Suggests using issue-centered approaches in elementary social studies instruction and discusses one example, the Reconstructive Model by Frank Simon. Argues that by using this model, teachers can develop their own issue-centered lessons and units about history. Provides an example of a sixth-grade lesson on disabled students developed using this…

Describes how students in an Advanced Literature and Composition Course specialized for business students encountered an ethics assignment used as a culminating activity which employs course skills in research, writing, documentation, oral presentation, group dynamics, and multimedia design. (SR)

Two Nebraska teachers of grades 1 and 5 describe how their classes' joint Christmas project developed into an entrepreneurial experience. To raise money for toys for needy children, students applied for a bank loan, assembled bead kits for sale, and established costs and prices. The teachers took advantage of each new idea, turning "road blocks"…

The Center for School Change (Minnesota) encourages service learning, school-based entrepreneurship, family and community involvement in schools, and the state policies that encourage such approaches. Examples are presented of school and community programs supported by the Center, as well as the Center's efforts to advocate for such programs. (SV)

Describes a rich, investigative approach to multivariable calculus. Introduces a project in which students construct physical models of surfaces that represent real-life applications of their choice. The models, along with student-selected datasets, serve as vehicles to study most of the concepts of the course from both continuous and discrete…

Describes how use of panorama theater to teach middle school social studies can aid in teaching the academic skills of defining a problem, locating and collecting data, organizing and designing tasks, drawing inferences, creating and building interpretations, revising and editing, and interpreting data. Presents a classroom example of a panorama…

Describes how an inquiry-based science project on the life cycle of butterflies provided a developmentally appropriate learning experience in a first and second grade multiage classroom. Maintains that the critical exchange of ideas among students made students' thinking available for inspection, and allowed students to use their talk as a tool…

Proposes the use of a genre-based framework, according to the Swalesian tradition of genre, for the teaching of the organizational structure of academic report writing. An analysis of 15 engineering undergraduate project reports reveals that the problem-solution pattern is prevalent in key sections of these reports and should therefore also be…

Provides examples of activities to help student learn to critically evaluate information from the World Wide Web based on the Big6 approach to library and information skills instruction. Lists criteria for evaluating Web sites and describes how to relate activities to student projects so relevant Web sites can be used. (LRW)

Discussion of group work projects in higher education focuses on a comparison of the performance of student groups formed randomly, with those formed using the Honey and Mumford learning styles questionnaire. Describes results that indicate no significant difference in student performances and considers the relationship to the Kolb model.…

Reviews a Web-based psychology research project where students searched preselected Web sites for data on the ages of advertisers and mates sought in personal advertisements in order to determine the mate selection preferences of heterosexual and homosexual men and women. Addresses the benefits and problems of using the Internet for research…

A case study investigated the research processes and authentic learning experiences of 10 junior high students as they completed independent research projects. Students experienced the most difficulty in exploring and forming a focus. Only three students demonstrated all of the characteristics of authentic learning in their final products.…

Describes a computer-mediated learning-support system designed as a suite of integrated, Internet-based client-server tools to provide: (1) intelligent support both for the processes of doing a project and for learning from doing a project, and (2) a shared dynamic knowledge base for working and learning in a community supporting project-based…

As his geology students' specialized knowledge of the Mesozoic era increased, a high school teacher realized he needed a way to showcase their work. The Mesozoic Resource Center's biggest hit was a walk-through diorama showing how life might have been during each of three Mesozoic periods. Highlights included two gigantic student-built dinosaur…

Develops an alternative to traditional genealogy assignments in order to bring this type of project into line with the increasing trend of blended families, those with stepparents or stepsiblings. Posits that this project allows students from all family backgrounds to gain valuable historical information in a meaningful and nonthreatening context.…