Including opportunities for students to conduct independent investigations is a mainstay of gifted education programs and services. When carefully designed and skillfully facilitated, students' interest-based, independent study experiences result in increased intrinsic motivation, growth in 21st-century critical and creativity skills, greater…

The paper describes secondary science curriculum extension projects. Individual extension projects are developed from the base of the school curriculum but extend into broader, more unusual areas according to the individual's particular interest. Pupils discuss their intended goals, draw up a plan of action and contract to complete the task.…

Teachers may choose from one of three options in completing an individualized project as part of inservice mainstreaming training: (1) product completion, (2) creation of instructional practices/procedures, and (3) planning and conducting an inservice session. Sample summaries of each type are included. (CL)

This paper takes a descriptive look at Community Science Workshops (CSWs). This paper discusses what CSW is, how it arose and spread, how local CSWs are structured and led, and what programs and experiences they offer to youth. (Contains 2 footnotes.)

The final report discusses objectives and achievements of a career education program designed to develop a self instruction module for special and regular educators concerning career education for exceptional students in grades K through 12. It is explained that a kit, which included a self instructional manual, filmstrip, cassette, and…

The roving inservice is an approach to continuing education which enables the program to be located in multiple nursing units simultaneously for the convenience of the nurses and without an instructor. (SSH)

The author describes the development and success of a program designed to allow gifted and talented and learning problem eighth grade students to choose their own courses and course sequence as they pursued mastery of seven critical skills in reading, writing, computation, problem solving, research, and adjustment. (CL)

Six of 509 high schools were identified as having the most successful mathematics programs for gifted students, and key ingredients of these programs were isolated. Key ingredients included: focus on problem-oriented independent study programs rather than texts or tests, dynamic research-oriented teachers, administrative support, active…

The establishment of an individualized language program is seen as embracing four major considerations. A needs assessment will deal with the problem areas of negative attitudes and high attrition rates, inadequate operating budgets, and the tendency toward diminished effectiveness of foreign language instruction in general. Options for program…

The development, implementation, and results of an experimental independent study course designed to provide professional continuing education in the use of diagnostic pharmaceutical agents in optometry are described. (MSE)

The Elementary Certification Program at Duke University, the first program to be approved under North Carolina's innovative alternative certification route, is a small but significant step toward the improvement of teacher education. This innovative program offers prospective early childhood teachers with liberal arts backgrounds an intensive…

A review of research about museum education and a description of a group of gifted elementary school students' museum-building activities (display techniques, collection of resources, classification and arrangement methods, and work with outside donors) indicate that museum-building is a stimulating activity which encourages independent study and…

The inservice teacher education package described here focuses on skill building in instructional, organizational, and managerial classroom techniques for developing and implementing learning centers. Seven specific learning centers are discussed, the subjects including microscopes, telling time, China, mathematics, economics, and adjectives.…

The Learning Exchange System, or Learnxs, was created in Toronto in 1973 as a three-year demonstration project concerned with the use of informal community-based learning resources for individual and group learning. The system produced a detailed directory of organizations, places, and individuals which could offer learning experiences. (JN)

The Academic Mentoring Program of Henry Clay High School in Lexington, Kentucky, is an honors-level independent study program that allows students to pursue an idea beyond regular classroom opportunities. Students pursue their independent projects with the help of mentors from appropriate fields of study, and they are also taught critical and…