Placed within the context of rural teaching and learning and the use of new technologies, this paper presents a comparative study of three technological approaches to the presentation of curriculum in schools. Supported by three different research projects in one Canadian province, it highlights three areas of e-learning: the use of video…

Uses literature discussion as a vehicle for encouraging fourth-grade students to reflect critically on injustice in their own lives. Notes that reflection is a basic skill and an important reading strategy all too often ignored or unacknowledged. Suggests that reflection is the very core of learning rather than an extra or supplementary reading…

This study explores ways of helping fifth grade students edit their work appropriately for their grade level. The use of Daily Oral Language, grammar worksheets, or the reliance on the teacher to edit were eliminated. Instead, more direction for students was provided through the use of checklists, peer editing, and word processing on a computer.…

Consists of three sections bound together by a common theme and reference list. The first section, by Gail Burnaford, addresses teacher action research as essential for motivating students and giving teachers a voice in curriculum. Section 2, by James Beane, explores common assumptions behind action research and integrative curriculum. Section 3,…

This study examined the use of Conflict Managers, a program teaching students communication skills and the ways to apply these skills to resolve their own conflicts. Participating were 33 fourth and fifth graders from middle class families and with varying academic abilities. Of the participants, 23 were Caucasian, 4 Asian-American, 1…

A teacher-designed study of 46 eighth-grade students in a southeastern middle school showed that a majority of students (male and female of high, average, and low ability) liked integrated curriculum, though males favored it more highly than females. This information lends support for middle-school curriculum reform efforts focusing on life skills…

This study discusses the successes and failures that resulted when fifth grade students used email to compose response journals. Every student was required to send at least one email a week to the teacher describing and reacting to the novel they were reading independently. The teacher would respond each evening. The study was conducted in an…

Problem-based learning (PBL) offers students the opportunity to apply the appropriate knowledge to a well-defined problem, allowing students to apply academic problem-solving skills to their own real-life problems. This paper describes outcomes of a PBL program that was used as a tool for school improvement in three South Carolina schools--one…

This quantitative/qualitative evaluation of an 80-hour course integrating the SCOPE Computer Program in Mathematics and Science into the curriculum for students, grades 6-12, was conducted to: (1) provide immediate feedback to facilitate improvement of the program; (2) determine course effects; and (3) provide practitioners with an effective…

Problems in students completing homework may be related to lack of parental involvement and support, student attitudes and priorities, and the assigning of inappropriate and irrelevant homework. This action research project implemented and examined the effectiveness of increased communication with parents regarding homework, cooperative learning…