Contends that there are specific reasons that most college application essays are poorly written. Explains what English teachers can do to change this situation. (HB)

Examines the perceptual learning style preferences of sixth- and seventh-grade students in the Philippines. Finds that the visual modality was the most preferred and the auditory modality was the least preferred. Offers suggestions for accommodating visual, tactile, and kinesthetic preferences. (RS)

Play and well-designed motor activities may be ideal media to facilitate young children's learning. Last year, the Council on Physical Education for Children produced a position statement contrasting developmentally appropriate and inappropriate practices in 25 program components, including curriculum, teaching strategies, motor skills…

This interview with two leaders in gifted education brings out their thoughts on enrichment, characteristics of a good "model," their Enrichment Triad Model, qualitative methods of research and outcome assessment in gifted education, difficulties teachers have applying the Enrichment Triad Model, and parent teacher cooperation. (DB)

A discussion of quality assurance in Portuguese universities looks at the environment of expanding enrollments and new laws concerning program quality. It is proposed that evaluation should be informative, exhaustive, and concise, and should involve cooperation between evaluators both internal and external to the institution. (MSE)

Discusses a case study of a project created for the U.S. Air Force, Air Combat Command, in which mental models were taught, reinforced, and assessed as the foundation for instruction. Preliminary data for 183 students reflected a 93% mastery level and a 79% cumulative gain in students' ability to troubleshoot difficult problems. (Author/AEF)

Discusses a project for developing individual and leader training for Forward Support Battalions of the Army National Guard. The scope covered 52 separate military occupational specialties and 6 different career fields for officers. "Lane Training" was used to isolate hard-to-train, high-payoff tasks to be developed using computer-based…

Describes the uses of focus groups (i.e., a form of qualitative research involving a small group of respondents and moderator in an unstructured group discussion) in community college research. Discusses what can be learned from focus groups, focus group projects conducted in several community colleges, and problems researchers may encounter.…

Describes how, under the Minnesota Education Act of 1991, Bluffview school opened as one of several charter schools and the nation's first Montessori charter public school. Discusses the school's history and the compromises made to convert to a Montessori program. (ETB)

Provides guidelines for successfully building parental involvement by fitting educational and classroom needs into parents' schedules and by carefully matching parents to classroom jobs to keep interest and involvement high. (ETB)

Describes Maria Montessori's early learning "Casa" setting for young children and other models for educational programs for young children. Discusses the importance of setting in facilitating natural learning in young children and the five steps in the natural learning cycle--observation, participation, role-playing practice, eureka…

Describes an artists workshop, parallel to a writers workshop, that integrated student choice of topic and media, reading, art, and writing. Outlines the workshop routine, discusses the artists' notebooks kept by the students, and explains how writing as an essential element of the workshop reveals the thinking, planning, and discovering that…

Describes problems that are presented in the form of experiments. The philosophy, method of solution, and several examples of mechanics experiment problems are described. (LZ)

Describes two simple demonstrations of an object moving in a straight line tangent to the circle if centripetal force is removed. Demonstrations use a pie plate and petri dish with ball bearings to illustrate the phenomena on an overhead projector. (LZ)

Presents an annotated bibliography of 217 books and articles published in 1993 on the topic of teaching and learning in psychology. Maintains that search methods, criteria for inclusion, and numbering methods were similar to previous bibliographies. Includes 15 references on the topic of annotated bibliographies in psychology. (CFR)