This newsletter presents a brief summary of central findings of a national survey designed to gather a systematic profile of the range and type of telecommunications activities being conducted by teachers for professional development or student learning. Responses were received from 550 of the 1,100 educators who were contacted through…

This study describes what some urban teachers at one school believe and know about literacy teaching and learning, and relates what they believe and know to two contrasting viewpoints about the way students become literate (mechanism and contextualism). Quantitative and qualitative measures were used to create summaries of teacher beliefs and…

A preceptorship model of clinical teaching for medical education is presented. Based on the view that physicians use precepting skills in patient care, preceptorship is seen as an opportunity for medical students to learn to practice ambulatory medicine away from the medical center. A model called "Johari Window" is adapted to explain the…

This activity is one of a series of 17 teacher-developed instructional activities for geography at the secondary-grade level described in SO 009 140. The activity investigates the role of story telling as illustrative of human values and as an appropriate medium for environmental education. The author identifies a need for individuals to know who…

The extent of structural inequalities of students from racial and ethnic minorities in access to knowledge and resources is explored, and some of the sources of these inequalities are discussed. Some of the consequences of these inequalities for the nature and quality of education in the United States are considered. The isolation engendered by…

Over 200 pharmacy students in a University of Georgia class on the American health care system engaged in debates on health care issues, discussed newspaper articles, conducted client home visits, analyzed county health statistics, and completed exercises on pharmacists' compensation and health care planning. Most participating students responded…

Describes three perspectives from which middle school teachers can plan laboratory activities for the purpose of improving students' scientific literacy. Perspectives are the learning cycle approach categorizing activities by stages of development; problem-solving skills approach categorizing activities according to the amount of teacher control;…

The aim of this pilot study was to examine the feasibility of an interactive computer program among 34 sixth and seventh grade children and to assess the potential for knowledge acquisition about puberty. Based on a developmental self-esteem approach to teach children about their bodies, the "Body Morph" program was designed to maximize the…

The purpose of this study was to examine changes in personal science teaching self-efficacy (PSTE), outcome expectancy (STOE), and science conceptual understanding and relationships among these in preservice teachers. Seventy preservice teachers enrolled in science teaching methods courses participated in this study. PSTE, STOE, and science…

Instructional strategies determine the approaches an educator may take to achieve learning objectives. Research has shown that sets of strategies or instructional models anchored on social constructivist learning theories were found to be effective in enhancing active participation. It is particularly influential and meaningful in many areas of…

Teacher educators have come to appreciate that the teaching of difficult subjects combines knowledge of content and knowledge of generic teaching methods. A study was conducted, therefore, to explore the potential of cases to carry pedagogical content knowledge. A case was developed describing how an expert teacher goes about teaching…

The Stanford Computer-Based Educator Training Intervention (SCETI) was designed to provide teachers with extensive instruction in cardiovascular disease risk factor concepts and to assess the intervention's effects on a number of teacher variables mediating program implementation. The SCETI program was an interactive computer program which used…

This book presents current knowledge about teaching culturally diverse populations that are traditionally underserved in U.S. schools. Such ethnic minority populations include African Americans, Appalachians, Native Alaskans, Native Americans, and Latin Americans. Part 1, "Shaping a Vision for the Schooling of Diverse Populations,"…

A new approach to teaching and curriculum takes seriously the knowledge children have when they enter school. Teachers use the knowledge each child has to make instructional decisions so that the child learns mathematics with understanding, how to solve problems, and the computational skills. Research concerning the problem-solving strategies…

This study examined teachers' content knowledge about the nature of science and how this knowledge was expressed in their classrooms. Understandings about science influence not only explicit lessons about the nature of science, but also shape an implicit curriculum concerning scientific knowledge. Consideration was also given to ways in which…