Lukiv's Educational Stew, Ingredient 3 of 5:
How to Teach Badly
  Dan Lukiv

In the spirit of "The Great French Duel," written by that serious man that many refer to as Mark Twain, I write this essay for all who once and for all want to know how to teach badly. He tells us straight out:

Much as the modern French duel is ridiculed by certain smart people, it is in reality one of the most dangerous institutions of our day. Since it is always fought in the open air, the combatants are nearly sure to catch cold. (?/1982, p.67)

In the breath of such sage reflection, I remind or simply tell the reader: As people who watch Star Trek know beyond reasonable doubts, alternate universes exist everywhere that they don't think them to be, filled with their physical, yet altered-ego counterparts. This essay, written for those counterparts, will fill them with appreciation of astronomical filling. In terms of this essay being an elevator, it goes all the way to the top! Let me begin with a great example.
    full text >>>

Effects of Strengthening the Mathematics Content Base of Pre-Service Elementary School Teachers
  Anthony N. Ezeife

Mathematics has frequently been viewed as a major stumbling block to students' educational success since many students perform poorly in mathematics, and a sizeable number actually drop out of mathematics courses early in their school career, often as early as Grade 9. Research literature points accusing fingers at the dearth of qualified math teachers and poor teaching methods, especially in early (elementary) school grades. Against this background, the present study investigated the attitudes and math teaching preparedness of pre-service elementary school teachers. Utilizing a factorial analysis, an experiment was conducted as part of this study to investigate an enriched approach to math teaching, comparing its impact on a group of pre-service elementary school teachers with the effects of other approaches on two other equivalent groups. Results showed statistically significant differences among the groups due to different teaching methods and the gender of the teachers.
    full text >>>

A Model for Evaluating Quality of Web-Based Courses
  Rahim Ashkeboussi

The rise of online course offerings by colleges around the world has created both excitement and skepticism for different reasons. Students who otherwise would not be able to attend college, due to time, location, course scheduling, or cost constraints, welcome Distance Education initiatives. Administrators and government officials are hopeful that Distance Education is capable of reaching a larger audience at a substantially lower cost per student. While employers are increasingly utilizing Distance Education capabilities for the purpose of their employees' training, they are worried about the educational quality of the graduates from Distance Education programs.

Broad (1999) maintains that "the rise of online distance education has presented a major challenge to traditional regional accrediting bodies as well as state regulators and has raised doubts about the ability of our existing quality assurance system to function effectively."

As yet, a quality-assurance mechanism for Web-based instruction is not institutionalized. Traditional courses often go online without any specialized appraisal as to whether such courses provide the same or better learning opportunities as their face-to-face counterparts.
    full text >>>