Presents results of a study of student attitudes toward United States history 10-week minicourses. Course titles include America's West, Roaring Twenties and Desperate Thirties, Nuclear Age, and Popular American Image. Concludes that minicourses allow students to choose among a variety of offerings and to determine which subjects are relevant and…

This study examined the Mini-Course Enrichment Program offered at two Ottawa (Ontario, Canada) universities which provide week-long programs for gifted secondary school students. Respondents (97 students and 80 parents) perceived that the program enhanced personal control, developed a sense of risk taking, and helped in preparing for the future.…

Academic anxiety, person/group relations, and subject satisfaction were investigated in three secondary schools in various stages of curriculum reform: a traditional school, a school in which a short-course elective program was being implemented, and a school in which such a program was fully implemented. Attitude measures were completed by 482…

This study assessed some of the cognitive and affective elements for both the traditional and mini curricula. The hypothesis, stated in the null form, was there will be no difference between students in the mini-course curriculum and the traditional curriculum on a number of stated cognitive variables (focusing on critical thinking and reading…

This new British journal is a medium of communication for those involved in teaching social science and social studies at the secondary and elementary levels. The first article in this issue, Ian Shelton's "The Sociology of Everyday Life," describes an experimental short course in secondary sociology. The course is designed to produce an…

This study examined the hypothesis that subjects experiencing a minicourse curriculum would show greater cognitive and affective gains than subjects in a traditional curriculum. The Watson-Claser Critical Thinking Appraisal, Cooperative English, JIM Scale, and Gable-Roberts Attitude Toward School Subjects were administered (September-June) to 500…

The paper reviews the design of a model for teaching about work in social studies. Developed in 1974 at an inservice economic education workshop sponsored by the Illinois Council on Economic Education, The World of Work Economic Education Program orients existing curriculum materials around fundamental economic principles. It was hypothesized that…

The High School with Options program, using the mini-course approach, was designed for a small (250 students) rural high school in Wessington Springs, South Dakota, which wished to take better advantage of small enrollment, expand curriculum to meet educational needs/interests of students, and provide opportunity for increased involvement of…