Discusses visual style in instructional science materials; describes problems with science media, including too much print on a page or screen and inappropriate designs for children; and highlights new products that have good design style as well as good content, including books, computer simulations, videos, computer software, and microworlds.…

Discusses problems and benefits of the electronic book and challenges in the electronic environment in terms of aggregation, pricing, authentication and authorization, presentation, downloading and printing, intellectual property, continued availability, and reliability and accessibility. Gives examples of commercial book aggregators and…

This presentation of how land grant university libraries became federal depository libraries in 1907 examines the principle legislative statutes creating the land grant university system. Discusses government information distribution and management problems; 1980 Paperwork Reduction Act; the National Performance Review; Congressional reform…

When Canada signed the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1990, all government levels became responsible for adopting and implementing a set of entitlements considered too radical for Americans. Critics claim the Convention subverts absolute parental and institutional authority over children. Implementation problems and progress are…

A Maine study found that homework often disrupts family life, interferes with parents' own teachings, and punishes children in poverty for lacking computer access and/or a supportive home environment. The standards movement requires teaching in a more tightly controlled system, leaving no room for homework, an unknown variable. (Contains 13…

Participant observation study explored social interactions and friendships among cognitively impaired adult day-care participants. Found clients engage in a variety of social interactions and friendships, enabling them to maintain a sense of self and to adjust to group norms. Discussed general socializing, enduring friendships, helping…

Discusses problems and deficiencies in computer technology in American schools based on results of a worldwide study on educational computer use. Highlights include outdated computer equipment; results of computer literacy tests of eighth- and 11th-grade students; lack of curriculum integration; lack of systematic computer acquisition; and lack of…

Discusses the use of the Internet for ready reference and considers limitations, reference policy, and cost issues. Highlights include general reference sources; database searching on the Internet; Gopher; bibliographic control and access to Internet resources; personnel issues; and levels of service. (Contains 30 references.) (LRW)

Assess the ways in which citation searching of scholarly print journals is and is not analogous to backlink searching of scholarly e-journal articles on the Web, and identifies problems and issues related to conducting and interpreting such searches. Findings call into question the legitimacy of using backlink searches to evaluate the scholarly…

Outlines the Information Literacy Program at Southern Oregon University (SOU), designed to develop information literacy among freshman enrolled in SOU's new university colloquium. Discusses accomplishments and unresolved problems and issues of this model of a learner-centered, supportive, collaborative program. (AEF)

Background: Beginning Teachers are confronted with numerous challenges especially in their first year of teaching. Without ample induction support, the beginning teachers could merely develop their capacity on their own. Therefore, some nations implement the policy of internship so as to increase effectiveness of the beginning teachers. In Hong…

This paper presents a case study in which systems theory is used as a framework for analyzing the experience of international consultants in assisting the education ministry of a developing country in formulating a national education 5-year plan. The study highlights the broader dilemma faced by international consultants who are frequently…

Objective: Organizational learning, underpinned by evidence-based health care, and greater user involvement in planning and delivery were key objectives of the NHS Plan. Evaluation, and specifically participatory evaluation, offers the potential to address these elements of the NHS modernization agenda. We discuss the strengths and limitations of…

This paper focuses on the difficulties of assessing multi-year team projects, in which a team of students drawn from all three years of a full-time degree course works on a problem with and for a real-life organization. Although potential solutions to the problem of assessing team projects may be context-dependent, we believe that discussing these…

The writers call for foundations and educational institutions to build their programs around the goal of increasing educational capital through more open and accountable forms of education grant-making and educational activity. Recognizing that education needs philanthropic foundations to enliven imagination, spur improvements and test solutions;…