A 1996 survey of distance learners asked whether college administrators understood their needs as distance students. Respondents, primarily nontraditional students, complained most often about nontechnical issues such as materials distribution, overall communication, financial considerations, and knowledge of the institution's policies and…

Research and theory suggest that college students' motivation to learn is related to their epistemological beliefs. Faculty can promote student motivation by designing learning activities that facilitate student development of more sophisticated epistemological beliefs. Faculty developers can assist in this by giving special attention to the…

Presents three activities designed motivate student journal writing as a way to help students confront personal fears and open dialogue between troubled students and teachers. (HTH)

At Jefferson Medical College and Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, medical ethics case discussions have been implemented successfully in 7 of 17 clinical departments. Success is attributed to broad institutional support, program and format capable of capturing and holding residents' attention, direct involvement of all residency participants,…

When college courses and classrooms are consciously designed to foster self-evaluation, critical shifts occur in student autonomy and responsibility. Three elements that transform the school experience into meaningful learning include encouraging student "ownership" of their work; promoting reflection on that work; and creating a sense…

Transcripts of writing conferences and of interviews with students illustrate both the changes in the way students evaluate writing and the teaching strategies that sharpen evaluative skills. (RL)

Describes a number of ways to teach the work ethic indirectly and thereby improve student attitudes toward work, including the use of various audiovisual aids and class exercises demonstrating personal and business behaviors and procedures to provide student motivation. (MF)

Although the social-emotional development of students is an important goal of schools, and foreign language education is generally intended to be a humanistic pursuit valuing the appreciation of others' cultures and the similarities and differences among people, these objectives are not always translated into classroom practice. The link between…

Discusses what teachers should do when older elementary students lie. Guidelines for handling the situation are presented along with suggestions for making children feel good about telling the truth. Three activities for encouraging truthfulness in the classroom are suggested. (SM)

Self-evaluation is unfamiliar to most college students. Teachers can use varied approaches to support students in overcoming unfamiliarity with self-evaluation, lack of confidence in describing learning, writing difficulties, evaluation difficulties, discomfort discussing academic problems, cultural bias against self-evaluation, emotional…

A teacher's guide to developing global perspectives about nuclear arms control among proactive action students in rural schools oulines the historical development of the current nuclear situation, describes a nuclear age curriculum, explains the importance of proactive and global perspectives, covers simulated situations, and provides a glossary…

Students in college basic writing courses need to consider their own written language and to compare it with other students' work before they can develop a sense of the symbolic relationship between language and experience. Because of a lack of previous writing experience, basic writers have no sense that the "facts" about which they…

This document is designed for elementary school teachers to teach students concepts of personal responsibility. Daily lessons are organized around the following "twelve steps to success": be confident; be responsible; be here; be on time; be friendly; be polite; be prepared; be a listener; be a doer; be a tough worker; be a risk taker; and be a…

Learning activities that promote student pride in rural living include examining the misconceptions and prejudices associated with rural living, exploring the variables of a rural lifestyle, student research of their town's history, and reading books that positively portray rural living. Includes a bibliography of 69 adolescent books with rural…

Stipulates that critical thinking requires classroom environments mutually created by social studies students and teachers. Suggests empowerment and cooperative learning become more than buzz words in environments conducive to critical thinking. Provides a list of questions for students and teachers to examine their roles in creating democratic…