Two years after conception, the Elderhostel program draws acclaim from participants, staff, and observers. The Aristotelian concept of the liberal arts deals with the interplay between subject matter and learner. So great is this interplay that it is difficult to judge whether the hosteler is more liberated or more liberating. (Author)

Argues that in order to have bona fide inquiry experiences, students must formulate their own questions, create hypotheses, and design investigations that test those hypotheses and answer the proposed questions. (DDR)

Discusses the importance of toys in improving students' motivation and understanding of scale, proportions, and ratios by connecting toys with their real-life counterparts. Presents a unit that includes measurement activities in order to teach these topics by comparing toys and actual measurements for known and unknown scale toys. (ASK)

Describes a modular, interdisciplinary curriculum offered by the City and East London Confederation. This curriculum aims to encourage more student responsibility for education, to create a problem solving approach to learning, to give early exposure to clinical elements, and to develop student communication skills. (DDR)

Argues that the social problems confronting America have been bombarded with ill-conceived and unsuccessful social policy largely driven by fear. Explains that parental licensing is a draconian and unworkable solution. Vouchers for indigent youth to attend Catholic schools, developing after-school and summer programs, and reforming welfare are…

Children who come to school without numerical game-playing experience have trouble with math relationships in direct-instruction situations. This article explores the varied roles of active thinking, social interaction, previous knowledge, and child-initiated choice in children's development of math concepts. Self-esteem cannot be built by doing…

Describes a series of learning activities built around number cubes. Sample activities introduce elementary properties of the cube, the magic rule of seven, and basic concepts related to graphs in the plane coordinate system. (PVD)

Offers a problem for teachers to try with their students. The problem is presented visually as a row of 15 connected squares and the task is to determine the number of rectangles. The goal is to encourage teachers to reflect on students' work and analyze classroom dialogue. (PVD)

Describes an extended investigation of polygons and polyhedra which was conducted in response to a challenge posed in Focus, a newsletter from the Mathematical Association of America (MAA). Students were challenged to construct a polyhedron with faces that measure more than 13 inches to a side. Outlines the process, including the questions posed…

Debates what the role of activism should be in environmental education. Argues that school systems are not the places to wage battles about restricting the choices that future generations can make about the environment. (DDR)

Identifies and describes the differences in the problem-solving methods used by faculty teaching introductory chemistry and students enrolled in an introductory chemistry course. Results indicate that students correctly solve algorithmic-mode problems more frequently. Contains 33 references. (DDR)

Examines whether an approach to teaching Logo programming that directly guides college students in use of cognitive monitoring skills and the transfer of those skills leads to increased cognitive monitoring and problem-solving skills. Demonstrates that guided instruction led to increased comprehension monitoring and contributed to the development…

Examines the impact of one unit of a curriculum module for sixth grade from the Model-based Analysis and Reasoning in Science (MARS) project. Provides an overview of this unit on mass and discusses three aspects of the evaluation of the unit. Contains 22 references. (DDR)

Discusses the interconnection among the various modes of the TI-92 calculator (geometry, data graphing, function graphing, and algebra) and how the power of visualization is extended to provide multiple approaches to complex problem situations. Provides a graphing problem with illustrations and results. (AIM)

Responses from 143 of 315 British college graduates showed that they rated the importance of transferable skills more highly than their own ability in these areas; they rated themselves lowest in information technology skills, highest in working without supervision; and males rated their own communication and problem-solving abilities more highly,…