Set 1981 : no. 2

We in Australia and New Zealand are proud of the way we broke free of the British class system when we set up our own nations. In the new lands Jack and Jill became as good as the Master and Mistress. However, as the world becomes economically, if not culturally, interdependent, the problems of industrial countries, such as Britain, keep cropping up here. We do not have the exact equivalent of British nursery schools and day nurseries, nor are au pair girls common. But we do have… Read more

Once upon a time there was a passerby who stopped to watch three workmen going about their labours on a building site. After a time he approached each of the workmen in turn and asked them what they were doing. The first man replied: 'I 'm laying bricks, for $4.50 an hour.' The second replied: 'I'm building a wall with these other two jokers.' The third replied: 'I'm helping to build a great cathedral.' People engaged in the same activity interpret it in… Read more

What aids our understanding of what we read? Firstly good writing, clear print, diagrams, and so on. As well as these, we can take notes, or underline important points; teachers and textbooks writers can insert questions in the text, and special paragraphs which help organize our ideas can be given. Here is a review of what research says about these four techniques.

Educational testing, once the subject of debate by teachers and other professionals, is now being debated in public forums and in open court. Public concern has been most clearly expressed in the United States where standardized educational testing has been debated in the media, in state legislatures and in Congress. More and more the law courts are being asked to adjudicate on educational test controversies.