Field action projects are a distinguishing feature in social work education and practice and can serve as a live lab for social work students. Many renowned social work educational institutions began with the field action projects and developed them to a significant level. The state of Madhya Pradesh, India has several problems, and field action…

The federal government and private foundations for education have established postsecondary credential completion as a national imperative. Washington State's Integrated Basic Education and Skills Training (I-BEST) model was developed to increase the rate at which basic skills students advance to and succeed in college-level occupational programs,…

This paper examines the economic changes that have taken place in recent years in two central European countries, Hungary and Poland. Findings in the paper are based on materials gathered during the summer of 1998 on a Fulbright-Hays seminar visit to Hungary and Poland and from talks with officials and professors in those countries. Observations…

Describes a field study that found that student "brinkmanship" (assertive behavior attempting to challenge the school's authority system yet avoid negative sanctions) is related to organizational routinization and student-teacher rapport. When rapport is poor, high routinization and control is correlated with low brinkmanship. (Author/JM)

Over 600 students taking advanced level biology in more than 130 schools were surveyed to investigate the relationship between their attitudes toward fieldwork and factors associated with fieldwork teaching. Responses given by the students and their teachers are presented and discussed. (Author/JN)

Informal discussion groups, "rap groups", have been found to be an effective method for establishing rapport and understanding with mentally retarded adults in sheltered workshop settings. To investigate the use of rap groups as a field research approach with mentally retarded adults, four groups of 6 to 9 mentally retarded adults,…

The Enright Arithmetic Program is a diagnostic-prescriptive program designed to facilitate an effective remedial effort. The program is based on establishing for each student the set of skills that student needs to learn and also identifies the error pattern causing the student's current failure. Practice materials for each needed skill are…

Two designs of undergraduate terrestrial ecology and behavior field courses are described and compared. These include using a variety of projects and using a single individual research project. The relative educational benefits of each are considered and the advantages of each type of course are discussed. (Author/CW)

Describes a six-week, six-credit, field-based physical and historical geology course offered by Lehigh University (Pennsylvania) in conjunction with its standard summer field studies program. Stresses the advantages of integrating physical and historical geology concepts in a field setting. (TW)

The primary purpose of this study was to determine the fit between program elements described in curriculum texts that are used to identify program designs and those elements of a program used in classroom settings to teach or implement a program. A secondary purpose was to identify and describe qualitative research techniques that are usable to…

Describes a graduate field course taught in Brazil that uses a system concept and the geochemical cycle as unifying paradigms to study various environments. Emphasizes the acquisition of techniques of integrated observation, using operational definitions, measurement scales, and a priori hypotheses. (Author/TW)

A study examined whether career academy programs, with their tailored curricula, dilute content of required curricula, and whether academy students who follow this alternative course of study are less prepared to score well on standardized tests. Data were gathered through site visits to seven schools, review of reports and documents, and…

Asserts that the need for precise and detailed procedures in the collection of qualitative data is of paramount importance. Describes qualitative procedures that were used in a research study of teachers' and students' perceptions of effective teaching and learning. (CFR)

Cognitive learning related to the environment has typically been subsumed as a part of instruction in the more traditional areas of the secondary school curriculum, in particular in science and/or social studies classes. This digest contains a review of a number of studies dealing with cognitive learning in the environment, investigating the…

This research compared the performance of ninth grade females and males on flight protocol, with particular attention to interpretation of the graphs of paths of falling bodies, rolling objects, and projectiles. These subjects were chosen because they had received no formal instruction in projectile motion, yet through typical life experience, had…