All school leaders understand the importance of providing meaningful feedback. Done well, it supports pupil progress, building learning, addressing misunderstandings, and thereby closing the gap between where a pupil is and where the teacher wants them to be. However, not all feedback has positive effects. Done badly, feedback can even harm…

This paper addresses the problem of how teaching performance should be evaluated and rewarded and examines how a University of Nebraska (Lincoln) Project FIPSE (Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education) has helped to improve the climate for teaching and the processes for recognizing and rewarding excellence. First, the paper examines…

Dependence on standardized tests in adult literacy programs derives partly from their relative ease of adminstration and their appearance of providing valid and reliable quantitative data for program evaluation. Few adult educators are satisfied with the quality of the information, and most are extremely dissatisfied with the effects of such…

This information sheet describes Numeracy and Mathematics, one of four streams or subject areas offered in the Certificates in General Education for Adults (CGEA) in Australia. The learning outcomes are organized into four different categories or domains according to different purposes and functions of using mathematics: numeracy for practical…

Examines basic issues about art education including its content, relevance to students' lives, creativity, and testing and accountability. Argues that art educators need to work at diagnosing problems, improving learning, and making opportunities for students rather than attempting to make art education accountable by submitting it to formal…

This information sheet describes Reading and Writing, one of four streams or subject areas offered in the Certificates in General Education for Adults (CGEA) in Australia. The stream is organized around the four main social contexts in which individuals function within society: family and social life, workplace and institutional settings,…

This information sheet describes Oral Communication, one of four streams or subject areas offered in the Certificates in General Education for Adults (CGEA) in Australia. The stream is organized around some purposes for which oral language is used in social life: active listening, practical purposes, and problem solving and exploring issues. Each…

This information sheet describes General Curriculum Options, one of four streams or subject areas offered in the Certificates in General Education for Adults (CGEA) in Australia. The first seven learning outcomes are based on seven key competencies: collecting, analyzing, and organizing information; planning and organizing activities;…

Algebraic calculators with symbolic manipulation capabilities are tools in some classrooms for 14-19 year olds, and their use in learning and teaching mathematics is likely to increase over time. Explains the reports of government-initiated working groups that consider the implications of their use in academic mathematics examinations for…

This handbook presents a process for the assessment of college curricula and student learning in general education and liberal learning. The key concepts of the Coursework Cluster Analysis Model (CCAM) are described and explained. Some of the general guidelines on interpreting the results of CCAM analyses are presented as well as key decisions…

Addressing issues, concerns, and practices surrounding how children use spelling and become competent, confident spellers and writers, this booklet provides practical information, personal stories of practicing North Carolina teachers, strategies, and helpful suggestions for transitioning from textbook spelling to spelling in use. Sections of the…

Examines research from several fields and evaluates techniques for managing discomfort when making presentations. (Written for business communication teachers and presentation-skills trainers in business.) (PD)

This paper is a status report and an extension probing further into the issue of internationalizing the undergraduate business school curriculum. The research analyzes the responses (n=123) to a 1992 survey of business schools and programs that were members of the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) to determine to what…

The emphasis on promoting thinking skills in the classroom has fostered several trends, tendencies, and tensions. This movement has taken three directions: the teaching of thinking, teaching for thinking, and teaching about thinking. In the first, thinking is regarded as a process of developing a set amount of skills. The proponents of this…

Argues, with exemplification, that what is relevant to the undergraduate biology curriculum, as well as what must be covered by that same curriculum, can both be systematically addressed by the process of outcomes assessment, thereby assuring appropriate program perspective as a desirable precursor to major curriculum revision. (nine references)…