A class of fourth-graders-turned-film-producers created an animated video about national parks. The experience helped students acquire academic skills and knowledge, use technology meaningfully, feel confident about themselves and their learning, value cooperation, understand the creative process, sustain a vision, and have fun in school. (MLH)

Established in 1973, a progressive Charlotte, North Carolina, elementary school has been subjected to trends and pressures (particularly the back-to-basics and direct- instruction movements) that threatened its integrity and survival. Irwin Avenue must cover citywide academic objectives, but organizes its curriculum around themes and active,…

Defines case methods, a potentially valuable instructional tool for encouraging authentic, active learning. Describes an approach to the design and use of instructional design (ID) cases, and reports on the design and use of a Web-based ID case in a team case competition involving six universities. Team collaboration and competition were noted as…

Discusses the actions and approaches advanced during the 1996 Summer Colloquium, "Art and Ecology: Interdisciplinary Approaches to the Curriculum." Illustrates how action-oriented inquiry makes learning relevant to all people through exploring the poetry of place. The colloquium identified community ecological issues that could be examined through…

In a problem-based curriculum, students generate learning issues that are the guidelines for individual study. This study investigates the essential characteristics of learning issues and the importance they have in each year of training. Findings indicate that a useful learning issue contains a keyword that demarcates the content of a topic to be…

Problem-based learning (PBL) has been recognized as an important educational strategy and has been adopted in many medical schools. There is confusion, however, about what constitutes PBL. Describes 11 steps in the continuum between PBL and information-oriented learning, task-based learning being the final step at the problem-based end of the…

Students test the hypothesis that the moon revolves east to west around the earth, determine by observation approximately how many degrees the moon revolves per night, and develop a scale model of the earth-sun-moon system in this laboratory exercise. Students are actively involved in the scientific process and are introduced to the importance of…

This study of 16 Singapore child care centers found that children spent most of their time engaged in adult-led group, cognitive, and daily routine activities. Findings also suggest that good quality centers offer a variety of cognitively stimulating activities, such as literacy activities, academic and problem-solving tasks, and verbal…

Foxfire awards were presented to a professor of education who helped found a Foxfire-affiliated teacher network and develop new courses, and four elementary-secondary teachers who implemented Foxfire classroom approaches that included learning centers; student tutoring; individual folder work; student-researched stories of family, community, and…

Comments on the articles presented in this issue, discussing factors that influence the climate for learning. Ways that beliefs, past experiences, and cultural competence of adults may influence their ability to work collaboratively and support children's collaborative work are discussed, as are the effects of various adult interaction styles on…

Discusses ways to improve postsecondary library instruction based on theories of active learning. Topics include a historical background of active learning; student achievement and attitudes; cognitive development; risks; active teaching; and instructional techniques, including modified lectures, brainstorming, small group work, cooperative…

Teachers of tax law are encouraged to require students to actively examine and apply the tax code and regulations. The author's active teaching approach is described covering student accountability, use of textbooks that offer explanations, procedures used in classroom analysis, student questions, use of lengthy regulations, breadth of coverage,…

Students in a combined grade 3-4 in a charter school in Asheville, North Carolina, chose the topics and ways to demonstrate their learning to fulfill history curriculum requirements. Their choices of local historical architecture and traditional quilt-making spiraled out to include photography, historical fiction, and quilted pillows, which were…

The teacher of an inclusive K-3 class in Pike County, Kentucky, chose coal as a topic because it had meaning to her students and they could use the community as a learning laboratory. Although a democratic classroom fostered student ownership of the material, older and younger students had different motivational requirements. (TD)

Describes the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning at Parkland College (Illinois) as a model for how faculty can engage in learning to improve their teaching while helping students connect to their own learning in new ways. States that the center also helps part-time faculty by offering stipends for their participation. (NB)