During the last two decades learning communities, which are felt to have benefits that extend beyond students to faculty and the institution, have expanded to include many different models. This digest reviews five major higher education learning community models currently in existence: (1) Linked courses, which link cohorts of students taking two…

This supplement contains five unit summaries on service learning that were developed during the 1996 summer institutes conducted by the Social Science Education Consortium (SSEC) for teams of middle school teachers selected from the western United States. Each unit summary in the supplement has been developed to correspond in style to unit…

These unit lessons are designed to supplement a study of India. The lessons provide enrichment activities in history, mythology and religion, social customs, and demographics. Though originally designed for ninth-grade world geography students, the lessons are appropriate for use in grades 6-12 by students with a variety of skill levels and…

Using primary documents, maps, and visual data, this lesson packet focuses on Martin Van Buren and his retirement home, Lindenwald, which is on the National Register of Historic Places. The lesson materials compliment classroom study of early 19th century politics by tracing the life of Martin Van Buren and his role in the Jacksonian Era. Included…

This report is part of an annual national survey that examines salaries of full-time teaching faculty in 54 selected academic disciplines. Data for the study were collected from a total of 296 public and 390 private four-year institutions from the baseline year of 1996-97 to the trend year of 1999-2000. This portion of the study covers salary data…

This Wisconsin academic standards guide for art and design explains what is meant by academic standards. The guide declares that academic standards specify what students should know and be able to do; what students might be asked to do to give evidence of standards; how well students must perform; and that content, performance, and proficiency…

In this lesson plan, each student must decide which political party he/she will join or whether to register as an independent. Each student will be part of a group analyzing one current political party and presenting to the class this party's solutions for the problems confronting the United States today. The political parties for analysis are:…

The Water in Africa Project was realized over a 2-year period by a team of Peace Corps volunteers, World Wise Schools (WWS) classroom teachers, and WWS staff members. As part of an expanded, detailed design, resources were collected from over 90 volunteers serving in African countries, photos and stories were prepared, and standards-based learning…

The Water in Africa Project was realized over a 2-year period by a team of Peace Corps volunteers, World Wise Schools (WWS) classroom teachers, and WWS staff members. As part of an expanded, detailed design, resources were collected from over 90 volunteers serving in African countries, photos and stories were prepared, and standards-based learning…

This document presents a collection of papers published in the "Teaching Teachers" column in the elementary-level journal, "Science and Children." Contents include: (1) "Science is Part of the Big Picture: Teachers Become Science Learners" (Anita Greenwood); (2) "Reaching the Reluctant Science Teacher: Learning How To Teach Inquiry-Based Science"…

This monograph reports on a study evaluating senior seminars and capstone courses offered at American colleges and universities. A survey was responded to by 707 institutions of which 549 reported they offered at least one senior seminar or capstone course. The major finding of the survey was that these courses are generally designed to leave…

This paper presents the experiment being conducted in the Electric Circuits II course (ELE1103) at PUC-Rio's Electrical Engineering Department since March 1997. This experiment was held in both the fall and the spring semesters of 1997. The basis for the experiment was concurrent teaching methodology, to which the principles of entrepreneurship…

This book consists of two complete units on astronomy. The first unit is created for lower elementary students and the second one is for upper elementary grade levels. The units are designed for gifted students and encourage students to be responsible for their own education. Each unit is based on an interdisciplinary approach. Suggestions for…

Literature on college curriculum has been declining since the early 1990s, representing under 5 percent of the literature added to the ERIC database in 1996. One reason seems to be the emphasis on instruction; another is that information on curricular movements are often addressed in the literature on instructional change. Trends in 1996 in the…

The literature curriculum needs to broaden its scope to make for a richer set of experiences for students. First, interdisciplinary learnings need adequate emphasis--this means that students should have ample opportunities to relate content from the social science, academic sciences, mathematics, the fine arts, and physical education. Second, the…