Education & Pedagogy

The situation regarding each Australian State's secondary physics syllabi are summarized. The planning directions necessary to keep such syllabi relevant to the changing needs of Australian secondary students are discussed. Factors influencing the implementation of these physics courses are described. (KR)

Describes a program that trains county extension agents in water quality and management principles and how to use educational materials to teach farmers and homeowners those principles through a distance education training program. (DDR)

Discusses the movement in teacher education from a behaviorist approach to a constructivist approach. Describes the role of teachers and teacher education programs in the behaviorist tradition (teacher transmits knowledge) and in the contructivist tradition (teacher mediates ideas, constructs meaning and knowledge, and acts upon them). (CR)

Political changes in Hungary since 1989 have radically altered higher education policy, adult educator training, and adult education research. Growing pains include the struggle to achieve policy consensus, lack of job opportunities for adult educators, and inadequate financial support for research. (SK)

Outlines contributions of Dewey, Rogers, and Knowles to the humanist perspective in nursing education and Freire's sociological challenge to it. Raises issues of whose interests are served by humanist ideology and how the humanist model operates as a form of social control. (SK)

Self-ratings of 21 preservice teachers, 23 education graduate students, and 20 education faculty were obtained on their training and concept knowledge in philosophy, psychology, and education. Foundational knowledge of most informants was less than satisfying, suggesting a need for more awareness of the roots of educational practice. (SK)

Education may be viewed as at threat to the prevailing power structure although it is essential to the structure's reproduction and development. Reflective learning is essential to the reproduction of existing socioeconomic relations, yet at the same time it represents a potential catalyst for radical change. (SK)

Interviews guided by the Application Process Framework were conducted with 27 continuing education participants four months after an institute on health education planning and evaluation. Multiple contextual influences affected their application of what they had learned, and predisposition toward the use of innovation played a strong role. (SK)

Argues that constructivist science education works with an unsatisfactory account of knowledge which affects both its account of the nature of science and of science education. Includes a brief survey of realism and anti-realism in science. Contains 42 references. (DDR)

Responses from 83 of 120 British midwives showed that motivation for continuing education was strongest in regard to professional competence and innate desire for knowledge, less in regard to legal requirements for practice. Strongest motivators were internal and learning related. Social integration was the least important aspect of continuing education. (SK)

This section, a regular feature, presents a statistical record of the progress of African Americans in institutions of higher education in the United States. The Black-White Higher Education Equality Index developed for this publication continues its slow but steady rise toward educational parity, reaching 71.1%. (SLD)

Eight articles present perspectives on the future of technology teacher education, the Mississippi Valley Industrial Teacher Education Conference's mission and vision, and the organization's name change from "Industrial" to "Technology." (SK)

Explores how an advertising degree course had to be positioned between competing definitions of valid and relevant, academic and experiential knowledge. Locates the issues within the context of credential inflation--credentials become worth less as more people acquire them. (SK)

A survey of adult learning opportunities in Belfast, Northern Ireland, found an emerging sector of community and voluntary organizations offering programs emphasizing issue-based, action-oriented learning in a democratic participative culture. They offer alternatives to traditional formal providers of liberal adult education. (SK)

Discusses various aspects of reform impacting educators. Highlights the infrastructural support or the comprehensive support system needed to bring about education reform. Focuses on the teacher as the key figure in the implementation of science education reform. Lists components of science education reform, characteristics of effective teachers, and characteristics of the exemplary science education leader. (JRH)