In fall 1991 and spring 1992, an interdisciplinary art-and-writing collaborative project was initiated by an English instructor at Yakima Valley Community College (YVCC) and a graphics instructor at Everett Community College (ECC), both in Washington State. The project involved a graphics art class at ECC and a writing class from YVCC, pairing…

In the spring of 1988, the Massachusetts Department of Education administered its second biennial assessment (the Massachusetts Educational Assessment Program), testing students in grades 4, 8, and 12 in reading, mathematics, science, and social studies. This report discusses the use of open-ended questions in one form of the science tests.…

In the spring of 1988, the Massachusetts Department of Education administered its second biennial assessment (the Massachusetts Educational Assessment Program) of students in grades 4, 8, and 12 in reading, mathematics, science, and social studies. This report discusses the use of open-ended questions in the tests of social studies. One-twelfth of…

A program of observation of local government bodies was implemented to make 12th grade U.S. government students aware of their local governments and how local government affects them. The program consisted of three components: orientation, implementation, and evaluation. The students were given a slide presentation and an information packet that…

This manual describes 18 music-based activities and suggested variations designed for classroom teachers (with little or no musical training) to teach profoundly disabled students more consistent and advanced levels of responding to their environment. Brief suggestions are presented for teacher behaviors, structure of turn-taking, and classroom…

Secondary and college level curriculum development projects that integrated women's history into American survey courses are described, and conclusions are drawn. The college level projects consisted of lecture outlines and bibliographies written and field tested by teachers and an annotated bibliography and six-week curriculum unit developed by…

THIS DOCUMENT IS A COLLECTION OF FIFTEEN PAPERS PRESENTED AT THE COLLOQUIUM ON THE CHALLENGE OF CURRICULAR CHANGE. BROADER TOPICS DISCUSSED INCLUDE--(1) THE EXTENT AND CHARACTERISTICS OF CURRICULAR CHANGE IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS, (2) THE RESPONSES OF COLLEGES TO THESE CHANGES, THE BARRIERS TO CHANGE IN THE COLLEGES, AND SOME CURRENT EXPERIMENTS WHICH…

The Course Entry Inventory was developed to assess the affective characteristics of college students when they enter a course. The four dimensions measured were: affective characteristics upon entry, willingness to undertake course activities and accept instruction, perceived importance of the course, and self-reported level of apprehension about…

The threats to adult higher education are rapidly becoming significant educational and social problems. To date, the hope of adult educators to become equal participants with other university divisions in higher education has not been realized. Simultaneous expansion and dilution of adult higher education have caused adult student demands for…

The impact of participation in a vocational student organization (VSO) on student achievement was examined. First, an exhaustive review of the recent literature on VSOs was conducted. In addition, a survey aimed at state directors of VSOs was developed and pilot tested on a purposefully-selected sample of 25 state directors of VSOs. A response…

A qualitative case study explored the adult learner experience of pursuing an applied management degree in an accelerated degree completion program at a liberal arts institution. These three areas of research informed this study: intensity and time involvement of course learning; collegiate-based, time-compressed, intensive course formats; and…

This collaborative paper, created online by Ph.D students in a three-year cohort learning program at the California Institute of Integral Studies, explores the development and felt experience of distance learning. The purpose is to give a sense of how it feels to learn online and to describe the essence of learning. Results of this collaborative…

Summarizes a two-week experiment where seventh graders researched and produced map products using both traditional and computer-assisted techniques. Quantitative results showed little difference in learning content between the groups but qualitative results suggested that students prefer the computers. Includes graphical analysis and tabular data.…

Argues music educators must holistically address the subjective side of music listening as well as objective properties. States individual perceptions are neglected and students must experience the balance between subjective and objective realities to fully educate the senses. Advocates critical thinking and moving beyond a technical vocabulary to…

With the growth of standardized assessment benchmarks in both the public and private paradigms, testing performance matters to institutions more than ever. In an attempt to take as many hindering variables out of this process, such as test anxiety, socioeconomic influences, and latency in cognition, Improvisation: A Complement to Curriculum seeks…