The issues of selecting an evaluation type, scope, and techniques are discussed in relation to a study that aims to investigate the effects of introducing a multimedia independent learning package into a conventional university environment. This is done by examining one second-level Open University course taught at the University of Essex.…

The issue of what comprises a good secondary school curriculum is still unresolved. The progressive education of the 1960s has yielded to a traditionalist emphasis on a strong liberal education for all students. Future reform will be based on what the present reform movement overlooks--strong vocational programs for students who are not…

While fiscal restraint has some negative impact, it provides an opportunity to bring greater order to schooling. The intellectual function of the school is "the perpetuation, transformation, and generation of knowledge grounded in the disciplines." Implicit in this vision of school is rejection of the function of school as socialization. (BRR)

The rationale behind the traditional grade organization pattern of pre-primary, primary, secondary, and tertiary is discussed, as is the trend to extend compulsory schooling later into the teenage years. The impact of these divisions and of compulsory schooling itself on equal educational opportunity is considered. (SJL)

Discusses the history of open-air schools using an evaluation of Belgian schools. Expounds on the complex relationship between educational space and the educational act, and between traditional and progressive education. Demonstrates that open-air schools provided the same education as traditional schools and were not a real alternative for…

Argues that traditional educational methods erode children's natural enthusiasm for learning. Suggests that reformers consider incorporating principles of Montessori education as a way to improve the present educational system. Replacing emphasis on performance and competition with respect for children's right to follow their own interests and…

Suggests that issues-centered education has two implications for the social studies curriculum: (1) the application and eventually the integration of subject knowledge and modes of inquiry; and (2) the development of interdisciplinary patterns of curriculum organization, such as fused or the core curriculum, to accommodate the imperative for…

This study compares students' performance and attitudes in a hybrid (blend of online and face-to-face) model of Elementary Statistics and a traditional (face-to-face) model of the same course. Performance was measured by test, quiz, project, and final exam grades. Attitude was measured by the results of a course survey administered at the end of…

This article grew out of a roundtable of national leaders in higher education which explored the role of the academic department in serving as both a force for institutional change and a link to the scholarly world of disciplinary knowledge and practice. The essay argues that the principal threat to the academy is its own fragmentation, with…

This investigation determined quantitatively the effects of open and traditional classroom techniques on teacher and student interaction and social environment. (RC)

This paper examines the goals of education which should include the transmission of knowledge, training of skills necessary in a technological society, training of intellectual/abstractive capacities, autonomy and flexibility, and healthy personal and interpersonal functioning. The author argues that a process-oriented classroom approach is more…

This study was a 2-year comparison of the effects of open classroom versus traditional instruction on children's self-concept, attitudes toward school and achievement of basic skills. The 250 participants were students in grades 1-6 of two elementary schools -- one utilizing an open classroom approach and the other a traditional approach. The…

This study was designed to test four groups of pupils entering the second grade in the York County School Board area--two groups in open schools and two in traditional schools--chosen because of the similarity in the schools' size and location and in the socioeconomic status of the pupils. The students were tested once each year for three years…

This study investigated whether or not there is a difference in the academic achievement level maintained by a student after a transition has been made from a self-contained classroom to an open classroom. The sample included all the population in a fifth grade open classroom. The experimental group were from a fourth grade self-contained…

A reliable instrument was developed to assess the value orientations of individuals toward four basic epistemological dimensions concerning the perceived nature of knowledge, the learner and learning activity, and the purpose of schooling. Earlier research has shown these four dimensions discriminate between curriculum materials and instructional…