Learning is most effective when accompanied by doing. If someone desires to become a baseball player, being told how to play the game, watching others play and even understanding the rules of the game are mostly ineffective if the individual never "swings the bat". This paper outlines the implementation of this method (swinging the bat)…

The literature on peer tutoring is reviewed, and guidelines are offered for developing a peer tutoring program for handicapped students. Research on peer tutoring is examined in terms of rationale, special education benefits, affective change, and academic gains. Aspects of program development considered include administrative arrangements,…

This model for an inservice program designed to provide training in peer coaching for teachers contains information sheets on the following: (1) elements of an effective program; (2) program purpose; (3) program components; (4) program content; (5) program assessment; (6) what teachers say about peer coaching; (7) why coach; (8) preconditions for…

This paper describes how to create a teenage theatre project and explains why such a project is effective in educating teenagers. New Image Teen Theatre is a project which has combined peer education and improvisational theater since 1981 to reach teenagers with accurate family planning information, encourage communication, and promote responsible…

Many more people are in need of rehabilitation, social services, and education than there are professionals available to provide help. This gap in service has led to the exploration and utilization of nonprofessionals to fill these roles. Many of these nonprofessionals are peers of the needy people. This adds the advantage of "peer relationships"…

As part of its peer tutor training program, the writing/reading center at a Massachusetts University conducts a videotape production workshop in which experienced tutors plan, write, and act in a video script used for training new tutors. To proceed with such a program requires no professional skills or special talents, but a television studio…

This presentation offers a design for developing a long term staff improvement program using the talents available in a small or rural school district with low financial resources, limited personnel time, and difficulty in obtaining outside training. The plan focuses on improving teaching skills through a participatory structure involving peer…

Although to speak of achieving the ideal writing center is to entertain a most romantic notion, there are steps that can be taken to improve the quality of a college or university writing center. The mission of the writing center, which may vary from school to school, must be clearly established. The organization of the center should be examined.…

Peer tutors can facilitate the inclusion of students with disabilities into regular education classrooms, especially in schools where money is not available for aides. The first steps in such a program are determining the best placements for students with disabilities and training the peer tutors. Training should cover expectations of peer tutors,…

Demand for accountability and effective programming by the Ohio Cooperative Extension Service (OCES) led to identification of the need for a set of skills and knowledge for extension faculty related to program development through evaluation. This paper describes the training of OCES field faculty in program evaluation skills to be used within a…

Because of its benefits to classroom teachers, tutors, and tutees, peer tutoring as a strategy for instructing handicapped students in vocational education is gaining in popularity. Several factors are important to the successful implementation of a peer tutoring program, including administrative support, assessment of tutoring needs, and…

A pilot program initially designed for a 12-year-old girl with mild to moderate intellectual disabilities in higher order computer tasks was developed for a larger group of students with similar disabilities enrolled in fifth and sixth grades (ages 9-12) at three different schools. An examination of the original pilot study was undertaken to…

The Seniors Teaching Seniors project was conducted at the Columbia University Brookdale Institute on Aging and Adult Development to train older adults to communicate more effectively their skills and expertise. Older adults were to develop teaching skills so that they could conduct classes at senior centers. Two older-adult volunteers were…

This document consists of four papers presented at a symposium on contextual learning issues moderated by John Henschke at the 1996 conference of the Academy of Human Resource Development (AHRD). "Self-Directed Learning in Organizations: An Analysis of Policies and Practices of Seven Resource Companies in Western Canada" (H. K. Morris…

In response to the increasing diversity of the student population at Golden West Community College, in California, the the Intercultural Center (IC) was established in 1989 to enhance campus-wide awareness of cultural diversity through services to immigrant and international students and the campus community. An Intercultural Task Force was first…