Suggests ways to use media to improve teaching and learning in social studies classrooms. Examined are the use of multimedia packages for individualized learning, problem solving with media, having students design an instructional unit, and the use of media in a traditional classroom. (RM)

Describes two projects featuring problem-oriented lessons and assignments. The Gallatin (Tennessee) High School Interdisciplinary Project was a four-year case study that investigated students' ability to make connections with their societal and school curriculum using self-selected cases, videodiscs, and literature. "Explorers of the…

This publication is a guide for the design of student projects in environmental education. A few advantages of problem-focused projects are: easy incorporation into the ongoing curriculum; opportunity for joint student/teacher use of knowledge, information, and skills in action-oriented activities related to local environmental concerns;…

Students in two teams compete to design a product and mass-produce it. (Editor)

Profiles "Odyssey of the Mind," an international competition that challenges students, kindergarten through college, to find creative solutions to bizarre problems. The unique design competition demands creative problem-solving, teamwork, and understanding of basic principles to complete projects that last for several months. (LZ)

Discusses successes and failures in project-organized education during the last 10 years in the Electronics Department at the Engineering College of Copenhagen. Describes elements of successful problem solving and practical experiences and problems in project organization. (JRH)

Few early intervention efforts have improved the representation of women in computer science and engineering (CSE) disciplines, but pair programming has shown promise for reducing gender differences among college students. The current study is the first to examine this promising practice in middle school. In an effort to better understand what…

In 1994, the National Arts Education Association created a research agenda to address major research issues in the field of visual arts education for the purpose of examining, negotiating, and modifying commonly held beliefs in the field of art education. Research by arts educators has done much to inform visual arts education theory and practice,…

This paper presents an innovative way in which university education can help pre-service teachers become better problem-solvers. The central idea is to use the "Technology Fair" as a means for promoting pre-service teachers pedagogical content knowledge about technological problem solving skills. This innovation is supported with results from a…

Giving students good feedback on all their schoolwork is one of the toughest challenges every teacher faces. But here at last is a guide that helps you always know how to give the right feedback for all kinds of assignments, in every grade level and subject area. Susan M. Brookhart covers every possible aspect of the topic, including: (1) What…

Service-learning projects help students make connections to their community and help them to think about civic participation. The projects can range from very simple short-term philanthropy to very complex direct involvement by the students across multiple years. Students learn both social problem-solving skills and academic knowledge through…

Art teacher attempted to give color and sparkle to the twenty-five foot long wall in his high school's media center without resorting to the "anonymous mural" class project approach to wall painting. (Author/RK)

Views the teaching of materials as content oriented, while teaching design is process oriented. Advocates the integration of design teaching with materials teaching through design problems in which the materials component plays a large part. (GS)

By using analogies, artists and engineers have made many imaginative creations; moreover, when ninth-grade vocational students received training in synectics (an analogy-based technique) there was a highly significant increase in their originality and elaboration (Torrance creative-thinking tests), and their approach to shop projects and careers…