This article describes the development of "content negotiable" activities for teacher development sessions used with South African teachers of English as a Second Language in the United Kingdom. Using input from the teachers involved, sessions focused on teaching speaking and listening to secondary pupils. Contains 13 references. (MDM)

Responds to the article "Reconstructing Multicultural Education: a Response to Mike Cole" in which Cole defends his views of antiracist education and the role of cultural racism, the teaching of controversial aspects of other cultures, reconstructed multiculturalism as opposed to student misconceptions, and nationalism within the context…

The concept of physical and chemical change is far from being the clearest and most self-explanatory concept in the world. If a number of chemists are asked to define physical and chemical change, there may well appear to be a fair degree of uniformity in their answers, until a few examples are suggested. When chemists are asked to place a variety…

Examines the extent to which foreign language use should play a prominent part in a course. The article discusses subject knowledge; factors affecting students' language skills; course objectives, structure and content; student reaction to questions about tutor input and the topics appropriate for teaching in the foreign language; and perceived…

Examines the acquisition of academic writing skills by adult students studying by distance learning in the United Kingdom. Results indicate that the text-based nature of distance leaning affects both the way in which students acquire writing skills and the development of their identity as academic writers. Differences in the learning process were…

Reports the results of a two-year longitudinal study that examined the development of primary teachers' understanding of force and energy following inservice education. The approach used constructivist strategies and analogical reasoning to promote qualitative learning of science concepts. Interviews, questionnaires, and drawing tasks indicated…

Proposes a framework for school sex education within a plural society based on three themes: social changes contributing to uncertainty about sexual values in British society, sex education policy changes' impact on claims to moral legitimacy in this area, and initiatives renegotiating a moral consensus on school sex education values. (DSK)

Refutes Mike Cole's article "Racism, Reconstructed Multiculturalism and Antiracist Education" by addressing five main topics: (1) the new racism as a means to changing multicultural education; (2) representation of antiracist educators; (3) advice to teachers of controversial aspects of other cultures; (4) identifying students'…

This paper looks at the demographic distribution of campus and distance students of an MA TEFL/TESL course offered by a British University. An examination of the mother tongue of all students between 1994 and 2003 shows that non-native speakers on campus have increased from 60% to 90%. At the same time, native speaker campus students have…

The Open University is described as an independent, autonomous university which offers an opportunity for higher education to adults who could not or did not take advantage of the limited opportunity in England to enter an institution of higher education immediately on or shortly after leaving secondary school. It provides a basis for continuing…

Outlines several kinds of changes occurring in the history and philosophy of geography instruction in England. These are changes in the nature of the subject, changes in teaching methods, changes in school education, changes in undergraduate education; and student reactions to the subject. (MJP)

Suggests a way to overcome the difficulty of teaching effective reading skills to students with diverse interests. The approach is based on four specifications: (1) each student studies a text on a topic in his own specialty; (2) reading practice images students' academic contexts; (3) classes are learner centered; and (4) students are evaluated…

Discusses educational strategies for integrating hypermedia materials into traditional geographic instruction. Describes an undergraduate course that placed the instructor's lecture notes in a hypermedia format and included links to relevant Web sites. Students responded that the new formats resulted in clarity of presentation and access to a…

Little is known about the provision of statistics teaching for PhD students in UK medical schools. A recent survey found that statistics courses were available to PhD students in 13 of 21 schools responding. The provision across these 13 schools was variable in terms of contact hours and content. At a meeting of 27 medical statistics teachers,…

The washback effect of tests on teaching has attracted considerable attention over recent years, but the critical question of how this translates into washback on learning remains under-explored. To address this issue, questionnaires relating to academic writing instruction were distributed to 108 learners from mainland China preparing for…