The paper focuses on educational projects developed in the ETSII (Escuela Tecnica Superior de Ingenieros Industriales) of the Polytechnic University of Madrid during the past few years. These projects were developed as new tools for enhancing the active role of students, for improving practical teaching, especially by means of virtual laboratories…

Possessing communication-related skills is vital to student success within and beyond college. The utilization of these skills, or being considered socially competent, has been linked to personal, relational, and occupational success. But how do we teach the necessary social skills to today's students? Building on research from education and…

This article presents an experimental study demonstrating how 120 learners use help tools in a virtual learning set-up. More specifically, several types of tutoring are investigated to find out the extent of the use of help tools in each. The effects of two independent variables which may have an impact on the behaviour of learners are studied:…

The Chinese view of the child is in the process of changing from the dependent child of traditional Chinese society to the child as an active learner in contemporary China. The view of the child as an active learner forces early childhood practitioners to rethink the features of the child's learning and development, individuality, and needs and…

For the thirty-sixth year, the Research and Theory Division of the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) is sponsoring the publication of these Proceedings. Papers published in this volume were presented at the annual AECT Convention in Anaheim, California. The Proceedings of AECT's Convention are published in two…

To study the effects of structured cooperative learning environments on helping interactions and behaviors in the early, middle, and later primary school years, a study was conducted in 11 classrooms across 4 schools in suburban Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Subjects were 172 children (56 in year 2, 68 in year 4, and 52 in year 6). Through…

This document is a curriculum resource aimed at correcting common misconceptions that people have of conditions in the developing world. It emphasizes the common needs and aspirations of all the world's children while focusing on cooperation as a basic human response that can be directed toward solving some major global problems. It is divided…

Expeditionary learning creates a learning environment in which teachers and students together take a journey into an area with many unknowns for the purpose of promoting self-discovery. Of the 10 principles of expeditionary learning, 7 closely match the practices of Outward Bound. As Outward Bound staff designed an inservice program on…

An 8-month study tracked 166 second graders of various ethnic backgrounds in an urban setting while they were being motivated to read through a literature-based reading and writing program. The classrooms in which the research was conducted used basal readers and did not have well-designed literacy centers. Collaboration was not an integral part…

In order to have a democratic society, equal rights to education are assumed. A democratic society needs citizens who are willing and able to commit themselves to lifelong learning--self-directed individual learning as well as collective learning. Learning in real life, although different for various people, can be seen as encompassing five steps:…

In the current climate of empowerment models, critical research, and deconstructed theory, this discussion raises some questions regarding the concept of "empowerment" and its use as a rubric for course and program design in teacher education. From the review of literature several usages of the term empowerment emerge. Each one is…

A teacher training course must serve as a model of turning theory into practice--a student-centered, collaborative effort involving active learners taking charge of their own learning--and that includes the teacher as well as the students. Only by active reading, writing, listening, and talking about these ideas--as opposed to merely being told to…

A total of 54 designs for successful active learning strategies for library instruction in the classroom are presented in this sourcebook. These librarian-authored strategies have been developed and used successfully in instruction. The lesson designs are divided into five sections: Basic Library Instruction; Searching Indexes and Online Catalogs;…

This paper is based on a year-long inquiry into the possibility of democratic education in traditional environments. The study was guided by the questions: (1) what are the teacher qualities needed to transcend the structures of schooling to engage in democratic practices?; and (2) how are these practices manifested in the classroom? The…

The benefits of cooperative and/or active learning techniques for academic library instruction have been well established in the literature of the field. However, learning about and finding appropriate techniques can be a time-consuming and frustrating task. The following is a listing of cooperative learning and active learning techniques…