Microcomputer modules were developed to help Pennsylvania State University students and inservice teachers develop 10 generic competencies regarding working with handicapped students in the least restrictive environment. Competencies touch on understanding the legal bases for education in the least restrictive environment, making use of…

The Toledo Partnership Committee for Teaching, created to improve teaching and preservice teacher education, includes representatives from Bowling Green State University, the University of Toledo, the Toledo Federation of Teachers, the Toledo Association of Administrative Personnel, the Toledo Public Schools, and the Toledo Catholic Schools…

This paper describes a teacher preparation instructional unit on the "Structure of Knowledge" that was designed to help students learn to think like Jerome Bruner and David Ausubel rather than merely acquire knowledge about them, while simultaneously improving students' thinking skills. The unit used Sternberg's triarchic theory to…

This paper explores Fred Genesee's Classroom Based Assessment (CBA) as an alternative model for assessing instruction as it affects students' learning in an immersion program. CBA collects information on language while instruction and other activities are taking place, allowing teachers the flexibility to alter teaching strategies to be more…

The teacher consultant's role in working with regular classroom teachers of students with mild to moderate learning or behavior problems is examined. The three-party interaction network in consultation is discussed along with five models of consultation: the expert model, the medical model, the mental health model, the collaboration model, and the…

A discussion of classroom teaching addresses two questions about how teachers learn to teach: (1) What do teachers know and how do they use that knowledge to do what they do in the classroom?; and (2) How do teachers learn what they know? In response to the first question, it is proposed that teaching can be seen from three basic perspectives: as…

This paper investigates the problem of developing judicially sound and workable standards for dismissing incompetent teachers. Numerous cases are cited to support the contention that there is a desperate need for stable standards of performance that will have the qualities necessary to withstand judicial scrutiny: (1) required teacher knowledge,…

The microteaching course continues to be a focal point in the preservice training of science teachers. The purpose of this study was to qualitatively investigate the effects of a microteaching course on preservice science teachers' perceptions of teaching, instructional behaviors, decision making skills, and any changes in beliefs occurring…

One common sense approach to college teaching might simply be to implement those practices that are proven reliable and frequently review the methods that seem to result in learning and those that do not. Guidelines based on some instructional approaches that have worked at Mohawk College in Ontario, Canada include the following: (1) assume that…

A program successful in developing the teaching skills of both experienced and new faculty members at The Autonomous University of the North East (Universidad Autonoma del Noreste) at Saltillo, Coahuila, Mexico, is described. The program has incorporated several literature-based features of effective programs: presentation of supportive theory of…

Humor is an important tool for the teacher in college classrooms. Generally, laughter is a great benefit in anyone's life, having even physiological influence. Laughter reduces stress and may facilitate creativity. However, the use of humor can both enhance and hinder the learning process. Various researchers have tried to identify structures,…

The key to initiating a training program for new composition instructors or teaching assistants (TAs), or for successfully maintaining one already in place, is to understand that TAs need to be acclimated to the discourse of composition. In addition, departments must clearly define the theories and goals underlying composition instruction, and…

A peer training system for teaching assistants (TAs) that is sponsored by the Writing Program Resource Center at the University of Massachusetts is described from the perspective of the center coordinator. The center seeks to improve teaching in the freshman composition program by providing TAs feedback in a non-threatening and understanding way…

The Florida Mental Health Institute and the Department of Special Education, both at the University of South Florida, have created a practicum program for teacher trainees in behavior disorders. The program was designed as an intensive, sequenced approach for training in basic academic and behavioral skills related to successful teaching…

The objectives of this research were: (a) to identify the content and configuration of critical activity structures and routines in well-functioning classrooms; (b) to trace the origins of routines during the first four days of school; and (c) to identify the mechanisms used by expert teachers to teach students the content, the cues, and the…