Good teachers are storytellers. They use stories to promote interest in the classroom; to help students understand and remember events, places, people, and ideas; to provide context for teaching abstract concepts and systematic processes such as math and research skills; and to promote understanding of other cultures and people. Storytelling can…

Addresses the following issues, as illustrated by methodological features of a year-long ethnography of two high-school English classes: (1) the particular features and purposes of ethnography as a research genre; (2) the contributions it has made; and (3) the greatest challenges facing the ethnographer. (TB)

Shows how to use common topics within area studies to develop important social studies skills. The example provided illustrates how to develop data analysis, data evaluation, problem solving, and map skills using the topics of bamboo and the Bhopal, India, chemical disaster. (JDH)

The role of decision making, and its import for generating social change are examined. Decision making is considered from psychological, semantic, and scientific viewpoints, and suggestions for constructive change in social studies curricula are offered. (RJG)

Discusses the development of inquiry skills as a legitimate goal for education and possible ways of using technology to support the inquiry process in classrooms. Three elements of inquiry are examined--how inquiry can be motivated, the centrality of questioning, and metacognitive aspects--and examples of classroom projects are given. (EM)

To be effective in the current rapidly changing environment, individuals need more than a knowledge base. They also need information literacy which includes techniques for exploring new information, synthesizing it, and using it in practical ways. Undergraduate education should focus on such resource-based learning directed at problem solving.…

The ways in which the university library can serve the honors student through the cooperation of professional librarians and faculty are discussed. A close alliance with the university librarian can help promote successful structure and student experiences with research. Attention should be focused on the development of problem-solving skills that…

Bibliographic instruction can do more than provide directions on library use for a specific assignment; it can contribute to the objectives of liberal education by teaching skills in asking questions, critically analyzing information, and answering questions. (MSE)

Discusses the need to teach undergraduate students the critical thinking processes necessary to formulating and researching a topic, rather than the technicalities of online catalogs. The development and design of an online catalog at Dickinson College, which forces students to make informed choices throughout the search process, is described.…

Addresses the implications for education of the expansion of information technology and proposes a model for teaching information skills within the context of an overall process. A model called the "Big Six Skills" is presented, and its application to information problems related to school, life, and work are explained. (10 references)…

This paper describes the rationale behind and the development and utilization of a bibliographic instruction course which incorporates formal abstract reasoning skills. The limitations of the search strategy technique of bibliographic instruction are discussed as well as the fact that many college students have not developed sophisticated…