A writing portfolio provides material to use in evaluating not only students' finished products but also their persistence in developing and revising to a finished draft. Typically, portfolios contain the assignment sheet, brainstorming exercises, essay plan/outline, and first through final drafts of all writing. A table of contents sheet, listing…

Eckerd College in Florida has instituted portfolio assessment in writing classes, a method which invites students to engage in learning on a variety of levels. Portfolios encourage students to consider the responses of various readers in their revision processes, claim ownership of their writing, review the papers they have written in college,…

Recognizing that no single evaluation instrument or procedure could provide a genuine measure of teaching effectiveness, the University of Southern Mississippi devised an evaluation system specifically designed for composition that consists of four components: student evaluation, observation of classroom activity, evaluation of a set of marked…

This checklist, designed to help elementary school teachers assess why a student is unable to complete a classroom assignment, lists criteria grouped under physical, academic, perceptual, behavioral, and motor factors. Compensatory actions such as adapting the classroom environment or referring the student for further evaluation are suggested. (CB)

Guidelines are presented to assist special educators in implementing homework practices. They include determining the amount of homework, deciding on the content of homework, selecting the type of homework, explaining homework to students, assisting students with their homework, motivating students to complete homework, evaluating homework, and…

Explores the possibilities of the paperless classroom achieved through e-mail strategies and the use of Blackboard, an e-learning software platform. Claims that the system can be an efficient method for storing and evaluating papers and communicating with students. Concludes that the system allows the author to create a permanent electronic paper…

Describes an assignment that requires students to organize, prepare, and revise a case study in abnormal behavior. Explains that students employ a single theoretical perspective in preparing a report on a figure from history, literature, the arts, or current events. Discusses the value of the assignment for students. (SG)

Describes an eight-hour module the author uses to teach multimedia presentations to students from the school of computer engineering. Focuses on color and animation, and examining overuse of effects, coordinating the chosen effect and the intended meaning, and altering the style to suit the audience. Includes an outline of assignments and of the…

Considers special needs students' interactions with high stakes testing and ways in which teachers try to improve the testing environment. Makes a suggestion for different types of evaluations including a semester-ending project that permits choice and engages students in interdisciplinary lessons. (SG)

Moral feeling, moral thinking and moral acting are aspects in Moral Education for Malaysian schools. Students are encouraged to practice what they learn within and outside the boundaries of the class room. In the year 2000, there were shift in assessing teaching and learning of Moral Education in which equal weightage were given to the…

The authors detail the design, implementation and evaluation of an eConference entitled "Biohorizons," using a presage-process-product model to describe the development of an eLearning community. Biohorizons was a summative learning and assessment task aiming to introduce large classes of first-year Human Biology students to the practices of…

Elements that might be included in a course syllabus are discussed, and reasons for a well-written syllabus are briefly noted. The following syllabus elements are covered: course description, course objectives, course structure, textbook and required materials, recommended optional materials, course schedule, deadlines, evaluation methods, policy…

Guidelines and suggested instructional materials are outlined as an aid for English instructors who teach non-English-speaking adults. First, teachers are urged to recognize that learning a language is a difficult task that requires a great deal of time; that there are some sounds and words that an adult learning a new language may never be able…

Discusses legal actions taken in Wisconsin and California against the public sale of term papers. Requests the academic community to take the responsibility of helping students in acquiring a constructive view of education. (CC)

A system for grading student work based on contracts is examined. Types of contracts, methods for controlling quality as well as quantity of work, advantages of the contract grading system, and the results of research into the use of grade contracts--including student reaction to the system--are some of the topics discussed. (JMP)