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Drawing from experiences at Cuyahoga Community College, this paper offer guidance on the use of storyboard packages and authoring languages to develop interactive instructional materials. Introductory comments reveal that the greatest use of computers in courses other than computer and information sciences is still in drills, tutorials, writing composition, and simulations; and that there is little research-based data on the effectiveness of computers as a method of instruction or on the time, energy, and resources required to prepare to use computers in instruction. Next, the paper lists several requirements for interactive instructional materials, e.g., the lesson must extend from or reinforce classroom activities; a three-way, ongoing, systematized interaction must take place among the student, instructor, and material in the computer; the material available to the student must give clear fail-safe instructions, use a developmental/incremental process toward mastery of concepts, and draw forth questions that the student will bring to the instructor. Tips about storyboard lesson planning are presented next, suggesting that the approach is best suited to the visually oriented, that it often requires considerable tinkering and time, and that it tempts the instructor to include too many sub-menus. Next, authoring systems, which are designed for instruction based on lecturing-demonstrating-exampling, are discussed and five drawbacks are identified. Attachments include outlines of the curriculum and lesson development processes, and a basic language program for an employment theory lesson. (WJT)

If the current state of crisis in education in this country is to be remedied, certain reliable and verified concepts of education must be asserted and maintained. This paper suggests that the core concepts of the social sciences may be learned through exercises involving excerpts from "Great Books." These exercises involve learning the core concept, its definitions, its descriptions, and examples; reading and understanding the selection or excerpt in the context of time and place; and writing an essay to answer questions relating the core concept to the reading. Twenty key terms (core concepts) are presented and sample exercises involving a number of these terms are included. (DB)

The paper analyzes the failure of the ecology/environmental movement to develop into a social movement and to generate a mass following. The movement has had difficulty not only in organizing collective behavior but also in maintaining the necessary momentum to change into a full-fledged social movement. Obvious reasons are that ecologists conflict with pressure groups, big business, and capitalistic industries. Also, the mode of thinking in the United States is characterized by the frontier mentality. People do not accept the fact that environmental deterioration is irreversible; many point to the possibility of a technological breakthrough and suggest that great American know-how pulls us out of any crisis. In addition, society has institutionalized the idea of growth. To change this type of thinking requires strong leadership and a committed, active followership. One of the major problems is that the ecology/environmental movement is preceived as fragmented and unable to coalesce its own common interests. Finally, the media, although not antagonistic, do not appear to support the movement because it is not perceived as leading to a positive change of society. Its goals are perceived as unattainable or attainable only with a great deal of sacrifice and participation in the movement is in the form of leisure time, disposable income activities. (Author/KC)

Developmental education activities should attempt to provide experiences which do not hold the student back from the normal flow of learning and which utilize processes already in the student's repertoire. Virtually all areas of developmental instruction can be supplemented with games and simulations, that is, activities designed to show the process of a possible or actual reality in which roles, resources, rules, and goals are specified. Games and simulations are discrete, complete, and logical. They are approximations, just as laboratory situations or apprenticeships approximate real work situations. In designing or using games, one should (1) determine what the student is to learn; (2) determine what proto-processes or pre-concepts are necessary to do the behavior; (3) design the general structure of the game by specifying roles, goals, resources, interactions, sequence of events, and external factors; (4) write out the game as a process; (5) design the materials; (6) write the rules; (7) evaluate and revise the game; and (8) pre-test and evaluate the game again. There must be a point to playing the game and that point must be made clear to the student. Behavioral objectives must be clearly spelled out and measured accurately. Whether used in the classroom or in a supplementary learning environment, games and simulations can help the learner gain the advantages of skill facility in the application of a particular discipline's terms and concepts. (Author/MB)

The integration of culturally relevant concepts into nursing education is essential for the effective delivery of health care in a modern, multi-ethnic, multi-racial, mobile society. Several key concepts from anthropology and specific areas of individual interpersonal behavior have particular relevance to nursing education. It is important, for instance, that nurses understand the culture of the hospital, clinic, or other health service setting in which they work. They need to recognize structures of power and authority and be able to function with skill and flexibility within complex hierarchical organizations. Nursing students themselves become involved in the processes of acculturation and resocialization once they finish their training, and an anthropological perspective may ease the transition. The effectiveness of the nurse as a practitioner is increased by awareness and understanding of cross-cultural differences in, for example, religion, territoriality, and attitudes toward family. Even within the same society, cultural components of wellness and illness, such as tolerance for pain, may vary greatly. Additionally, nurses must have an awareness of language differences and communication skills and the importance of understanding patients and being understood by them. Comprehension of these culturally relevant concepts and issues can be facilitated through the integration of learning experiences with obvious applicability into existing courses. Samples of such learning experiences are appended, including definitions of concepts, suggested readings, learning activities, and discussion topics. (KL)