A small rural high school committed to becoming a high-tech school. However, data collected using the IPI-T process suggested teachers were typically the users of the technology, students were often disengaged, and teachers were asking students to participate in lower-order surface activities. Missing from the process was the implementation of the…

This descriptive research study examined 2013 NAEP 12th-grade mathematics scores by students' use of graphing calculators in math classes and the kind of calculator students used during NAEP assessment. NAEP Data Explorer analysis included two questions from Student Factors: How often do you use these different kinds of calculators in math class?…

This paper compares how two universities, Iowa State University and the University of Saskatchewan, exploit a service-learning and authentic learning approach to instructional design. Both programs emphasize student engagement and responsibility, as well as projects that have social significance. At the same time, the courses offered by the two…

This paper makes a case for considering science as one of the humanities by describing the use of the Chautauqua Model in the state of Iowa to affect teacher attitude and behavior. The model includes a two-week experience with science, technology, and society teaching and learning (STS); a two-and-one-half day short course; planning and usage of a…

A positive relationship has been found between access to telecommunications capabilities and improved economic development. However, the deployment of systems that deliver toll-free Internet access favors urban regions. This research examines Internet service providers' (ISP) operations in rural portions of Texas, Iowa, Louisiana, and West…

The paper addresses issues facing small and rural Iowa school districts that attempt to provide services for their gifted and talented students. Problems with transportation, personnel costs, and the small number of target students are cited, and enrichment program alternatives such as mentorships, educational programing from television and radio,…

Iowa's first-in-the-nation statewide fiber-optics telecommunications network is bringing both excitement and concern to educators. One application of the fiber-optics network is the offering of college courses through live, interactive television instruction. The teacher in the origination site classroom is linked with students in one or more…

The Iowa-Scope, Sequence, and Coordination (SS&C) Program assists schools with reform of their entire middle school programs, grades 6-8, and features the science, technology, and society (STS) instructional approach. This reform translates to the creation of new frameworks for the school program and aims to produce "constructivist"…

The extent to which conditions and experiences of the farm crisis have tempered or shaped farm operators' opinions about the role of the scientific community in economic development through university-industry linkages is examined in this paper. Eleven Likert-type items, designed to ascertain how these linkages are viewed, were included in the…