From brainstorming to outlining, rough drafts to peer editing, revision to final copy, all of the tasks involved in the writing process can be accomplished using technology. However, when faced with the research paper, students are often asked to keep track of sources and information on handwritten bibliography note cards. In this article, a…

Marketing in the business world has long used focus group interviews and survey techniques to explore the attitudes, behaviors, and perceptions of their customers. In the college setting, these same techniques are now being used to improve program quality, assess the effectiveness of publications, and explore the image of the college. At Durham…

Investigates the influence of the teacher's presence/absence on primary children's group work in a World Studies class. Discovered that, although children generally remain on task, the teacher's presence resulted in improved quality and consistency. Includes tables of statistical and observational data, as well as excerpts from the students'…

The level of online hostility, with "flames" fired back and forth among participants, can at times make discussion groups appear to be the ultimate refuge for sociopaths releasing years of pent-up frustration. The safety of distance and relative anonymity make these verbal battles virtually risk free. This document discusses ways to personally…

The experience that will be described in this paper is based on work carried out during the Chance Project, an experimental programme designed to re-integrate teenage drop-outs from difficult areas of the inner city into mainstream school. The Project, which has been running in Naples, southern Italy, since 1998, comprises three school centres…

This paper presents a description and analysis of the work of a group of primary grade teachers who decided to study their practices and engage their students in inquiry. Their school was in a lower socioeconomic area with a multiethnic student body. The political nature of their work is documented via two themes that emerged from their work. The…

Describes the Dublin model, a program which uses thematic units or individualized reading assignments to focus on popular adolescent literature and includes projects that demonstrate students' comprehension of text. Discusses the formulation, implementation, and assessment of this program. (RS)

Theoretical foundation of Response mechanisms in networks of online learners are revealed by Statistical Analysis of p* Markov Models for the Networks. Our comparative analysis of two networks shows that the minimal-effort hunt-for-social-capital mechanism controls a major behavior of both networks: negative tendency to respond. Differences in…

After reviewing the literature on interaction in distance education/online learning contexts, I offer some suggestions for balancing students' and teachers' needs for greater interaction with the economies of scale often achieved in such learning contexts. Specifically, I suggest that instructors' use of threaded online discussions and student…

A Pennsylvania district used study groups to help teachers districtwide change their science teaching to standards-based practice of inquiry. Standards-based inquiry instruction requires that teachers have a deeper content knowledge as well as understand the process of inquiry. Making those changes requires support and a collegial environment.

One leader, 12 readers, and a few well-thumbed copies of Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice." That is all a book club once required, but this is no longer the case. This article describes how the runaway popularity of book clubs has brought with it a whole new set of possibilities. Thematic discussion? A fiction/nonfiction mix? Videoconferencing?…

A course in English as a second language (ESL) offered at Golden West College located in Orange County, California is designed to help students from many ethnic backgrounds develop speaking and listening skills for success in school, social situations, and work. Students must be at the intermediate ESL level. Each unit of study consists of…

Between 1993 and 1996, Henry Ford Community College (Michigan) worked with business, industry, and technical instructors to revise their Technical Mathematics program in accordance with the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) Standards. The purpose of the project was to restructure the technical math curriculum and create a context…

In Kenya alone, where the infection rate is estimated to have reached 13 percent of the population, 27,000 teachers will die and more than 2 million children will lose one or both parents to AIDS in the next five years. The Kenyan project uses "study circles," in which teachers learn together about HIV, script new sexual behaviors for…

Despite the complex emotional and interpersonal challenges inherent therein, credential students often comment that their student teaching experience had the greatest influence on their development as new teachers. An essential component of teacher education programs, the field experience serves many purposes. Although the theoretical potential…