An examination is made of a foreign language teaching concept called pre-language that attempts to help foreign language students increase their speaking confidence and speaking abilities in the new language. The teaching method is designed for four distinct environments, including: (1) an independent mini-course for tourists or emergency needs;…

Guided design, an educational strategy based on the conviction that students are educated better by working through an ascending order of well-designed problems than by passively accumulating knowledge, employs small groups of students attacking open-ended problems. This paper describes guided design--its operation and advantages in the…

Describes and evaluates strategies related to audio-tutorial units in political science at the college level. Aims of the audio-tutorial system are to accomodate diverse student interests, develop a student-centered approach to learning, specify learning objectives, and provide variety in teaching style. (Author/DB)

Describes a three-day communication skills seminar in which participants are exposed to nonverbal communication, theories of speaking and practice, and group dynamics training. Emphasizes the positive effects of using videotape recordings as instructional aids. (RL)

Describes the development of activity centered science minicourses in an isolated California high school, and lists the characteristics considered essential for a good minicourse curriculum. Advocates a program in which specialist teachers travel between small rural schools with limited resources, presenting well developed and exciting…

Discusses mini-courses, games and simulations, and learning environments outside the classroom as instructional strategies currently employed in speech communication education. (RN)

The purpose of this study was to compare philosophy courses taught according to a conventional course structure (CCS) with philosophy courses taught according to a short course structure (SCS). (Author)

On an experimental basis the University of Colorado School of Medicine offered two concurrent anatomy courses: a traditional course emphasizing total dissection and a shorter one requiring some dissection but relying heavily on peer group interaction and audiovisual technology. Results of the experiment are presented with reasons for continuing…

This study investigated the effectiveness for fourth grade students of an inductive, self-correcting approach to the discrimination of factual and inferential statements as one aspect of critical reading and thinking. Ninety-seven fourth graders comprised the sample, and an intelligence test was administered to select students with I.Q. scores of…

Reports on an undergraduate earth science course for non-science majors structured around five-week minicourses. Evaluates student and teacher response to the program. (CP)

This course guide for teachers is intended to help students use improvisational acting techniques in exploring problems that affect today's youth. Performance objectives are listed which include: (1) the application of procedures to follow in group problem solving to complete activities to improve concentration, and (2) the analysis of characters…

The author discusses three instructional strategies--mini-courses, games and simulations, and learning environments outside the classroom--which are currently being employed in speech communication education. The three strategies embody the well established learning principles that students learn better when they: (1) know what it is they are…

The conclusion of this study involving a treatment group and a group receiving no treatment was that teaching faculty could grow significantly in knowledge of teaching objectives, behaviors, skills, and processes in a training program. (RC)