In lieu of the Curriculum and Instruction course, University of Hawaii education majors may serve as interns at Kailua High School's alternative program, Community Quest (CQ). Interns learn to design, implement, and evaluate curriculum. This article describes the CQ course and presents evaluative comments from some interns. (Author/SJL)

The University of Hawaii's exploratory Observation-Participation Program trains education majors in observing a host teacher and working in a classroom. The author, a host teacher, describes the structure and content of the experience she presented to her trainees, secondary speech-communication majors. (SJL)

The author presents teacher preparation guidelines for successful implementation of simulated office occupations experience programs. After listing 20 needed skills, she suggests observation of simulations and the business world, work experience, methods courses, and workshops. (MF)

This paper discusses what teacher education programs can do to prepare teachers for diverse classrooms. One approach is through cooperative learning, since children come to school with various orientations to cooperative behavior. Many teachers, however, jump into cooperative activities with little thought of the behaviors needed by students to…

University students enrolled in a social studies methods course improved their critical thinking ability by engaging in specific thinking activities and by teaching critical thinking skills lessons to secondary school students. The program utilized was called Improve Minimal Proficiencies by Activating Critical Thinking (IMPACT). Key elements of…

This study explored the impact of cooperative learning in a college level laboratory science course by comparing classes taught by a conventional lab-lecture technique. Students in a basic science skills course for preservice elementary teachers participated over a 14-week period. Instruments used were the Science Attitude Survey, Test of Logical…

To determine how college instructors evaluate student learning in their reading methods course, a questionnaire was administered to 15 instructors of elementary, and 11 instructors of secondary, reading methods courses. The instrument was divided into five sections for the purpose of collecting the following data: (1) course design and components…

Graduate students enrolling in research methods courses frequently experience significant anxiety. An effective instructor can lessen anxiety and alleviate frustration by using both personal interaction and course activities. This newsletter describes ways to reduce anxiety and help students approach research with understanding and interest. This…

Presents tabular and narrative findings from a survey of industrial teacher educators to obtain data on the delivery systems they preferred to use in teaching specific teacher competencies and the categories or clusters of teaching competencies. The educators still preferred print-base materials and the lecture-discussion method. (MF)

Reports on a study undertaken to validate the practicality of using the Constructivist Learning Environment Survey (Perceived Form) (CLES) in a preservice elementary science methods course. Suggestions are made to potentially revise the CLES for more accurate measures in college classrooms. (LZ)

Reports on a study of 11 preservice teachers' beliefs and practices about secondary social studies education. Finds that the preservice teachers held positive conceptions about social studies, stressing active learning techniques and knowledge construction. (ACM)

Reports on a study of 17 undergraduate music education majors to determine whether sequential instructional techniques acquired in a methods course were transferred to a private instructional setting. Finds that students who were told explicitly to use the sequential approach were more successful in applying the acquired skills. (CFR)

A study with 77 preservice teachers found that, in a reading methods course, students trained to use informal reading inventory concepts and procedures with a systematic cooperative learning approach performed better than those taught with direct instruction. In addition, the former group perceived lectures, group work, and feedback as effective.…

Explores the interrelationship of educational research to art. Recommends using art as a part of research methodology. Describes the use of a nineteenth-century painting, "The Knitting Lesson," as a metaphor for incorporating the use of research in preservice art education. (CFR)

This book is based on the premise that, although many professional organizations and the public are concerned about how teachers are prepared for their profession, this concern is not reflected in research about teaching methods classes. By presenting findings about the educational experiences of preservice teachers, the book aims to generate…