This paper briefly compares the uses of video as a medium of instruction in higher education in the United States and China and makes tentative explanations from a sociocultural perspective of the differences between these countries in using this medium. Video has been used similarly in a number of ways in both countries, but the ways it is used…

In 1992, an evaluative study was conducted to describe systematically the characteristics of Northern Maine Technical College's (NMTC's) faculty and students with respect to specified teaching and learning variables. The study sought to determine and outline appropriate instructional improvement strategies for possible implementation at NMTC,…

In spring 1994, a study was conducted to compare student outcomes for instructors use of a mixed teaching repertoire (i.e., lecture, student-centered discussion, cooperative learning, and computer-assisted instruction) and those using lectures alone in social science, science/math, humanities, and business classes at Cosumnes River College, in…

The model presented by the preschools in Reggio Emilia, Italy, is one of cooperation and collaborations among teachers, parents, and children; curriculum based on the "project approach," and constructivist learning philosophy, which states that children construct their knowledge and values as a result of interactions with and action on…

Critical thinking and creative thinking are explored. Critical thinking is the process of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, or evaluating information. It includes affective strategies such as thinking independently and developing intellectual perseverance. Certain teaching behaviors can encourage critical…

This paper calls for the collaboration of general educators and special educators as cooperative teaching teams to better serve diverse student populations. Research in Anne Arundel County (Maryland) indicating significantly higher passage rates on statewide minimum competency tests, by students (n=343) in co-taught high school classes compared to…

Data are presented comparing children with learning disabilities to children with mild mental retardation, and comparing these two groups to normally achieving peers matched for chronological age (ages 6 to 8). Four studies were conducted, involving different types of oddity problems and rhyming skills. Results of the four studies indicated little…

This paper describes a study which examined kindergarten students' concepts about authorship and how these concepts affected their view of themselves as readers and writers. The teachers' role in helping form students' attitudes was also examined. Thirty-eight children from two kindergarten classrooms and their teachers were interviewed. The…

There are differences in how preservice, novice, and expert teachers view effective teaching. This study traced conceptual changes among preservice teachers at different points in their preparation; investigated whether there were differences in perceptions of students in the elementary and secondary programs; and examined how second and fourth…

Changing student demographics in higher education, especially increased numbers of older and/or working students, have inspired experimentation with a variety of class scheduling and degree program formats. This study investigated two such formats: (1) cohort programs (requiring students to take all or nearly all courses together toward a degree)…

The use of computer assisted instruction in teaching statistical concepts was studied. Students enrolled in classes in education who lacked statistical experience participated. Knowledge questions for pretest and posttest assessments were prepared from a pool of questions used in the statistics department of the College of Education at Virginia…

The results of the International Assessment of Educational Progress released in February 1992 indicate that in mathematics and science the United States ranks near the bottom, while South Korea and Taiwan rank at the top. This paper compares the nature of mathematical problem-solving instruction in Korean elementary schools to that in American…

In 1988, a study was conducted to determine whether a holistic or an isolated skills approach is more effective in improving the reading abilities and attitudes toward reading of predominantly Hispanic community college students. The study sample consisted of two groups of developmental reading students. The majority of students in both groups…

This study explored the age variable within the framework of Stephen Krashen's (1973, 1977, 1978, 1981, 1982) monitor hypothesis. The experiment conducted two types of English language lessons based on antithetical pedagogical strategies. The first aimed at the activation of monitor use, constructed around formal learning tasks and the second…

It is no longer possible to approach the teaching of foreign cultures with an ethnographic and objectivist perspective that allows students to believe in the absolute value of a given definition of culture. The first goal of foreign language and culture teaching is the acquisition of communicative competence in the broadest sense of this…