In an effort to improve access to education and to better serve residents of its 600 square mile district, Waubonsee Community College (WCC), in Sugar Grove, Illinois, utilizes telecourses, audiocourses, and live classes via microwave transmission to deliver instruction. Video and audio courses utilize prerecorded instructional materials,…

Over the years, situated and observational learning has given way to mass teaching and theoretical learning based on prose information. Even though schools have produced many successful professionals, they often fail to address individual differences in learners and encourage competition rather than cooperation between learners. As a result, many…

Beginning in 1995, the Michigan Department of Education sponsored pilot projects at the state's community colleges to develop curricular learning models and/or courses that integrate liberal arts or general education into vocational programs, identify and document faculty collaboration between liberal arts and occupational programs, and determine…

This paper provides a brief overview of Problem-Based Learning (PBL) as an instructional methodology. A description of a graduate program for practicing teachers at the University of Colorado at Denver (UCD) is also included. Problem-based learning is a student-centered instructional methodology that teaches content and skills within a knowledge…

There are a number of issues that must be addressed when delivering courses entirely online, such as designing effective user interfaces, using the visual medium of the World Wide Web effectively, and modifying traditional instructional methods. This paper discusses the design, development, implementation, and evaluation of an online course at…

The educational administration faculty at Eastern Michigan University sought to expand the linkage between theory and practice in all aspects of the program and to bridge traditional course divisions. A department-wide case method initiative was introduced with the purpose of developing the case-method teaching skills of all department members and…

An action research project underway at Marist Sisters' College (a secondary school) in Woolwich (New South Wales, Australia) is the first phase in the evolution of an across-the-school commitment to Cooperative Program Planning and Teaching (CPPT). Project goals include establishing an infrastructure to develop a dynamic methodology for CPPT in…

The present crisis in education is so severe that to return to the "basics," or simply to improve the standard approach to instruction, will only make the situation worse. Missing is a recognition of the importance of the imagination in the learning process. I. A. Richards (1925) has identified six distinct aspects of the imagination: (1) the…

Drawing from the personal experiences of faculty members from Thomas Nelson Community College (TNCC), this paper presented by three panel members explores methods of publishing student work, some of the problems and rewards inherent in doing so, and ways in which other composition instructors may provide a broader audience for the writings of…

A study investigated factors supporting innovation in American Indian education by comparing data from two separate studies. One was a followup study of 25 Indian educators' implementation of cooperative learning and whole language techniques, which sought to identify: (1) the impact of the innovations on student achievement; and (2) factors that…

This paper discusses a number of innovative techniques that were used to teach courses in Information Systems to undergraduate and graduate students. While none of these techniques is individually innovative, the combination of techniques provides a true "hands-on" environment for students; because of the way that the components of the…

This study examined the effectiveness of the anchored instruction (i.e., using a theme or anchor around which various learning activities take place) approach in preparing preservice teachers to integrate technology. Participants were 48 students enrolled in the three sections of a preservice educational technology class during the summer of 1997.…

The growth and development of the pedagogical schemata of 16 midwestern preservice teachers in a graduate-level, secondary alternative certification program was studied by examining: (1) pedagogical knowledge comprising the schemata as the program began; (2) pedagogical knowledge comprising the schemata at the end of student teaching; and (3)…

This study assessed the impact on student learning outcomes of the Integrated Center of Public Education (ICPE), an innovative program in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) for at-risk students; and compared school educational programs of the ICPE and a regular public school serving the same low-income community and focusing on critical thinking competence…

When given the opportunity to plan a new community learning center, Lakeland Community College's program planners sought the assistance of The College Board's Office of Adult Learning and Services. Thousands of scientifically weighted interviews involving households, students, and business leaders were evaluated to determine the community's…