In a social psychology class based on experiential learning, students carry out research and interpret a setting by observing social interaction. Settings include correctional facilities, self-help groups, and abuse shelters. Describes students responsibilities, reactions, data collection, analysis, and project findings. Finds students learn…

Provides details of a mock town meeting (using the warrant prepared for the town's real town meeting) which was planned and conducted by ninth grade students. Includes a project evaluation. (PRA)

Presents a class activity that uses the dime novel in a critical mode as an avenue to increase student's knowledge of the concepts and themes of women's experiences during the nineteenth century. Provides background of the dime novel. Asks students to compose their own dime novel, and provides a student handout that outlines the process. (RW)

Describes a secondary U.S. history course in which students study the impact of industrialization on U.S. culture and society. Asserts that assignments in which students create political cartoons, poetry, posters or other visual products enhance student interest and provide diverse evaluation strategies. (CFR)

Discussion of Web-based instruction in Korean higher education focuses on methods of student assessment, including formal (tests and assignments), informal (attendance, participation, and discussion) and alternative (portfolios, and practicums). Discusses evaluative studies on distance education and suggests improvements in current assessment…

Describes how the author, teaching at a South Florida high school with many children of Mexican-American migrant workers, shaped his English instruction in scenarios that reflected students' lives and cultures. Shows how class discussions and assignments probed the worthiness of the language used and the reason why it was successful. Argues that…

Presents an eighth-grade classroom where students collaborated with the teacher to decide how to designate time spent on reading, creative writing, and journal writing. Discusses needs assessment, student suggestions, choosing the solution, and implementation. A sidebar outlines student-determined writers' workshop, readers' workshop, and…

Offers an interview with Robert Wylie, a distinguished two-year college English teacher for almost 50 years. Discusses how important it is for an English teacher to write, important issues in the profession, his views on the best ways to help students improve as writers, his observations about writing assignments, liking students, teaching…

Course management systems (CMSs) enable teachers to easily post assignments, lesson plans, announcements, and course documents. They also allow students to participate in online discussions and chats and turn in assignments online. Unfortunately, commercial systems are often expensive to purchase and maintain, removing them from the reach of many…

In this article, the authors discuss the plight of three very bright students, who have poor or limited English. The authors discuss how promising practices used to develop content-area reading, writing, and thinking can go a long way toward helping English language learners (ELLs) improve their literacy and learning. They discuss five sets of…

Pedagogical experts contend that students learn best when they are actively involved in and responsible for their own learning. In a student-centered learning environment, the instructor ideally serves primarily as a learning resource or facilitator. With the guidance of the instructor, students in active learning environments strive for…

The issue of racial/ethnic and gender differences in intelligence and academic abilities is fiercely and frequently debated, yet the examination of these differences in creativity is less studied. Our goal in this study was to use the Consensual Assessment Technique, in which experts judge a product's creativity, to examine differences in…

Involving graduate teaching assistants (GAs) in the development and implementation of rubrics has many benefits. GA involvement increases their sense of ownership of the rubrics and makes it more likely that they will regard the rubrics in a positive light. GAs have insights about the students whose work will be evaluated by the rubrics; and, as…

Writing, an essential part of every young child's school life, is a complex affair involving cognitive, affective, and psychomotor elements. Most children learn to write, with varying degrees of success, and every school has children who can be classified as nonwriters. Some children are inhibited and frustrated by writing and are put off by the…

The availability of multi-media technologies in education has made the option of independent learning increasingly attractive. Whilst independent learning presents learners with a more flexible learning context, it also presents new challenges in assessment in that the onus is placed upon the learners themselves to monitor and evaluate their own…