This publication introduces and provides a framework for Earth Systems Education (ESE), an effort to establish within U.S. schools more effective programs designed to increase the public's understanding of the Earth system. The publication presents seven "understandings" around which curriculum can be organized and materials selected in…

This document presents the results of three studies about how children interpret observations of the biological phenomena of decay. The objectives of this report were to: (1) document and compare the ideas used by elementary school children in the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada; (2) document how these ideas changed from age 5 to 16;…

This volume contains the text of six speeches selected from approximately 125 plenary talks that have been given over the past few years at more than 40 Freshman Year Experience Conferences by leading educators concerned about improving the first year undergraduate experience. In the first speech, "The Undergraduate Experience: Critical…

Learning strategies are the steps taken to facilitate acquisition, storage, retrieval, and use of information. Although this process is common to all learners, researchers have found that good second language learners consciously use appropriate language strategies. Strategies are identified in these broad categories: cognitive; memory;…

In the fall of 1989, the president of Massachusetts' Bunker Hill Community College (BHCC) called for volunteers to serve on a General Education (GE) Task Force which would review the state of GE at the College. The task force conducted a literature search and surveys of BHCC faculty and students, as well as other community colleges. The result of…

This book is a reflection on higher education and a personal memoir of Murray G. Ross, first president of York University (Ontario, Canada), and his role in the founding and shaping of that institution from 1960 to 1970. Parts 1 and 2 provide an intimate glimpse of the university which grew faster and with a more clearly defined mission than most,…

Some personal reflections on instructional design and its relation to constructivism are explored. Instructional design in its present form is out of sync with the times in that its orientation, methods, and research base are behavioristic, or positivistic. However, a constructivist theory of instructional design is possible, particularly if…

The Australian Language Levels (ALL) Project offers a coherent model for elementary and secondary language curriculum design. Book 3 of the four-volume series focuses on teaching methods, appropriate instructional resources, and student evaluation and provides advice for teachers in each of these areas. The section on methods discusses the…

The age appropriate units of AIDS/HIV instruction in this guide are based on the student outcomes listed in the "New Hampshire Educators HIV/AIDS Handbook: Curriculum and Policy Guide." All of the units, organized by grade levels, were written collaboratively by teams of New Hampshire educators, each team consisting of a library media…

This paper provides an overview of the High/Scope Educational Research Foundation, an organization that sponsors studies of the efficacy of intervention in the early years of development, especially with economically disadvantaged children. Using several High/Scope Foundation studies to illustrate its points, the paper examines issues common to…

A discussion of the current direction of second language instruction looks at the decline in college language enrollments, possible reasons for the decline, and efforts to adapt course offerings and curriculum format to current educational goals. Three factors in re-directing second language teaching are highlighted: establishment of standards for…

This book explores ways to design courses and units to emphasize understanding and uncoverage rather than coverage, offering practical solutions for teacher-designers. It focuses on a different use for performance assessment, concluding that performance is the key to assessing understanding. The book analyzes the logic of backward design as an…

This discussion of second language instruction through subject-area content reviews trends and literature in the field. Content-based language instruction is defined and distinguished from other forms of language instruction. Three major types of college-level content-based language instruction are described: sheltered instruction, taught by a…

This curriculum, designed to improve elementary school foreign language teacher training, was developed jointly by school teachers and university educators in North Carolina. It is based on the successful practices of current elementary school foreign language teachers, translated into desired teacher competencies. Introductory sections describe…

A framework is presented for syllabus design in English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) instruction. A case is given for a discourse level focus in the ESL classroom, from beginning stages of learning through advanced levels. Following this, three rhetorical modes (critical analysis of fiction, truth-searching logical conversation, and classical…