Many national initiatives in K-12 science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education have emphasized the connections between teachers and improved student learning. Much of the discussion surrounding these initiatives has focused on the preparation, professional development, evaluation, compensation, and career advancement of…

Policy makers use past experience and history to think about current and potential problems and to explain policies and problems to others. Decision makers may be overly influenced by significant personally-experienced events that loom so large in their eyes that details and related relevant information may pale in comparison. Deficiencies in…

This paper explores the decision-making process leading to school district approval for staff development. A retrospective field study approach was used to investigate the decision of a small, rural school district in eastern Washington (enrollment 2,200) to adopt a comprehensive English composition teaching program throughout the curriculum. This…

Computer programs written in BASIC for the study of microeconomic analysis with special emphasis in economic decisions on price, output, and profit of a business firm are described. A very brief overview of the content of each of the 28 computer programs comprising the course is provided; four of the programs are then discussed in greater detail.…

This paper presents an outline of a five-day program designed to introduce first-grade children to decision-making processes. Included in the paper are: (1) lists of assumptions, goals, and strategies; (2) a day-by-day outline of activities; and (3) a reader's theater script based on "The Legend of the Bluebonnet" for use by the…

An on-going experiment in the classroom use of the Japanese quality circle concept of consensus and group management has been conducted for the past 2 years at the Ogontz Campus of Pennsylvania State University. Quality circles composed of the teacher and eight student volunteers meet weekly for 45 minutes, with each member informing three other…

This instructional unit is intended for use in training operations personnel and others involved in scram analysis at nuclear power plants in the techniques of root cause analysis. Four lessons are included. The first lesson provides an overview of the goals and benefits of the root cause analysis method. Root cause analysis techniques are covered…

As the age of the population continues to increase, faculty retirement issues are becoming more central to campus-level planning and management. Academic planners and senior administrators recognize that there are positive, negative, and unintended consequences associated with various retirement programs and policies, whether they are early…

This study addressed the question of whether teachers' judgments differ according to the frequency of data collection on student performance and the type of trend. The study also investigated whether teachers' judgments, based on different types of graphs (ascending, descending, flat, or variable), vary with the frequency of data collection. A set…

Analytical case studies can provide a way for high school geography teachers to develop their students' interpretive skills, skills which are not fostered by the traditional teacher-centered textbook methods of geography instruction. The case study approach introduces the student to economic and cultural activities within a country or region or to…

The key to educational excellence is rethinking a new role for excellent teachers that embraces the classroom and extends beyond it into leadership activities. Among current policy initiatives are attempts to integrate stronger teacher roles into guidelines for incentive plans and to use teachers' strengths in the decision making process at local…

It is possible to empower learners by encouraging them to make judgments and decisions about the world and then providing them with feedback on resultant conceptualizations. Teachers can help build a basis for thinking about an interdependent world by highlighting the international dimensions of topics typically studied. When students use critical…

Before adding consulting, training, or other work to the usual responsibilities of teaching, academicians must make a number of decisions. These include whether to work in or outside of academe, how much time they have available, whether they can meet the physical and mental demands of consulting, how to arrange for initial contacts, and how much…

Reviews some of the problems involved in the evaluation of educational software, and describes a classroom-based case study approach to software evaluation intended for application by autonomous self-programming groups of teachers. (20 references) (Author/CLB)

Ego development is an implicit aim of higher education and can be one of its most significant results, according to R. P. Weathersby. There are several developmental stages, each having characteristics to describe personality traits, style of behavior, conscious preoccupations, and ways of thinking. From lowest level to highest, the stages are:…