A study used the Delphi research method to gain a consensus among 40 professionals on the appropriate levels of instructional service to address the need of students with visual impairments in 12 areas of Braille literacy skills. Recommendations are provided for designing Braille programs, including the need to individualize programs. (Contains…

An education professor explains how she uses her own lesson plans for a course in middle-grade methods to demonstrate lesson planning for students. She uses an entrance table with handouts to illustrate time-saving classroom techniques. Seeing and experiencing generally beats telling. (MLH)

The teacher as a "sage on the stage" is being eclipsed by the learning facilitator, or "guide on the side." While there is room for constructivist methodologies, the rage against expertise and repetitive or rote learning practices is misguided. Students deserve a chance to learn from real experts. (MLH)

This article presents a procedure found effective for including students with special needs in daily instructional activities within a general classroom. Steps in the procedure include individualized instruction incorporating student choice of materials, feedback from teacher-designed rubrics, application of student-constructed reading logs, and…

Describes the collaborative effort between a professor of literature and a professor of language methodology in the development and implementation of a teaching strategies course for undergraduates and a workshop on the teaching of literature for teaching assistants in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at Ohio State University. (Author/VWL)

Points to weaknesses of traditional tests and comments on the theoretical background and necessity of performance assessment. Presents specific information on performance assessment and provides assessment examples. (Author/VWL)

Discusses how learners affective domain should be incorporated into development of a second and foreign language curriculum. Addresses theoretical perspectives on the application of affective characteristics into curricular design for second and foreign language teaching and undertakes practical considerations for using this approach. (Author/VWL)

Presents an outline for a planned technical session discussing innovations in the Web, the current state of Web searching, challenges, and future directions. Highlights include search engines; an empirical comparison of Web site overview techniques; Federal statistics web sites; and an evaluation of Web search engines from the end-user's…

Studied the extent to which written diagnostic questions can be used to assess science students' representations of the nature of science using responses of 731 European upper secondary and undergraduate students. Results suggest that the majority of students draw on different epistemological representations in different contexts. (SLD)

Transition courses for licensed practical nurses moving into associate degree programs and for registered nurses earning bypass credit in bachelor's degree programs was evaluated through surveys of 237 students and graduates, 68 supervisors, and faculty. Students invested half the time and money as regular students; they wanted better advisement…

Discusses educational computer advertising developed by information and communications technology (ICT) firms in the United Kingdom, arguing that such advertisements present a disempowering view of teachers, which may well impact teacher use of instructional technology. The paper highlights four dominant themes: ICT as problematic and problem…

Questions the claims by advocates of educational assessment reform, highlighting the work of Wiggins, who introduced authentic assessment. Discusses the origins of authentic tests, authenticity and validity, and assessment and educational philosophy, concluding that promotion of authentic assessment is flawed because "authentic" is misleading, and…

Interviews 36 practicing teachers, using phenomenological methods to examine what, when, where, and to whom teachers offer choice. Final results focus on the following main points: teachers believe that choice promotes learning and motivation; choice is used in a number of ways; and teachers impose limits on classroom choice based on student age,…

Traces the development and pedagogical theory of the case study method. Offers an overview of current discourse on its effectiveness. Presents results from a quasi-experiment. Finds that students exposed to the case method improved their problem solving skills measurably and significantly over a 15-week semester, outperforming the control group…

Considers what kind of classroom environment must be created to encourage first grade students to choose to read and write. Describes how the author changed her classroom arrangement, dividing it into 7 centers: the science center; information center; computer center; library center; family room; learning center, and the writing center. (SG)