This study examined whether the perceptions of faculty members at a southeastern university concerning the present evaluation system varies across academic colleges. The Survey of Faculty Evaluation was distributed to all full time faculty (N=530) and the 129 usable responses were analyzed using discriminant function classification. Respondents…

This paper seeks to answer three basic questions related to the use of teaching portfolios in faculty evaluation and development: (1) "What is a teaching portfolio?"; (2) "How can the teaching portfolio be used to document and facilitate teaching?"; and (3) "How can teaching portfolios be assessed?" The teaching portfolio is seen as encouraging…

Distance learning involves students and faculty engaged in interactive instructional settings when they are at different locations. Compressed video is the live transmission of two-way auditory and visual signals at the same time between sites at different locations. The use of compressed video has expanded in recent years, ranging from use by the…

This paper summarizes one semester's use of a class LISTSERV with a graduate elementary science education course (n=9). Data were collected on student comments regarding the class LISTSERV from nonstructured interviews, E-mail inquiries, and an end-of-semester questionnaire. Student feedback indicated that student interest in communication…

Therapeutic horseback riding for persons with disabilities provides physical, mental, social, and emotional benefits. Most research in this area has focused on the product or benefits of therapeutic riding, while the process of teaching horseback riding has received little attention. Research from the fields of regular education, special…

Learning in the wholetheme approach is defined as reorganizing one's own intuitive knowledge base, as opposed to storing facts. This presentation discusses several thematic organizers to illustrate their role as a teaching tool in helping learners reorganize their own intuitive knowledge base. Intimately tied to the brain's ground-figure processes…

Intended primarily for human resources managers who are responsible for the development of executives, this paper lays out the potential advantages and hazards of enhanced feedback. It first looks at enhanced feedback and its rationale in detail. Four sources of data are described: numerical ratings and verbatim comments; data from the workplace…

The Secondary Analysis of TIMSS (Third International Mathematics and Science Study) Video Data study used TIMSS Videotape Classroom Study data and vPrism software to achieve methodological and substantive findings on teacher quality, instructional practices, and classroom interactions. It discussed methodological and technical issues arising…

This fastback document explores ways to develop alternative high-school programs to help at-risk students. It focuses on the "school within a school" model where the emphasis is on a caring school climate and smaller class sizes. The booklet offers a step-by-step guide for developing an alternative school, which begins with determining the need…

This paper explores the professional development experiences of nine graduate students working on their doctoral degrees in foundations of education. The experiences of these students illustrate the need for enhanced professional development of future teachers and leaders in foundations of education. These students came to foundations of education…

This paper summarizes the recent work of the Maryland Physics Education Research Group on analyzing student learning in introductory university physics. This work is carried out in a model of student thinking and learning based on principles from cognitive science. The model permits a better understanding of, and diagnosis for, the state of both…

This study examined teachers' use and evaluation of cooperative learning along with students' reactions to cooperative grouping and the quality of the group cooperation in a sample of Dutch primary school teachers who implemented cooperative learning methods. Data collection involved teacher questionnaires, student questionnaires, and observation.…

Since 1992, Vermont has been pioneering the development of community partnerships for improving social well-being, using indicators to track success. The working definition of a community, for outcome purposes, is the area served by a school supervisory union. Vermont is divided into 60 such supervisory unions (school districts), but…

Storytelling with persona dolls (dolls that are given names, family histories, and other traits by teachers) is a powerful tool for teaching classroom and social skills, giving children words for and tools to manage their feelings, developing problem-solving and conflict-resolution skills, expanding children's comfort with difference, undoing…

The use of a multiple intelligences (MI) assessment to enhance a career exploration program for eighth graders was studied. All of the eighth graders (n=160) in a suburban middle school completed three sets of activities as part of their career exploration program. Students completed a multiple intelligences self-assessment, the Multiple…