Proceedings of the Eighth Annual Conference of the National Council for Jewish Education

Research about Jewish choral singers provides insight to a previously unstudied population of adult Jewish learners. Drawing on over 2,000 responses to the First-Ever Survey of Jewish Choral Activity, this article describes how Jewish choral experiences enable adults to deepen their involvement in Jewish life and learning. Survey results suggest that participants in Jewish choral groups resemble secular singers in terms of social, identity, and skill development, but derive additional benefits in terms of Jewish Peoplehood, Jewish Competence, Spirituality, and Jewish Community. Jewish choral activities particularly benefit singers under 45 by providing them opportunities to integrate their Jewish and musical lives.     

Movement Toward Interdisciplinary instruction: Teacher Educators Respond

Tracy completes her laboratory assignment and gathers her books as her second period science class draws to a close. As she leaves the room and heads to her next class, Tracy stops by her locker to drop off her science text and pick up an English literature book for third period. For her, the separation between science and English is both physical and mental. In the time it takes to move from one room to another, Tracy has also moved from one ‘mind set’ to another, exit science, enter English.     

The impact of the mass media on source commitment

The purpose of this study was to explore the role of the mass media in creating source commitment. The results showed that the type of source commitment studied in the experiment was not significantly affected by the preparation and transmission of mass media messages.     

Development of an informal learning opportunities assay

Learning that takes place outside the formal classroom, called informal learning, has been a difficult parameter to assess due to the heterogeneous nature of the subjects and everyday learning situations. To date, no instrument has been developed to effectively examine the wide variety of informal experiences a child may encounter. Central to this study was the development and field testing of such an instrument, the Informal Learning Opportunities Assay (ILOA). The ILOA was administered to a total of 2128 middle and high school students and was found to be ethnically neutral, easily scored, and flexible in design to accommodate practitioners and researchers. The instrument was found to provide a reliable assessment of informal learning opportunities.