Instructional systems development (ISD) is a systems approach to curriculum development and instructional delivery. It is oriented toward occupational needs with an emphasis on what it is that students must learn to perform specific tasks, what facilities best provide a setting for the neccessary learning, and what instructional methods and media…

Recommendations from the first annual Utah Small Schools Conference resulted in several specific actions. After studying certification requirements to determine if greater flexibility could be attained to remedy some of the restrictive rules that burdened small schools, the Utah State Board made it possible to move administrators and supervisors…

A project is described in which slow learning high school students in British Columbia investigated community housing problems. The objective of the project was to show how investigation of contemporary community problems can help slow learning students develop knowledge, skills, and attitudes conducive to responsible citizenship. Methodology…

University education departments and teacher educators are not presently providing the innovative reform-minded milieu necessary to develop vital, deeply committed social studies teachers. Education degree programs are remarkably similiar in course requirements and format, emphasizing traditional lecture oriented courses and student teaching.…

An experimental first-year German program at the University of Texas is described. The course builds on and extends psychologist James Asher's Total Physical Response strategy and is based on five principles: (1) presenting language as communication in context; (2) teaching recognition before production; (3) postponing demands for error-free…

Selected panel discussions and papers presented during the 14th annual forum of the Association of Institutional Research present analytical approaches--if not solutions--to imperatives identified in 1973. The articles build upon the six major policy reports on higher education released during the academic year: Carnegie Commission, Committee for…

The information technology/information systems (IT/IS) education sector needs to come up with creative ways of thinking about on-line education. In this paper, the major themes in the literature on on-line education to date are highlighted with a view to identifying issues that are either missing or under-emphasized. Next, the "radical model of…

In this paper, the authors examine several factors related to class size. The purpose of the presentation is to: (1) trace the evolution of class-size research; (2) briefly describe the Student Achievement Ratio (STAR) class-size experiment; (3) summarize the early and the later student outcomes of STAR participants; (4) outline the…

For years, Maori tribes have wanted their own people to be trained as teachers and to return to teach their own language and culture in their tribal regions. Many Maori who returned from colleges of education had absorbed too much of European New Zealanders' ways and did not meet their community's expectations. Maori-education preschools were…

This paper describes a major reform effort of an elementary science curriculum called the Science: Parents, Activities, and Literature (Science PALs) Project. The goal of the project was to move teachers towards an interactive-constructivist model of teaching and learning that assumes a middle-of-the-road interpretation of constructivism where…

This paper presents information for educators on delivering an Internet-based course. The paper is divided into three parts. Part 1, "Teaching on the Web, What Is It?," lists advantages and disadvantages of face-to-face classroom instruction, traditional distance education, and Internet-based education which combines features from both…

After a review of the literature, critical reflective work behavior (CRWB) was defined as: a set of connected, individual activities aimed at analyzing, optimizing, or innovating work practices on the individual, team, or organizational level. The combination of literature review and analysis of case studies led to the operationalization of CRWB…

This paper describes three government-funded technology programs in Portugal and the changes they brought about in Portuguese schools: (1) Project MINERVA (Computing Means in Education: Rationalization, Valorization, Actualization), launched in 1985 and ended in 1994, was an innovative program to introduce new technologies in schools; (2) Program…

Alaska has been forced by geography and weather to look at numerous innovative solutions to improving communication between families and schools. The Internet is showing more impact than any other technique that has been tried. This has been especially helpful to parents of children with disabilities, due to a severe shortage of special education…

This research project examined an innovative technology integration model that includes the design, development, implementation, and assessment of the use and integration of technology by inservice and preservice teachers. Personnel from a school district, an area education agency, and a college of education work collaboratively to provide the…