The information revolution is changing the nature of the economy-it is also changing the way we think, and the way we learn... A new vision is wanted, a paradigm change in the way social services and higher education are conceived, delivered, and funded.-- James Ogilvy, writer, co-founder of the Global Business Network, and former professor at Yale and Williams College.
If institutions of higher education are to thrive in the 90s and beyond, they must expect to undergo structural, curricular, and pedagogical reforms. Some segments of our educational system have already begun to examine traditional practices in teaching and learning and their effectiveness. What and how much we teach, how we teach "it," and which roles instructors and students play are focal themes in the discussions about emerging and changing paradigms.
This issue of the Forum focuses on current movements towards new paradigms in two disciplines that impact almost every area of our curricula, reading and mathematics. The first of two articles presents a theoretical perspective for the development of a new paradigm for reading. The second offers a pragmatic view of the paradigm shift in mathematics instruction.