Describes the experiences of a secondary mathematics education student as a MATHCOUNTS coach for sixth graders. Explains the program, coaching duties, and how the approach evolved in trying to shift student focus from finding the right answer to finding a logical approach to solving problems. Discusses the experience in terms of the National…

Describes a popular yearly activity at one middle school in which a production of a Shakespearean comedy becomes the centerpiece of an interdisciplinary unit on the Elizabethan Period involving language arts, social studies, math, science, music, art, technical education, home economics, and the learning center. (SR)

Presents an insider's view of the process involved in creating award-winning historical, biographical documentaries. Argues that documentary filmmakers and historians share a common mission in presenting as complete and accurate a picture of the past as possible. Maintains that the central difference between the two is in the selection of…

Presents a case study examining the development and implementation of two recent curricular innovations at Michigan State University: the Integrative Studies Program and the Ethnic Studies Specialization. The programs consist of interdisciplinary courses incorporating instruction from geography, anthropology, sociology, and other areas. Discusses…

Examined the effects of a 4-week interdisciplinary unit on middle school students' problem-solving ability. Subjects, 459 students in 4 Midwestern school districts, were taught by 6 teams of teachers. Pre- and posttest results indicated that students identified as formal operational thinkers made significant gains in their problem-solving ability,…

Describes the storyline instructional strategy and its application to social studies. Storyline consists of incorporating content area material into an evolving narrative with subsequent material added to the story. Includes examples from grades 2, 9, and 11 storyline instructional units. (MJP)

Finds a number of Beethoven's military marches in contemporary arrangements. Although greatly revered for his classical music, Beethoven composed a variety of excellent marches. Usually penned for a specific historic occasion, they fit well into interdisciplinary study units and add variety and color to local music programs. (MJP)

The Getty Information Institute conducted a two-year study of online searching by 27 humanities scholars using DIALOG. Discusses results and recommends that library services: provide interdisciplinary information for humanities scholars; recognize that online searching in humanities may be harder than in sciences; expect wide preferences for…

Maintains that the prevalence of dance in all cultures renders it particularly effective as a means to introduce multicultural education in the curriculum. Provides examples utilizing dance to illustrate multicultural concepts, as well as, integrating it into interdisciplinary instruction. Discusses reasons for the negligible status of dance. (MJP)

A cooperative learning approach in business administration courses is described, including projects and activities for three course types: management science; operations management; and mathematics education. Adaptation of the activities for specific classes is discussed, and student response to the method in one institution is examined. The…

Factors keeping teachers "in the box" of traditional education are the physical and psychological environment, the moral setting, and staying true to the discipline. "Out of the box" teaching is experiential, student-centered, interdisciplinary, and cooperative. Each way of teaching leads to a particular way of knowing.…

Explores how to teach religion in the social studies classroom in public schools. Asserts that religion should be taught to educate children about beliefs that differ from their own and about the role of religion in U.S. society. Provides suggestions for teaching about religion to students in kindergarten through sixth grade. (CMK)

A longitudinal study of 99 students attending 1 rural and 1 urban elementary school in Yugoslavia evaluated the effects of an interdisciplinary play-oriented program based on drama, story making, art-constructive activities, group research, and various games. Results showed an improvement in creativity, motivation to learn, and expressive…

Explains an interdisciplinary framework for library information science, especially information retrieval, which considers sociocultural context of search terms in a way that the cognitivist information processing paradigm does not. Limitations of cognitivist information processing conceptions are discussed, as well as the possible effects of the…

Describes a novel approach to comprehensive questions in world history examinations. Recommends using current events as illustrative reference points for complex subjects such as nationalism, liberalism, and international trade. Students receive information packets on the events for several weeks and must relate the subjects to these events. (MJP)