed that society is moving from a consumer to a postconsumer society and that, with this change, adult education will move from a vocational orientation to a cultural emphasis. However, this hypothesis is not supported by recent events. For example, adult education in Germany has moved from a…

Noting that school activities, in general, are judged by the extent to which they achieve their academically defined goals, this paper contends that schools serve another purpose, a social one. Arguing that schools should help children learn social responsibility and prosocial behavior and attitudes, the paper provides a rationale for, and a…

This document, jointly developed by the Iowa Department of Public Instruction and a committee of the Iowa Council of Science Supervisors, is designed to encourage and aid local schools in assessing and revising their science curriculum on a continuous basis. Included are: (1) a schedule for conducting a science curriculum assessment and/or…

Reading to learn mathematics forges a new synthesis of the traditional basics of reading and mathematics which aims at fostering critical thinking and may provide an instructional context within which students and teachers can work out meaningful conceptions of mathematics. Benefits of this synthesis of reading and mathematics include: (1)…