Distance Educational Practice is today supported by a range of information systems (IS) design theories. Still, there are surprisingly few strong pedagogical ideas and constructs that are communicated across distance educational institutions. Instead it is often the technology, the software and the medium that is at the centre of attention as we…

Beginning teachers face enormous challenges in their first year of teaching. High attrition rates of teachers within the first five years attest to the difficulties inherent in commencing professional life as a teacher. This paper describes the design of a Web site developed to overcome many of the problems of professional isolation encountered by…

Schools and universities all over the world are continuously exploring ways to use the web technology in improving teaching effectiveness. The use of course web pages, discussion groups, bulletin boards, and e-mails have shown impact on teaching and learning in significant ways, across all disciplines. e-Learning has emerged as an alternative to…

This document presents an Internet discussion that took place on a number of electronic forums about scientific and scholarly journals and their future. Six principle discussants and about two dozen others advance both radical and traditional views. Topics include housing a comprehensive scientific electronic publishing system, responsibility for…

The Focus Study, conducted by the National Council of La Raza's Poverty Project, used structured discussions by focus groups to examine Mexican American women's opinions, needs, and attitudes as they relate to the implementation of the 1988 Family Support Act (FSA). FSA's primary objective is to move people off welfare through education, training,…

Questions about the necessity of tutors' content experience and what skills are required to make tutor behavior effective have received increased attention in the literature about problem-based learning. The present study attempts to examine the effects of context-specific variables through analysis of the generalizability of tutor behavior and…

Begun in 1978 by a small group of Colombians who were affiliated with a private organization and who were interested in children's upbringing, education, and development, the Promesa Project began by organizing discussion groups among about 20 mothers and their children between 3 and 7 years of age in four remote villages on the shores of the…

Major issues that must be addressed by colleges and universities that offer Master of Business Administration (MBA) programs on a distance basis are discussed. Three distance MBAs programs currently in operation are also compared: those of Deakin University in Australia, the University of South Africa, and the University of Strathclyde in Great…

This workbook provides affective education activities in building human relations skills in elementary and secondary school students in small discussion groups. Goals of the talking-listening-communicating (TLC) groups are: to develop positive regard for individual differences; to build a sense of belonging; to foster horizontal, nonauthoritative…

This document reports on the Family Development Project which is aimed at developing a systematic model of parenting support for new families and evaluating its effects on family development. Parenting groups of six to ten couples begin meeting about six to eight weeks after delivery and meet weekly for six weeks, then monthly for four more…

A COMBINATION OF TELEVISION, GROUP STUDY, PRIVATE STUDY, CORRESPONDENCE STUDY, AND PRACTICAL WORK PROVIDED AN EXTENSIVE INTRODUCTION TO THE NATURE AND METHODS OF SOCIAL WORK, PRINCIPALLY FOR VOLUNTEER AND PART-TIME WORKERS THROUGH 16 HALF-HOUR PROGRAMS ON SOCIAL WORK AND ADMINISTRATION BROADCAST ON BBC-2 BETWEEN OCTOBER 5, 1965 AND FEBRUARY 8,…

THE EFFECTIVENESS OF TWO TRAINING PROGRAMS ON THE PERFORMANCE OF LEADERS OF INTERNATIONAL GROUPS WAS STUDIED. EIGHTEEN AMERICAN SUBJECTS WERE GIVEN LEADERSHIP TRAINING REDUNDANT TO THEIR PERSONAL LEADERSHIP STYLE AS MEASURED BY FIEDLER'S LEAST PREFERRED COWORKER SCORE (LPC), WHILE ANOTHER 18 SUBJECTS WERE GIVEN TRAINING COMPLEMENTARY TO THEIR…

The booklet, designed to explore the issues of international justice in the context of the Gospel, reviews relations between the United States and Panama. It includes background materials and a study guide for parish leaders and other educators. The central question pertaining to the Panama Canal concerns the rights of the United States according…

THE PURPOSE OF THIS STUDY WAS TO INVESTIGATE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF SMALL STUDENT-LED DISCUSSION GROUPS AS A METHOD OF INSTRUCTION. PERFORMED WERE TWO TYPES OF STUDIES INVOLVING OVER 1,400 STUDENTS IN 42 COURSES--(1) COMPARATIVE STUDIES WHICH EMPLOYED CONTROL GROUPS AGAINST MORE TRADITIONAL INSTRUCTIONAL PROCEDURES, AND (2) INNOVATIVE STUDIES WHICH…

Designed for the participants in the Project SEARCH curriculum development project, this discussion guide describes the process of valuing through a group experience activity. The guide is designed to be used by people who might not know one another previously. As a group, participants view the process of valuing abstractly and also act out how…