Describes a Canadian citizenship course designed by English as a second language teachers for adult immigrants with low English proficiency levels. Course topics were chosen through consideration of their relative importance, contribution to continuity and understanding within the course, impact on daily lives, and potential practical value.…

Course of study, target student population, structure of matriculation examination, student outcomes and attitudes of student toward various components of this examination are described. It was found that this examination not only offers a fair, educationally valid assessment but also provides support and direction which result in more effective…

Describes an action-oriented approach to business-administration instruction used at an Australian university that addresses the diverse interests of stakeholders (teachers, employers, students) through an applied student project. Issues in designing and implementing this approach are considered. (Author/MSE)

Ponders whether the Form 5-7 geography syllabus in New Zealand should be changed by discussing the positive and negative aspects of the current syllabus. Addresses the benefits a new syllabus would offer the subject of geography and students and offers topics for inclusion in a new syllabus. (CMK)

Asserts that the New Zealand Form 5-7 geography syllabus does not need to be changed explaining that change for political purposes and individual whims are neither in the interest of the geography teaching community or students. Believes that what is needed is the development of strategies to make geography relevant and appealing to students. (CMK)

Describes the evolution of the seven major physics syllabi used in all secondary schools in China and analyzes the shifts of these syllabi in terms of objectives, content, instructional hours and teaching methods. Suggests changes for China's future secondary-physics education, including the need for modern experimental equipment such as computers…

Examines materials provided to adult, part-time students of the British Open University's language courses and highlights elements of the courses that are explicitly political education. Draws on interviews with course creators to explore cultural content and representations of the target culture. Attempts to make explicit the implicit assumptions…

Universities increasingly adopt innovative teaching models, which focus on the development of skills instead of the reproduction of knowledge. These new teaching models emphasise the importance of knowledge application and the development of competencies. Yet, using these teaching methods usually implies a high assessment burden for lecturers.…

A hypertext application is being developed at the Open University, the United Kingdom's university for distance education, to assist with the design and study of courses by using a software implementation of a relational glossary. It is based on the established view that topics are made up of related concepts and that their relationships can be…

A study investigated the effectiveness of training students in think-aloud procedure to improve reading comprehension. Subjects were two groups of Taiwanese university students of English as a Foreign Language (EFL). In the first week, a think-aloud training session was given to one group. Then both groups were asked to read an English passage and…

A required reading course for first-year English majors at Hokusei Junior College (Japan) is described. The course is intended to teach students to survey a text, read through it, form an opinion about its content, and skim portions that are less important. At the same time, students are encouraged to guess at the meaning of unknown vocabulary,…

This informally written, first-person account describes the self-education in multiculturalism of a community college English instructor, telling in detail how he broadened his knowledge and understanding in preparation for teaching a 16-week course on Meso-America. The instructor, a generalist by profession, began by working with a mentor to…

This paper provides a skeleton of a one-year course in Asian and African civilizations intended for upper school students. The curricular package consists of four parts. The first part deals with the basic shape and content of the course as envisioned. The remaining three parts develop a specific unit on classical India with a series of teacher…

This paper describes a reading course for the first year of college for Japanese high school graduates. The course has been taught in large classes and utilizes extensive individualization of homework assignments at a level of difficulty that all students can cope with. The course provides students with strategies that will free them from…

This paper discusses the creation and implementation of a one-semester English as a Second Language (ESL) course in Taiwan that is built around videotape recordings of English used in television programs in various contexts. The course uses common television programs, such as news broadcasts, music videos, travel programs, and commercials, to…