Assessment provides information with which to make informed decisions about learners and programs and to support the learner through the educational experience. A comprehensive assessment system should contain information about learner goals, background, interests, skills, and attitudes; appropriate instruments; standards; and feedback to the…

Discusses the similarities and differences between surgery and writing conferences. Argues for the importance of teachers working with student writers instead of imposing teacher-directed changes upon their writing. (MG)

Explains that the writing center is a computerized tutoring room where high school students can get individualized help with their writing. Describes some of the activities and problems of one such center. Suggests that the center can help students learn to be good writers and become more familiar with computer technology. (SG)

Describes a suburban Chicago school district which conducts some of its high school classes by means of interactive television. Explains that television cameras and microphones are used to transmit lectures and discussions, and students can turn in assignments by fax machine. Describes some of the problems encountered. (SG)

Discusses one teacher's methods for familiarizing vocational education students in a business computer applications class with computers. Describes a Christmas project in which the students became Santa's elves to elementary children in the telecommunications community. Describes the project's expansion into an overseas communications service…

Argues that writing is customarily taught by methods guaranteed to produce as little meaning as possible. Shows that current pedagogies are more limited than they need to be. Argues for a new paradigm, related to information theory, which allows new ideas about how meaning is expressed in communications. (SR)

Relates the experiences of a group of five teachers of freshman English who formed a group to discuss their teaching. Considers both teaching composition and talking about teaching composition. Traces the way this project allowed the participants to rethink what their circumstances were and what framed their own ways of seeing themselves. (SR)

A review of relevant cognitive research in mathematics is presented and applied to instructional practice with students with learning disabilities. The review focuses on the role of three principles of curriculum development in facilitating procedural competence in mathematics: the nature of examples, explicitness, and parsimony. (Author/JDD)

Students with language and learning disabilities may have difficulty solving mathematics word problems. Use of a sequential checklist, identifying clues and keywords, and illustrating a problem can all help the student identify and implement the correct computational process. (DB)

This panel paper includes discussions from professional artists on pivotal stages and forces in their artistic and career development. Factors identified and recommended for emphasis in curriculum development are motivation, confidence, discipline, basic skills, structure, and studying with gifted teachers. Numerous possible roles for the art…

An attempt to clarify the teaching of some of the concepts of thermodynamics through the observation of an experiment with an ordinary refrigeration system is presented. The cycle of operation in the refrigeration system and the individual processes in the cycle are described. (KR)

A technique that uses a three-meter Foucault pendulum and a laser to measure latitude is presented. A 40-meter Foucault pendulum located in Finland and the ways in which it is used are described. The technical details and the plans for a continuously driven laser pendulum are discussed. (KR)

Information about the recycling and reuse of plastics, aluminum, steel, glass, and newspapers is presented. The phases of recycling are described. An activity that allows students to separate recyclable materials is included. The objectives, a list of needed materials, and procedure are provided. (KR)

A study involving 11 teachers and 375 students was conducted to examine teacher behavior in biology classes/laboratories in Nigeria. Objective and detailed quantitative description of teacher behavior was made possible by systematic observation using the category system presented. The predominant feature in the classroom was talk by the teacher.…

Comparison of 224 Pennsylvania secondary agricultural education students with a national sample showed that (1) the Pennsylvania students' cognitive skills were less developed; (2) their preferred responses to information were auditory and emotive; (3) small group and hands-on were preferred environments; and (4) they were less likely to prefer…