This article reports on the design, development and evaluation of an educational virtual environment for biology teaching. In particular it proposes a highly interactive three-dimensional synthetic environment involving certain learning tasks for the support of teaching plant cell biology and the process of photosynthesis. The environment has been…

Offers perspectives of four different writing lab personnel, namely: (1) a new peer tutor with writing skills but no formal training in teaching; (2) a graduate teaching assistant in writing with no tutoring experience; (3) an experienced tutor reflecting on what he wished he had been taught; and (4) a director-tutor sharing her lab experience.…

Syllabus designers and materials writers in developing nations must treat English for specific purposes as a language-policy solution to language-policy problems. They must familiarize themselves with sociopolitical factors affecting course design and subsequently the relevance of courses produced. Examples are illustrated through a case study of…

Maintains that western civilization's emphasis on dualistic thinking combined with a tendency to favor the cerebral/rational over the physical/emotional has resulted in music education stressing theory over the experiential pleasure of music. Synthesizes a number of influences into a more balanced set of universal principles for music education.…

Provides middle-level teachers with suggestions for evaluating their classroom environment to guarantee a positive classroom climate that will enable students to develop a positive self-concept and achieve academically. Presents six evaluative factors that address challenge, freedom, respect, warmth, control, and success issues. (SD)

Describes an undergraduate religion course at Brigham Young University (Utah) in which seven learners pursuing an online baccalaureate degree were invited to join 49 on-campus students. This case study presents an evaluation of the course based on interviews with distant learners, on-campus students, and instructors. (MES)

Details how to begin designing, implementing, and evaluating educational media in the geography classroom. Describes an approach to educational multimedia design focused on a coherent set of multimedia design standards informed by an understanding of evaluation functions. Includes illustrations from multimedia instructional screens. (MJP)

Identifies barriers to the improved effectiveness of adjunct faculty teaching of adult learners. Addresses three categories of skills and attributes essential for the adult educator: interpersonal skills, instructional planning skills, and teaching and learning transaction skills. Considers on-the-job training, in-service training, and graduate…

A survey of instructional development practitioners at 51 Canadian universities investigated the perceived potential of 36 specific practices for improving teaching. Greatest potential was seen in faculty incentives (appointment, tenure, promotion). Administrator support of effective teaching was viewed as important, as were support structures…

A system to monitor student reactions to what is occurring on a computer screen is described. The system produces a split-screen image of the computer screen and the student's physical (facial and bodily) and verbal responses. It was developed to help improve an independent-study prototype for a finance course at Pennsylvania State University.…

Describes a teaching experiment that evaluated published supplemental materials used to aid preparation of lessons at the fourth grade level involving nonroutine word problems. Lists 12 insights gained that can be useful to teachers using commercially produced problem-solving materials. (MDH)

Supports recent efforts of the Bradley Commission on History in the Schools and the National Commission on Social Studies in the Schools to increase the amount of history taught in the U.S. public schools. Suggests ways the Organization of American Historians and the American Historical Association can contribute to this effort. (SLM)

Suggests incorporating reading, writing, and social studies within the context of literature. Includes reading lists and activities for teaching about the Victorian period in a two-month social studies unit that incorporates science fiction, mysteries, and fairy tales. Children discuss old photographs, examine artifacts, visit a Victorian mansion,…

Asserts that the early childhood social studies curriculum should enable children to rethink and revise their tentative understandings of the world in light of new information and experiences. Argues that teachers must have knowledge of history, the social sciences, and cultural pluralism to design and teach social studies effectively. (CFR)

Describes a software shell, STAR.Legacy, designed to guide attempts to help students learn from case, problem, and project-based learning. STAR.Legacy supports the integration of four types of learning environments: learner-centered, knowledge-centered, assessment-centered, and community-centered. Describes how a STAR.Legacy constructed for an…