The structure and the development of an internal medicine clerkship designed to promote proficiency in the process of clinical reasoning is described. A "student ward" offers a structured environment where the emphasis is on in-depth clinical exposure and the acquisition of clinical knowledge. (Author/MLW)

Mediation, as distinguished from arbitration or negotiation, is likely to emerge in a law school's curriculum only if a faculty member wishes to teach it, but a trend toward inclusion is growing and leadership is being provided by individuals, professional organizations, institutions, and research groups. (MSE)

Proposes an approach to teaching analytical chemistry and chemical analysis in which a problem to be resolved is the focus of a course. Indicates that this problem-oriented approach is intended to complement detailed discussions of fundamental and applied aspects of chemical determinations and not replace such discussions. (JN)

Evaluates two computer programs for Apple II which provide drill and practice in Newton's laws of motion and in work-energy relationships. Student performance is recorded on the diskette allowing the teacher to view the number of questions completed and percentage correct. (JM)

In guided design, students are led through the process of solving open-ended problems in "slow motion." Steps in the decision making involved in and examples of guided design projects in a physical science course are outlined and discussed. Comments on student evaluation of the course are included. (JN)

Four small Connecticut school systems demographically different but similar in size have established a consortium to minimize the effects of declining enrollment by sharing their students, teachers, and resources. Despite such obstacles as scheduling and transportation costs, the consortium has generally proven successful. (JBM)

Critical thinking alone is reactive, in that it lacks the creative elements necessary for social progress. Accordingly, the author has developed the CoRT (Cognitive Research Trust) program to teach the two aspects of perception: breadth (developing a perceptual map) and change (using the map to discover solutions). (TE)

An action research method, consisting of data collection, diagnosis, action planning, and evaluation, was used by the Saskatoon Schools (Canada) to facilitate school self-diagnosis and problem solving. The organizational model that helped categorize research findings on school effectiveness and innovation is explored in this article. (DF)

Techniques are presented that can help teachers resolve conflicts that arise in the classroom. Strategies are outlined for working out differences among students or between the teachers and a student and for fostering cooperative attitudes among the children. (PP)

Six articles discuss the role of computers in family life and gifted education. Papers address the importance of computer technology approaches for developing and implementing computer programs, applications for independent thinking and problem-solving skills with gifted children, word processing with gifted primary students, and use of color…

A Danish university's foreign language teacher education program's use of learning contracts is described. The student project has four major functions: solving a particular instructional problem, working in a group, finding a method that uses the individuals' skills to their best advantage, and organizing the work to be done. (MSE)

Algebraic and computer solutions are offered for a problem on time payment scheduling. The problem, falling within the scope of high school algebra, could focus only on the algebraic methods, but including the computer brings out the relationship between the power of algebra and the power of modern technology. (JN)

Systematic contracting which involves students, parents, and teachers negotiating common issues is a time-limited cognitive-behavioral intervention that has the potential to maximize psychologists' impact upon schools. (BW)

This essay provides a window into an eighth-grade class engaged in a legislative curriculum drama. The author, an eighth-grade social studies and literature teacher at a private New York City elementary school, describes her use of a legislative curriculum drama to make an eight-week study of the legislative branch of government a more dynamic and…

We describe an initiative under way at Warwick to provide a technical foundation for computer aided learning and computer-assisted assessment tools, which allows a rich dialogue sensitive to individual students' response patterns. The system distinguishes between dialogues for individual problems and the linking of problems. This enables a subject…