Although violent crime in schools has showed a steady decline in recent years, it remains a serious concern, and administrators are continually looking for more effective approaches to school safety. At the same time, the best school environments are not only safe and secure, but also attractive and comfortable. The right school setting can…

Recommends black chalkboards, wet-washed before every lecture and advocates the use of Railroad Crayon chalk because its softness and larger size result in a wide high-intensity line. The resulting contrast improves the visibility of material written on chalkboards. (Source for the chalk is provided.) (JM)

Guidelines for planning the lighting facilities for recreational and other athletic fields are presented (a softball field is used for an example). Guidelines are given for determining (1) lighting needs and levels of uniformity; (2) lamp choice; (3) structural requirements; (4) operating and maintenance costs; and (5) financing options. (PP)

Discussion of the use of computers for presentations in the classroom focuses on their use in a calculus course to explain graphs of functions. Topics discussed include the importance of managing the group process in the classroom; environmental considerations; and projectors and screens. (LRW)

The potential for explosive urban sprawl is what motivated these authors to create a unit on community planning and the visual environment. They thought this unit would be an excellent way to engage students in a real-world issue that was relevant to their lives, while at the same time addressing social studies, language arts, and science content…

Presents a review of the literature dealing with the theory of the naming of colors. A comparison is made between the names of colors in Italian and Dutch, discussing the differences between languages in terms of the influence of the sociocultural context. (61 references) (CFM)

Suggests group relamping in educational facilities as a more efficient method than spot replacement of failed lamps. It can reduce operating costs, improve lighting quality, and help with federal and state regulations compliance. The implementation of group relamping is discussed in terms of planning, energy savings, and environmental issues. (RE)

Students are, increasingly, digital content producers, and participate extensively in evolving online social networks. The emergence of the former represents subtle changes in students' experience of images, audience, copyright, ownership of learning, and technology. Experiencing the latter places students in an awkward position in terms of…

This paper discusses several considerations and techniques in doing research which attempts to measure the effects of visual images on viewers. For example, to describe precisely the effects of some element of a visual image or series of images, researchers must be able to specify the institutional context in which the image is presented and…

Today's student recreation centers are a far cry from their predecessors. The typical student recreation center built during the 1960s and 1970s was a massive, windowless concrete structure. Many education institutions are using innovative methods to upgrade these buildings and bring in light and liveliness. In this article, the author describes…

In contemporary life and education, the local is marginalized in favor of large-scale economies of consumption that are indifferent to ecological concerns. The consequences of neglecting local human and natural communities include a degraded habitat, loss of wilderness, alienation, rootlessness, and lack of connection to communities. Critical…

The term "visual culture" includes all manifestations of cultural life that are significantly expressed through visual aspects and interpreted through individual and shared experiences. Visual culture includes art, cultural practices, media images, and other forms. However, teaching visual culture involves more than extending the range of visual…

Reports on a portable video color camera that is fully suited for seeing ultraviolet images and offers some expanded viewing possibilities. Discusses the basic technique, specialized viewing, and the instructional value of this system of viewing reflectance patterns of flowers and insects that are invisible to the unaided eye. (CW)

Illustrating contexts for and voices of the Indigenous humanities, this essay aims to clarify what the Indigenous humanities can mean for reclaiming education as Indigenous knowledges and pedagogies. After interrogating the visual representation of education and place in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, the essay turns to media constructions of…

Design and the built environment are subjects of concern to Maine communities. State mandated town planning, new school construction, and the Department of Transportation plans to rebuild roads and bridges elicit public discussion. The study of design encourages elementary students to enter this public forum as informed citizens. The study of…