Provides two economics lessons that each deal with a type of collectible (beanbag toys and Pokemon cards) that interests students. Reinforces such concepts as markets, scarcity, equilibrium, supply and demand, monopolies, and government regulation. Provides a sample quiz and a glossary of terms with examples. (CMK)

Describes a classroom experiment that demonstrates under what conditions the parallel market rate approximates the free-market value of the domestic currency. Students act as foreign exchange traders in a developing country. Provides results of the experiment and discussion questions. (CMK)

Presents a collection of activities that teach upper-elementary and middle school students about narrative devices, methods or formats that artists use to tell stories. Includes the reproductions of the artworks, background information, discussion questions, activities, and evaluation. Provides a final activity and discussion for the entire…

Describes the "Reading and Writing for Critical Thinking Project" which has now sent more than 70 volunteer teacher educators into 20 countries across Central Europe and Central Asia to help teachers to try out methods that foster active learning and critical thinking. Discusses support for the project, teaching strategies introduced,…

Discusses ways for middle school teachers to encourage their students to discuss mathematical concepts in the classroom. Considers setting up the classroom environment to facilitate mathematics discussion, the role of the teacher, small group discussions, whole-class discussions, and student presentations. (JPB)

Evaluated the use of an online discussion group to strengthen preservice teachers' communication, inquiry, and reflection. Analysis of participants' dialogue indicated that the most important benefit was that practicum students placed at different grade levels communicated their observations and concerns in a non-evaluative setting. The paper…

Discusses the personal and subjective nature of humor and considers ways that children respond to humor in literature and films. Suggests activities for school library media specialists to use with specific books that are humorous, including group discussions, individualized writings, and examining illustrations. (LRW)

Provides historical information on the potato in Ireland focusing on how the potato arrived in Ireland and the advantages and disadvantages of the potato as a food crop. Discusses the Irish potato famine in Ireland, effects of the famine, and the government's laissez-faire response. Includes a list of questions. (CMK)

Examines factors influencing students' personal voices becoming part of the public talk of an 11th-grade U.S. history class and an 8th-grade language arts class. Finds student participation in discussion is influenced by peer and gender relations and differing conceptions of teaching and knowledge. Notes encouraging students to exercise their…

Proposes a framework within which to consider online courses. Highlights include historical background; pedagogical evolution, including discussions, collaborative activities, online assessment, and interactive course materials; examples of online course models from the United Kingdom's Open University; and the development of new learning…

Simplicity study circles examine how the American preoccupation with affluence destroys individual lives, community, and the environment. Through sharing personal stories, people learn to listen and trust their own judgment. Cooperative discussions about specific problems and their causes and solutions stimulate concern for the common good, which,…

Describes and analyzes how context acts as a resource for and a constraint upon the personal experience narratives of educators. Examines a teacher's story told in a support group for democratic educators. Illustrates the role that context has on storytelling, how teacher-narrators interpret/act upon context, and how context constrains a story.…

Investigates not only the influence but also the confluence of students' and teacher's understandings of the quality of whole class discussions. Focuses on the communication between students and the teacher in the classroom. Considers the role of tools in both supporting and constraining communication in the classroom. (Author/MM)

Describes a class exercise where students in three different courses wrote ten responses to the question "Who am I?", in order to increase their understanding of social constructionism. Reveals that students accurately identified the gender of most respondents and saw this as a useful exercise to help them understand social constructionism. (CMK)

Describes a conceptual framework that can be used to guide the design of distributed learning environments, particularly those that use the capabilities of computer and Internet technology. Discusses implications for improving online collaboration among learners and for informing future designs of computer-supported collaborative learning…