Recommends using Chinua Achebe's novel of the 19th-century conflict between African tribal culture and English colonists in a world history class. Achebe's rich narrative, written in a graceful prose, is easily accessible to high school students. The novel replaces simplistic and abstract concepts with those more complex and concrete. (MJP)

Describes an interdisciplinary instructional unit using the historical novel "The Killer Angels" to teach about the Civil War. Writing assignments focused on character analysis from the novel bolstered by outside historical research. Student response was overwhelmingly positive. Includes suggested guidelines for developing an…

Profiles a third-/fourth-grade thematic unit developed to introduce students to contemporary global society and its economic and environmental interdependence. The unit simulates a trip to foreign countries and integrates mathematics, music, art, and language. Various assignments are included in the student's portfolio. (MJP)

Analyzes two limitations associated with cooperative learning: how to evaluate the teamwork skills that students demonstrate during group work, and how to provide tasks that enable students to practice these teamwork skills. Discusses a new model of learning and instruction called Collaboration-Integration Theory (CIT), which ensures that students…

Describes a qualitative action research study that investigated the effectiveness of an assignment for tenth graders that required primary research methods and an essay. Topics include authentic research; constructivist theory of learning; performance-based assessment; student journals; peer editing; teacher-librarian collaboration; and student…

Over the last several decades, undergraduate history instruction has increasingly emphasized efforts to engage students in hands-on historical research. Texts that present students with sets of primary sources for analysis are now widely available. These texts strive to build students' research and analytical skills, and engage them in the…

As offerings of online courses, programs, and degrees continue to increase, universities are grappling for ways to assess and assure quality. The quality and quantity of interaction between faculty and students and among students constitutes a significant component of the definition of quality for any course, whether online or face-to-face. It…

In this article, the author discusses "Game Face: Life Lessons Across the Curriculum", a teaching kit that challenges assumptions and builds confidence. Game Face, which is derived from a book and art exhibition, "Game Face: What Does a Female Athlete Look Like?", uses layered and powerful images of women and girls participating in sports to teach…

Curriculum integration and working in teams are two key characteristics of middle schooling in Australia today. As part of a new primary/middle teacher education program an interdisciplinary team of academics has developed a course that aims to teach pre service teachers how to plan for and teach an integrated curriculum unit in an authentic…

This report offers a number of specific teaching techniques that research suggests will help 4th- to 12th-grade students in this nation's schools. The report focuses on all students, not just those who display writing difficulties, although this latter group is deservedly the focus of much attention. The premise of this report is that all students…

This article presents findings from research in a school district using handhelds to support writing across the curriculum. The authors report that handheld devices can be useful to foster classroom note-taking activities, assist students who have handwriting difficulties, and provide inspiration to teachers who want to create collaborative and…

Public policy affects the experiences of workers and their families, both directly and indirectly. For example, employment-focused statutes such as the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the Employment Retirement and Income Security Act, the Occupational Health and Safety Act, and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act establish frameworks for…

In this paper we discuss how online seminar participants experience dimensions of embodiment, virtual space, interpersonal relations, and temporality; and how interacting through reading-writing, by means of online technologies, creates conditions, situations, and actions of pedagogical influence and relational affectivities. We investigate what…

Monroe Community College's Writing-Across-the-Curriculum (WAC) program, designed to help students learn to write in all disciplines through writing centers staffed by student writing fellows, is reviewed in this report. The report includes the following sections: the year in review; 1994-95 Writing Fellows; WAC faculty; statistical data; writing…

A study examined a program for increasing reading ability to reduce the academic failure of identified at-risk students. Subjects were 14 second-grade and 18 sixth-grade students in a middle class suburb, southwest of a large metropolitan area. Evidence for the existence of this problem was gathered from teacher observations, assessments,…