This paper identifies obstacles to physical and intellectual access and effective use of books and media by South African children and suggests some possible solutions. It also includes a description of a study of the attitudes of first-year student teachers at colleges of education and universities in the Transvaal towards school libraries. The…

The Instructional and Performance Technology Department at Boise State University (Idaho) offers a master's degree program via distance education to prepare adult students for careers in the areas of instructional design, job performance improvement, human resources, organizational redesign, training, and training management. Most students attend…

This English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) journal periodically devotes entire issues to specific issues. The theme of this issue is "Incorporating Context in Teaching." Articles include: "Learning Beyond the Classroom: Developing the Community Connection" (Tim Beard); "Smiling through the Turbulence: The Flight Attendant Syndrome and Other Issues of…

Despite common beliefs that technical college students do not wish to, and cannot, transfer to four-year institutions, many studies have found the opposite to be true. Research shows that 26% of students enrolled in vocational programs intend to transfer to a baccalaureate institution, and occupational course credits from technical colleges are…

The first volume of this proceedings contains an introduction and the plenary, research forum, working group, and discussion group papers. Papers include: (1) "Resources as a Verb: Recontextualizing Resources in and for School Mathematics" (Jill Adler); (2) "Markets and Standards: The Politics of Education in a Conservative Age" (Michael Apple);…

The second volume of this proceedings contains the first portion of the research reports. Papers include: (1) "Learning Algebraic Strategies Using a Computerized Balance Model" (James Aczel); (2) "Children's Perception of Multiplicative Structure in Diagrams" (Bjornar Alseth); (3) "A Discussion of Different Approaches to Arithmetic Teaching"…

The fourth volume of this proceedings contains 29 full research reports continuing on from Volume 3, 84 short oral communications (abstracts only) and 34 poster presentations (abstracts only). The full papers include: (1) "Beliefs, Teacher Education and the History of Mathematics" (George N. Philippou and Constantinos Christou); (2)…

This case study presents information about a graduate-level certificate program in human computer interaction that was added to the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (New York) satellite video program in 1996, as a cooperative program between the institution and the IBM Corporation. The program was designed for individuals who work in computer…

The Small Group Instructional Feedback (SGIF) method was originally designed in 1976 by D. Joseph Clark to obtain formative feedback from students and help improve course quality and teacher effectiveness. In the SGIF method, a facilitator meets with students, gathers feedback on an instructor's performance, and reviews these students' comments,…

Four papers on linguistics include: "The Teacher-Research Relationship: Multiple Perspectives and Possibilities" (Teresa Pica), on the research relationships of researchers and language teachers; "Politeness in the Speech of Korean ESL Learners" (Nancy Bell), focusing on the speech acts of disagreeing, requesting, and making…

This paper describes two experiences in which traditional face-to-face and World Wide Web-based teaching methods were combined at the University of Barcelona (Spain) as part of a regular course in Environmental Education for student teachers. The first experience took place within the university when a Web-based module was delivered to a group of…

In one of a series of hearings held in communities around the nation on the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act of 1965, the Subcommittee on Postsecondary Education met to hear testimony from higher education professionals, business people, and students in the state of Hawaii. In particular the witnesses, grouped in seven panels, testified…

A broad range of research efforts are currently examining the quality and nature of the mathematics instructional program in the early grades. The purpose of this paper was to report on the assessment of a teaching-learning program in grade one classrooms. The major goals of the study were to: (1) identify patterns and change in children's…

Does conceptually oriented instruction jeopardize students' computational competence? If it does, then why are so many reform efforts continuing to emphasize the importance of teaching for conceptual understanding? If it does not, then why are the majority of teachers at all grade levels continuing to teach for computational competence without…

A study of the Scottish Wider Access Programme (SWAP) surveyed 153 current access students in an initial interview and 131 in a follow-up interview; it also surveyed former access students who were in their first year of higher education (n=99 initially, n=76 follow-up). Students were interviewed by telephone near the beginning and the end of…