Currently, the technical approach to curriculum and instruction in physical education is dominant. The key features of this approach are: the use of behavioral objectives in planning programs and instructional episodes; selection of subject matter and teaching strategies based on intended learning outcomes; and assessment of behavioral outcomes…

An approach to educational research that is receiving renewed attention is participatory action research (PAR), which emphasizes a bottom-up approach to research as well as useful outcomes. PAR is a philosophy, and not a methodology per se. It is a deliberate, goal-directed, structured, and applied means of obtaining information that looks to…

Action research, a term first used in the 1940's by Kurt Lewin, implies the application of tools and methods of social science to immediate, practical problems, with the goals of contributing to theory and knowledge in the field of education and improving practice in the schools. Collaborative action research suggests that each group represented…

The purpose of "Focus" is to present articles by Utah community college faculty on various curricular and administrative concerns. This issue contains: (1) "Predicting Student Retention," by Nancy M. Smith, which discusses the importance of student assessment as a variable in student retention and presents findings from a study…

The institutional mission orientation of land grant universities and problems faced by these institutions are discussed, along with five tasks involved in redefining and revitalizing the land grant university. A traditional responsibility of land grant universities was to apply science and technology to solve societal problems. Faculty were…

The low efficacy of many of the library and large-scale information systems that have been implemented in the developing countries has been disappointing, and their appropriateness is often questioned in the governmental and educational institutions of more industrialized countries beset by budget-crunching and a very dynamic transformation of…

This paper proposed to apply the perspective of constructivism to the classroom setting. Secondary science teachers and university personnel jointly developed and experimented with a variety of constructivist teaching strategies. Data were collected in the form of teacher anecdotes, audio and videotapes of lessons and student interviews, teacher…

Because of her interest in determining how to persuade other teachers to incorporate process-centered writing in their classrooms, the author applied for and received a teacher-as-researcher grant. Her research was conducted in New York City and nearby suburban schools. Although city schools tended to be shabbier and some teachers were not…

The paper discusses a number of issues concerning the practical usefulness of cognitive psychology research, and presents a case study of pilot training methods to illustrate a model of research processes that produces outcomes which contribute to both basic and applied research goals. Research studies are described as varying in the degree to…

This paper reports a six month intervention program in two ninth grade science classes and one eleventh grade human biology class. One teacher, one researcher, and 64 students participated in this action research to improve student learning and attitude through training in metacognition. The researcher was a participant observer, who introduced…

The Australian term "fair dinkum" (meaning genuine, true, or real) in the title emphasizes the book's intention of providing thoughts and reflections on how to enhance the art and science of English teaching. Focusing on literacy, the book deals with action research or teaching theories that may suggest other strategies and further field…

Five separate papers comprise this report of a project in which researchers developed and evaluated methods for helping young adults enhance their use of reading as a learning skill. The first paper discusses tools designed to increase readers' awareness of what they do as they read, teaching approaches used to promote skill development, and…

Three action research projects explored the relative merits of several techniques for helping teachers modify classroom group processes. Project 1 compared a weekly seminar (using discussion of classroom research, problem-solving techniques, analysis of diagnostic data on the teachers' own classrooms, and followup discussion during the school…

Two classes, each comprised of seventh and eighth grade students, are used to test the hypothesis that student participation in observing and solving real-life environmental problems increases positive changes in their attitudes toward school. Two methods of teaching urban environmental studies are used: an experimental community action approach…

This collection of papers is divided into three parts. After "Introduction" (James F. Lee and Albert Valdman), Part 1, "Theoretical Aspects of Focus on Form," includes "What Form to Focus On? Linguistics, Language Awareness, and the Education of L2 Teachers" (Cristina Sanz); "Five Types of Input and the Various…