Takes a critical look at a popular German-language multimedia package, Learn to Speak German. The evaluation criteria generally comply with current thinking on foreign-language learning. Suggests that while the program in many respects represents the state of the art in language-learning technology, it leaves much to be desired regarding the…

Investigates characteristics of spoken French texts. Experience teaching French as a foreign language has revealed that some university students, even at a relatively advanced level, have difficulty understanding the news on Radio France International. Suggests that three characteristics of the spoken news program that may cause students…

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…

Outdoor education has roots in the Nature Study Movement of the late 1800s; organized camping, which was started by groups such as the Young Men's and Women's Christian Association and the Boy and Girl Scouts; progressive education; and environmental education. Several doctoral dissertations in 1930 mark the beginning of outdoor education as a…

Module provides information to enable individuals to facilitate one- to two-hour training sessions appropriate for teachers, other professionals, and parents. It contains information relevant to advocating for children and youth who exhibit challenging behaviors. The module: (1) defines advocacy; (2) examines why advocacy is important; (3)…

Expectations from the standards movement, reform, and technological advances pose challenges for administrators. This article advocates principal preparation and cultivation through mentoring and coaching. It clarifies differences between mentoring and coaching; uses in succession planning, new principalships, and job changes; and benefits to both…

Active Support, a package of procedures which includes activity planning, support planning, and training on providing effective assistance, was evaluated in five community residences serving 19 adults with severe mental retardation. Findings indicated that the likelihood of a resident engaging in activity significantly increased following staff…

Describes a survey of foreign language teaching assistants (TAs) perceptions of which training elements they consider beneficial to their development as language instructors. Results, which distinguished between group and individual training methods showed informal discussions, end-of-course student evaluations, and small-group in-class interviews…

Discusses the integration of insider-managed baseline evaluation into project and program design in educational change processes. Drawing on examples taken from recent experiences of English language teaching projects in Central Europe and China, the benefits of using insider-managed baseline studies are outlined.(Author/VWL)

Evaluation of required service learning activities by first and second year students (n=272) at the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy indicated 64 percent of first- year students and 86 percent of second-year students felt the experience was educational. Results support use of experiential learning pedagogy to meet educational objectives…

Evaluates the use of actual patients in a required clinical applications course at the University of Georgia College of Pharmacy. Patients discuss their illness and how it affects their lives with the first-year students. On 12 of 13 items, students scored significantly higher on an attitude survey following the first patient presentation than…

Discusses the need to teach cultural awareness and reduce cultural hostility with culturally homogeneous college classes. Recounts use, in a class of graduate business students, of the case of Salman Rushdie being placed under an Iranian death threat for his writings. Explains the six-step process used to structure reading and discussion of the…

This framework for learning development in higher education stresses three types of skills--threshold, key, and transferable--and a variety of forms for assessing prior (experiential) learning [AP(E)L]. The function of assessment is both to credit prior learning and diagnose individual learning needs. (SK)

Study suggests that the Computer-Assisted Parenting Program may positively affect parent-child functioning. Computer group parents maintained their levels of involvement with their children, and increased limit setting during the 8-week course. Results may be related to animated computer-user interactions' emphases on child behavioral monitoring,…

This article critically analyzes available definitions of learning disability. The general problem of definition is discussed first, followed by a discussion of individual definitions from the earliest to the latest. It is concluded that the definitions fail to provide substantive insight into the nature of the condition. (Contains extensive…