Discusses metaphor as a device for effective impromptu speaking. Illustrates how impromptu discussions of the Clarence Thomas versus Anita Hill saga utilized metaphors as perspectives from which to instantaneously organize thought and action or an entire situation. Discusses how to assist students to use metaphor in discussions of contemporary…

Asserts that recognizing and analyzing satire in the media is a thought-provoking and enjoyable way to teach current events. Provides an eight-step student guide for analyzing and discussing satire. Includes suggestions for teachers who want to use satire in the classroom. (CFR)

Scientist William J. Dreyer has hypothesized that the cell surface proteins in the nose that detect odors also help assemble embryos. These olfactory receptors and related proteins act as identifiers, much like the last few digits of a telephone number, that help cells to find their intended neighbors in a developing embryo. Discusses the research…

Studied the effects of reading the "Weekly Reader" on children's knowledge of current events. Results from 2,331 urban and suburban elementary school students, aged 8 to 12, show increased knowledge of current events among younger children who used the "Weekly Reader," but the effect was less in grades 4 through 6. (SLD)

Capital punishment is the most severe criminal penalty, yet we know little about the factors that produce jurisdictional differences in the use of the death sentence. Political explanations emphasize conservative values and the strength of more conservative political parties. Threat accounts suggest that this sentence will be more likely in…

This paper examines educational development in East Timor. It is particularly concerned with the period between October 1999 and May 2002 when the country was governed by the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET). The paper argues that UNTAET missed an important opportunity to implement the transformation in education…

This article describes how a teacher changed all his plans to teach the hurricane. When the Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, kids become naturally curious and seek answers in an event this big. The author suggests the use of tragedies to help them grow as students and as citizens.

The purpose of this study was to apply psychobiography to the lives of Hillary Clinton and Condoleezza Rice. Psychobiography can be applied as a method of teaching personality theory and it can also be used as a research method. Most political personas are crafted through 20 second sound bites from the radio, Internet, and television. However, a…

Rice University has created a team-taught interactive biology course for nonmajors with a focus on cutting edge biology in the news--advances in biotechnology, medicine, and science policy, along with the biological principles and methodology upon which these advances are based. The challenges inherent to teaching current topics were minimized by…

Middle school history teachers confront the same challenge every day: how to convey the breadth and depth of a curriculum that spans centuries, countries, and cultures. In "Making History Mine", Sarah Cooper shows teachers how to use thematic instruction to link skills to content knowledge. By combining thought-provoking activities and rich…

Political scientists should use all the resources, trivia, of the real world of politics as teaching devices and relate them to the discipline's general knowledge and theory. (Author/ND)

Four tapes with interviews with experts in the designated fields comprise the series: a) Canada's Foreign Relations, 1867-1919; b) Canada's Foreign Relations, 1919-1945; c) Canada and China, and d) Canadian Diplomacy and Foreign Policy. (JA)

Suggestions for the effective use of current events in moral education build on Piaget and Kohlberg and include procedures to follow and specific aids for clarifying discussion. (JH)

The Chinese university students who protested in Spring 1989 were concerned about inflation, shortages of goods and services, and pay inequities. They disliked corruption, bribery, and unfair favoritism, and wanted more press freedom and more independence for their student organizations. Most of all, they wanted more dialogue with aging leaders…

In the past, rhetorical criticism relied heavily on an Aristotelian approach; critics judged a speech by how well it fulfilled the speaker's purpose and persuasion was the accepted goal of rhetoric. Political and academic forces have brought about a methodological perspectivism or pluralism of rhetorical theory, and in turn, caused a shift from…