A discussion of secondary education curriculum reform, particularly in Eastern and Central Europe, examines potentially conflicting concerns characterizing the current reform debate: stronger national policies alongside calls for curricula responsive to local needs; broad versus core curricula; central versus decentralized control of assessment;…

Studies involving teachers of both Spanish and English as a foreign language reveal that metaphors provide teachers with a useful image to represent their views and the elusiveness of cultural concepts. It is suggested that teachers become ethnographers investigating their own beliefs as well as those of others while developing sociolinguistic…

Fairleigh Dickinson University (New Jersey) students take four core general education courses from the second half of the freshman year through the first half of the junior year. All sections have the same syllabus, and faculty teaching them on separate campuses review and refine the courses together. Core course faculty participated actively in a…

The liberal arts program at Claremont McKenna College (California) departs from the traditional design by involving students and faculty in real-world projects, with outside clients, as class activities. Student teams complete projects in a context more like graduate education. Major successes and difficulties in integrating this approach into a…

This article describes the positive outcomes of a 3-week residential program on mathematics problem solving for gifted rising high school seniors. The program incorporated a curriculum that integrated five process standards espoused by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics including problem solving, reasoning and proof, communication,…

Presents a brief history of early childhood education in Poland and changes occurring in the 1990s. Outlines the government's minimum standards for kindergarten education, including aspects of child development that are considered crucial, and ways in which classroom practices have become more child responsive. Discusses the roles of religion,…

Reviews studies of costs of medical education and looks at trends and issues in medical school cost containment. Finds curricular trends are tending to increase costs, and proposals to restructure medical education to reduce costs are generally maneuvers to transfer cost responsibility to other entities. Sees minimal opportunities for cost…

Discusses issues related to the integration of computer-assisted language learning (CALL) into an intensive English program (IEP), drawing from the experiences of a program involved in change from a skill-separated to a skill-integrated curricular model. Emphasizes that student use of software should be monitored and that programs should have…

The Tufts University (Massachusetts) School of Medicine's four-year combined M.D./Master's in Public Health program produces professionals trained and credentialed in both public health and medicine. The program, which has graduated 75 students, addresses both the care of the individual and the care of populations, and did not require drastic…

A study of 217 Stanford University (California) Medical School graduates found clerkship experience lengths from 12 to 23 months; the median was 18 months. A highly significant correlation was found between longer clinical training and higher scores on Step 2 of the United States Medical Licensing Examination. Results suggest that decreasing…

Describes the use of problem-posing, an approach to teaching developed by Paulo Freire in the context of adult literacy programs, in an teaching English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) methods course and in ESL student teaching. The five steps of the problem-posing process are outlined and described. (14 references) (CK)

Argues that college students are generally less dependent and more motivated to learn than is generally assumed, based on a survey of 252 third-year University of South Africa students. Recommends that academic departments find new ways of accommodating learner self-direction, re-examine traditional teaching paradigms, and continuously evaluate…

Describes problem-based learning at South Africa's University of Transkei (Unitra) medical school, including the curriculum's design and instructional strategies in use. Reports a survey of 20 faculty and 35 students studying to be medical doctors (MBChBs). Results indicated a majority of faculty and students agreed on the effectiveness of the…

Describes the construction of an elementary science education web site in a collaborative effort involving two university faculty members and two undergraduate elementary education program preservice teachers. For preservice teachers, these types of collaborations can be important in developing skills valuable to their own teaching and in building…

An overview of an oral school, Child's Voice, for children who are deaf or hard of hearing is presented. Key features include low student-teacher ratios, teachers trained as oral educators, ongoing staff and parent education, specialized curricula, and a strong emphasis on listening and speaking throughout the day. (Contains references.)…