Asserts that celebration of holidays, long a significant aspect of elementary social studies, has been abandoned by many schools because of controversy. Argues that holidays serve important societal functions and are part of the public culture. Provides criteria for establishing school policies about holidays and their celebration. (CFR)

Describes an instructional activity in which fifth graders identified geographic and economic factors that caused a town to become a ghost town. Discusses instructional procedures and materials used in the activity. Includes extension activities, maps, and suggestions for adapting the activity to other geographic regions. (CFR)

Describes an instructional unit using graphic organizers to teach about federalism in a U.S. government course. Includes models of charts and lists of appropriate student responses. (CFR)

A study explored the notion that moral reasoning skills are important to the provision of pharmaceutical care. It compared the moral reasoning skills of two classes of pharmacy students with those of practitioners who scored high on measures of pharmaceutical care and clinical decision making. Implications for pharmacy school admissions and…

Presents the story of the creation of an undergraduate course on the traditional and contemporary roles of women in North American Indian cultures. Notes that the course was designed around experiential learning precepts and the idea of "giving voice" to American Indian women. Lists texts used and evaluates course strengths. (DSK)

Reviews the history of postdoctoral programs in dentistry and medicine, focusing on postdoctoral general dentistry education, and describes the changing health-care environment in which future dental professionals will practice, relating the dental postdoctoral experience to that in medicine. A strategy is presented to prepare dental practitioners…

A discussion of dental education focuses on what constitutes competency-based education and how such a curriculum is designed. Topics addressed include desirable learning events at various stages in the learning continuum; program components; definition and assessment of outcomes; interdisciplinarity; focus on the entry-level practitioner's needs…

Central governance of undergraduate medical school curriculum is compared with traditional departmental approaches, based on experiences at the University of Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania). It is argued that centralized governance has more advantages but greater cost. A major challenge of this approach is in resolution of faculty conflict between…

Characterizes economist John Maynard Keynes as immoral, decadent, and short sighted. Criticizes his economic theories for manifesting these same qualities and claims that these theories hold predominant sway over high school economics education. Mentions several supposedly biased passages from textbooks but provides no examples. (MJP)

Factors in development of a new introductory economics course, primarily for nonmajors, are discussed. These include selection of course content to capture student interest and reflect societal change, creation of a more stimulating classroom environment, and use of three cooperative learning activities on poverty, inflation, and budget deficits.…

A series of twelve books on language teaching, written over a period of ten years, is reviewed. The series' intent is to promote the practice of informed teaching to empower student teachers to act as autonomous agents and to make considered pedagogic choices, based on sound theoretical knowledge, according to their particular teaching/learning…

Originally a series of local initiatives, Vocational Education and Training (VET) in Schools is now largely driven by policy makers and politicians who, too frequently, fail to appreciate the challenges the reform poses to teachers, school managers and workplace coordinators. Research has identified perceptions of poor quality in training,…

The value of increasing student input to learning opportunity design issues was explored through an action research project. In response to student-identified learning needs, a learning session on a first-year undergraduate research methods module was re-designed. The learning outcomes of two parallel student groups (one experiencing the original…

The graduate of the Ironworker - Metal Building System Erector apprenticeship program is a certified journeyperson who will be able to: (1) responsibly do all work tasks expected of a journeyperson; (2) supervise, train and coach apprentices; (3) demonstrate the principles of drafting, how drawings originate and how to correctly interpret the…

Instructors who consider creation of an experiential course in race relations at the university or college level may benefit from information provided in this article. One of the coauthors, a licensed psychologist and pioneer in this type of educational experience, provides insights regarding challenges of the course from an instructor's…