Introductory College Course Research Articles

Teacher–student interactions and learning outcomes in a distance learning environment

This paper describes a distance learning project that enables talented high school students in geographically isolated and underdeveloped areas to participate in an introductory university course without leaving the supportive framework of their high schools. The rationale behind the project is described as well as a model in which university faculty work together with high schools in order to achieve broad educational goals. The online collection of student-related data is described, together with how this helped us to identify and solve problems experienced by high school students in a distance learning environment. The collection and implementation of teacher-related data used in order to increase the effectiveness of instruction during the course is described. Finally, some significant results of this research are presented, with a description of how they can be implemented not only to solve but also to prevent potential obstacles to effective distance learning in future projects.

Scales and Explanations, Balances and Histories: Musings of a Physical Geography Teacher

Although not necessarily inclusive of all research, two traditions characterize much scientific explanations of the physical geographer's natural world. First, a linking of a phenomenon of study to other components in the environment—whether in contemporary or some past time—constitutes an explanation that can be characterized as spatially focused, ahistorical, or equilibrium-based. Second, an interpretation of a modern characteristic as at least partially influenced by a past event evidence for which may be lost to time captures the sense of the historical event explanation. With examples from the various subjects of an introductory college course in physical geography and from recent papers in Physical Geography, this essay explores the suggestion that, from any equilibrium view, a fining of scale—whether temporally, spatially, or by degree of resolution—is likely to increase the need for the invocation of historical events. Such a scalar tendency preserves what is, in fact, fundamental to empirical work in physical geography, equilibrium explanations, while it accepts a legitimate place for what seem to be currently more popular explanations that focus on historical events.

A history of English: A sociolinguistic approach. By Barbara Fennell. Oxford and Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2001. Pp. xiii, 284. Paper. $29.95.

The task of writing a history of English that can serve as a textbook is not an enviable endeavor. For every point that an author chooses to include, a host of others may be omitted; for every detail an author chooses to address, a host of terminological and theoretical issues must often be explained in order to make the details comprehensible. Perhaps for these reasons, despite the numerous textbooks that have tackled this challenge, there is still room for scholars drawing on different methodologies and theoretical approaches and, therefore, raising different questions, to add their voice to the scholarly and pedagogical conversation. And perhaps, in the end, we must resign ourselves to the fact that not everyone will be satisfied with any one textbook. Barbara Fennell's explicitly sociolinguistic approach in her new textbook, A History of English, distinguishes her work from many of the textbooks that precede hers and means that she addresses a range of important and interesting research questions that do not typically appear in such texts. Perhaps the compromise is that this book may better serve as a supplemental text, with a focus on the significant sociolinguistic perspective that it adds on the relevant historical issues, rather than as a primary textbook for most introductory university courses on the history of the English language.

On the teaching of the electric dipole

A proposal to extend the teaching of the electric dipole moment in introductory college courses is described. Use is made of the analogy between this concept and the concept of the center of mass. With these simple elements it is shown that it is possible to cover cases that are not properly covered in the usual teaching practice.

Mathematics for Social Scientists

The teaching of the concept of function is considered as an example of the problems encountered by social science students in learning mathematics at the level of an introductory college course. The key notions of learning cycles and teaching strategies are presented as guidelines to overcome some of the cognitive problems that students have. Finally, some training implications of learning mathematics are discussed.

Nexus and Stage: Computer-Assisted Class Discussion and the First-Year English Course

Many people have been experimenting successfully with computer-based discussion programs in their English classes. This article describes one way of conducting computer assisted class discussion (CACD) that worked well for me. I used ENFI in three sections of our university's introductory course in literary analysis, which is the second of a two-semester course in Freshman Composition. I also, to a lesser extent, used CACD in two Shakespeare classes.1 Class size averaged 18 students. The program that I used on our computer network is a multifaceted one, called Daedalus, which has modules dedicated to such things as peer response, invention, and creating bibliographies. But the module devoted to synchronous discussion seemed to generate the most useful results and is, consequently, the focus of the present article. This module, called "Interchange," is a program that, like web-based "chat" programs, allows a number of individuals to send written communication to a communal space, or "board," where those messages are posted in the order that they were sent.

The pendulum: a stumbling block of secondary school mechanics

In this article we refer to the somewhatsurprising fact that questions connected with the mechanics ofsuch popular physical models as the simple and conical pendulumseem to be difficult not only for secondary school students but evenfor those taking introductory university courses in physics.Two tests concerningboth the simple pendulum and the conical pendulum were examinedby groups of 50 students. We give a brief analysis of theirunsatisfactory results as well as a correct presentation of theproblem at the secondary school level.

The epistemological framing of a discipline: Writing science in university oceanography

The purpose of this paper is to examine how instruction in scientific writing in a university oceanography course communicated epistemological positions of this discipline. Drawing from sociological and anthropological studies of scientific communities, this study uses an ethnographic perspective to explore how teachers and students came to define particular views of disciplinary knowledge through the everyday practices associated with teaching and learning oceanography. Writing in a scientific genre was supported by interactive CD-ROM which allowed students to access data representations from geological databases. In our analysis of the spoken and written discourse of the members of this course, we identified epistemological issues such as uses of evidence, role of expertise, relevance of point of view, and limits to the authority of disciplinary inquiry. Implications for college science teaching are drawn.fl 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 37: 691 - 718, 2000 In the ethnographic study we describe in this paper, we entered as participant-observers; we began by asking ''what's happening here?'' and found that the writing of science by students and the talking about writing by instructors (course professor and teaching assistants) led to a fertile ground for examining how questions of knowledge construction, use, and representation are interactionally communicated in teaching and learning situations. Through an iterative ethnographic research cycle of posing questions; collecting, constructing, and analyzing data; and writing an ethnography; we focused on how the writing of a scientific genre in ''Geology 4: Oceanography'' (an introductory university course) foregrounded questions concerning disciplinary knowledge, thus making visible an epistemology of science. Our treatment of these epistemological issues began by identifying their importance to the participants and continued through the examination of the instructional practices associated with learning to

How can plants tell which way is up?

Many people think of plants as essentially sessile organisms that do not actively respond to their environment. What could be further from the truth! In fact, plants are capable of a variety of movements, including the dramatic nastic responses (such as Venus fly trap closure) and the less sensational tropisms. These latter movements are directed growth responses to some type of external stimulus such as gravity (gravitropism, formerly known as geotropism) or light (phototropism). This paper describes some interesting exercises that are derived from recent work, including research that has led to experiments performed on two Space Shuttle missions in 1997 (Kiss et al. 1998). The study of tropisms can be a useful way to introduce students to plant biology in high school and introductory college courses. In our experience, students are fascinated by plant movements when they are presented in lectures and find laboratory experiences on this topic quite engaging. Laboratory work on plant tropisms can also be used to introduce important concepts in science such as hypothesis testing, quantitative analysis, and the use of statistics. The laboratory exercises described in this paper involve the higher plant Arabidopsis thaliana, which has become an important organism in molecular biology research and is the focus of an international plant genome project. Based on the material presented here, a number of plant gravitropism laboratory exercises with Arabidopsis that are simple in terms of equipment/materials and procedures can be developed. These exercises are robust in that they work well even in the hands of introductory students, and they can be expanded according to the individual instructor's needs. This paper describes two exercises that have been performed by beginning college students, and these exercises can easily be performed in biology classes in most high school settings.

Distant Horizon: Documents from the Nineteenth-Century American West ed. by Gary Noy

b o o k R e v ie w s 2 2 3 Distant Horizon: Documents from the Nineteenth-Century American West. Edited by Gary Noy. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1999. 467 pages, $22.00. Reviewed by Karen English San José State University Distant Horizon is an anthology of nineteenth-century documents, remi­ niscences, and accounts concerning the American West. While the texts are works dating predominantly from the last half of the nineteenth century, there are a few twentieth-century commentaries as well. Noy groups the texts the­ matically into eleven chapters ranging from “Westerners of Color” to “The Railroad in the American West.” Clearly conceived as a reader for a classroom, the anthology has a minimum of editorial material. Short thematic introduc­ tions begin each chapter, and sporadic general comments preface or follow some texts. For example, in his introduction to Walt Whitman’s “Pioneers! O Pioneers!” Noy explains in italics, “In selected stanzas of this poem Whitman embodies the driving impetus of westward expansionist thought" (12). The volume ends with a particularly useful chapter-by-chapter bibliography of sources and a brief index. The great strength of this anthology lies in the variety of the texts chosen for inclusion. Teachers ofhigh school and introductory college courses will ben­ efit from the gathering ofso many writers from such diverse backgrounds. Many of the documents that are included provide valuable texts for cultural studies as well. For example, a partial text of the Homestead Act of 1862 illuminates the chapter on “Farmers and Townsfolk”; and excerpts of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo strengthen the chapter on “Soldiers in the American West.” Combined with newspaper accounts and autobiographical reminiscences, these documents help round out the historical record for classroom study. The great strength of this anthology is related to its weakness as a collec­ tion. Because Noy emphasizes a range of texts, he is forced into the editorial position of relying on excerpts from longer texts. In cases where he includes an entire chapter or a complete portion of a journal or diary, the text retains its literary integrity. Often, however, Noy omits portions of chapters, documents, and accounts so that we do not have even the complete sections of a particu­ lar text. Why include only a few stanzas of Whitman’s poem “Pioneers! O Pioneers!” or selected portions of a chapter from Cather’s M;y Antonia? Selections from longer works, like Sarah Winnemucca’s autobiography, become merely a series of excerpts. This editorial practice compromises the effect of longer works by turning them into a series of digestible writing bites— akin to television’s sound bites. And without notes, the reader has no sense of what has been omitted or why. In his general introduction, Noy uses the phrase “unique American west­ ern mosaic” to describe his project; he also uses the model of the “sampler.” 2 2 4 WAL 3 5 .1 S u m m e r 2 0 0 0 Both ofthese ideas are carried out conscientiously inhis anthology. Overall, this is a useful resource to have for anyone who teaches American history or cultural studies and wishes to sample a variety of literary works in the classroom. The Lizard Speaks: Essays on the Writings of Frederick Manfred. Edited by Nancy Owen Nelson. Sioux Falls, S.Dak.: Center for Western Studies, 1998. 228 pages, $15.95. Reviewed by Gordon Johnston Three Rivers Community College According to the editor, the theme around which this collection is built is Manfred’s “innate connection to the primordial ‘lizard brain’ which is the center of the creative process” (vii). To Manfred, the “Old Lizard” (“intuition” is a useful but inadequate synonym) was the source of his voice as a writer; this theme also played out in his fiction in the actions of his characters. A master storyteller, Manfred wrote novels to explore our relationship to the land, our animal nature as a source of knowledge and power, our relationship to our ancestors and our cultural heritage, and the male/female duality of our inner selves. As Manfred’s voice developed, he explored all these themes as aspects of that primordial lizard brain. As is often the case...

Planning introductory college courses: Content, context and form

Course planning is an important faculty role requiring expertise and effective decision-making. Despite the centrality of planning activities in the teaching-learning process, relatively little research has explored the process by which instructors in higher education plan their classes. Thus, the author and colleagues pursued a three-year series of studies of college instructors in the US who were teaching introductory classes. The study explored faculty members' underlying assumptions about planning and their decision-making processes. This chapter summarizes these empirical studies that inform us about the general and discipline-specific purposes faculty express for their classes, the contextual influences that modify their intentions, and the way they arrange discipline content for teaching. A key finding was that differences in course planning reflect varied assumptions about students and about their discipline that faculty in different fields bring to the planning process and which strongly influence them.

The Influence of Nutrition Education on the Dietary Intake and Percent Ideal Body Weight of College Students

Sixty-one students, enrolled in an introductory nutrition course maintained a two-day food record at the start and then again at the end of a semester. Change in nutrient intake for each student was calculated using the NutriQuest diet analysis program. As explanatory variables, student data was also collected on age. gender, height (self-reported), weight (self-reported), self perceived assessment of own diet at start of course, weekly dollars spent on food, and place of residence. The grade that the student received in the course was also recorded. Using change in nutrient intake, change in weight, and progress towards ideal body weight as dependent variables, multiple regression analysis was used to determine if grade received in the course (holding all other explanatory variables constant) significantly influenced the different dependent variables. Of most interest is the significant finding (p < 0.03) that a one-unit increase in grade received in the course (i.e., from a 3.0 to a 4.0), holding other explanatory variables constant, resulted in 1.5 percent improvement towards ideal body weight. Other significant findings (p < 0.10) related to student achievement was that among identical students in respect to the other explanatory variables, the ones who received higher grades increased their intake of iron and decreased their intake of vitamin C and calcium. Grade had no other significant effects on the other dependent variables considered. These results provide evidence that students with a stronger mastery of the nutritional knowledge provided in a college introductory course are more likely to move toward their ideal body weight in the short duration of a semester. Further improvements towards ideal body weight after the semester ended were not measured, but may be more likely for students who did better in the course. Though with the exception of iron consumption, there is little evidence that performance in such an introductory course exerts an influence on nutrient intake.

The perception of music by the human brain: An introductory course

The study of the perception of music is a fascinating interdisciplinary endeavor in which musicians, neuroscientists, psychologists, physicists, and physiologists work together. Recent advances in the understanding of how musical sounds are detected in the ear, converted into neural signals, processed, and interpreted in the brain make the subject very attractive for an elective introductory university course. It is possible to present many subject matters in a generally understandable way, without the requirement of previous knowledge beyond that of secondary level [J. G. Roederer, Physics and Psychophysics of Music, 3rd ed. (Springer-Verlag, New York, 1995); German edition: Physikalische und Psychoakustische Grundlagen der Musik (Springer-Verlag, Heidelberg)]. In such a course, many puzzling questions can be addressed (and answered!): Why do people perceive only one pitch when they listen to a musical tone made up on many harmonics? Why are there musical scales? Why is pitch resolved so well, despite the ‘‘bad’’ frequency analysis in the inner ear? What happens in the brain when sounds are imagined? What is the relationship between music and language? Why do listeners react emotionally to musical sounds? The pedagogical challenges of organizing such an interdisciplinary course will be discussed.

Intellectual development: A complex teaching goal

ABSTRACT Faculty goals for students' intellectual development in introductory college courses were analysed to examine disciplinary differences and similarities. Intellectual development goals were defined as those concerned with relationships of ideas within disciplines, between disciplines, or with various aspects of students' lives. Faculty members usually assumed intellectual development goals would occur in conjunction with goals for knowledge acquisition. Those teaching literature, history, and fine arts most often sought to help students see varied relationships, especially by fostering appreciation of the discipline's contributions to human culture and by attempting to broaden students' horizons. Biology, social science and English composition instructors more frequently aimed to build connections with students' lives and foster personal development. Mathematics and foreign language teachers seldom emphasised intellectual development goals as defined here. Relatively few instructors aimed for interdisciplinary relationships in introductory courses.

The introductory class in higher education: Some old problems and new considerations

The traditional text and lecture format has remained the norm in introductory college courses despite evidence, such as the personalized system of instruction, that other practices could improve what is learned and retained. The growth of distance learning provides new opportunities to implement effective teaching practices. Unfortunately, an adequate comparison of various teaching practices is not possible (even with regard to the teaching of behavior analysis). Few practices have been assessed with respect to course-end effects (final exam performance), and longer term effects remain almost wholly unexplored. Studies of the retention of academic materials, the practice required for mastery or fluency, and the relation between verbal repertoires and correspondent everyday behaviors suggest course outcomes more modest than those hoped for earlier. Suggestions for changing current practices have little credibility until the size of the gap between present and possible learning outcomes is much better known, and the personal, social, and economic consequences of bridging that gap (or not) are assessed.

Chemistry and Chemical Reactivity. By John C. Kotz

first_page settings Order Article Reprints Font Type: Arial Georgia Verdana Font Size: Aa Aa Aa Line Spacing:    Column Width:    Background: Open AccessBook Review Chemistry and Chemical Reactivity. By John C. Kotz by Shabbir Ahmad Tariq 1,* and B. M. Yamin 2,* 1 School of Science & Technology, University of Malaysia, Sabah, Kinabalu, Malaysia 2 Dept of Chemmistry, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi 43600, Selangor, Malaysia * Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed. Molecules 1998, 3(4), 141; https://doi.org/10.3390/30400141 Received: 10 April 1998 / Published: 30 April 1998 Download Download PDF Download PDF with Cover Download XML Download Epub Versions Notes This is a textbook for an introductory university courses in chemistry for students of subjects such as biology, engineering, geology, physics, agriculture, etc. The authors have two major goals in writing this book. The first is to present interesting material that students can enjoy and still grasp the difficult concepts of chemistry. The second is to show useful applications of chemical compounds. Both goals have been achieved by presenting color photographs of chemical reactions, common laboratory operations as well as industrial processes throughout the book. The interest of reader is kept alive by the discussion of ‘Current Issues in Chemistry’ at the end of several chapters as are the ‘Interviews with Chemists’. Some of the current issues described in the book are: the effect of chlorine compounds on the environment, disposal of industrial wastes, use of hydrogen as fuel, surviving at sea, the destruction of ozone layer and buckyballs to cure AIDS, etc.Now that university students have access to computers, it is good that his book has been presented on a CD-ROM with a workbook. It is in fact the first chemistry textbook available on a CD. Keeping in mind the needs and the availability of computer facilities, this book can be purchased alone, or both the textbook and the CD-ROM. The price of the textbook is indicated above and the CD-ROM with workbook costs $ 62.95. The CD-ROM is not provided with the text book for reviewing purpose. It is not possible to assess its full potential without using the CD-ROM. However, it is claimed that the CD-ROM displays a series of screens. Each screen presents a concept and allows the user to interact with the material presented. Thus, for example, the user can watch a reaction in progress or by changing a variable in an experiment to see what happens. There are other features to explore in the CD. This might be regarded as a chemistry textbook of the next century.The book consists of five parts with a total of 24 chapters. Each part contains a group of chapters with a common theme. The difficult concepts in chemistry are explained by well illustrated colourful material presented as :A closer look” towards the end of some chapters. In reviewers’ opinion, it is worth spending $242.90 to purchase both the textbook and CD-ROM in order to get the full benefit of this novel type of textbook and CD-ROM. © 1998 MDPI. All rights reserved. Molecules http://www.mdpi.org/molecules/ Share and Cite MDPI and ACS Style Tariq, S.A.; Yamin, B.M. Chemistry and Chemical Reactivity. By John C. Kotz. Molecules 1998, 3, 141. https://doi.org/10.3390/30400141 AMA Style Tariq SA, Yamin BM. Chemistry and Chemical Reactivity. By John C. Kotz. Molecules. 1998; 3(4):141. https://doi.org/10.3390/30400141 Chicago/Turabian Style Tariq, Shabbir Ahmad, and B. M. Yamin. 1998. "Chemistry and Chemical Reactivity. By John C. Kotz" Molecules 3, no. 4: 141. https://doi.org/10.3390/30400141 Find Other Styles Article Metrics No No Article Access Statistics For more information on the journal statistics, click here. Multiple requests from the same IP address are counted as one view.

Volcanoes of the Solar System

One of the few geological disciplines that can be exported easily to other planets is volcanology. Aside‐by‐side comparison of volcanic features on these other planets, as is presented in this book, will help to bring both Earth scientists and lay readers up‐to‐date in this interesting field. The title alone should go a long way toward informing the general public that there are indeed volcanoes on other planets. The author is aware of these needs because he states that his book is meant to fill two niches—a popular text for the general public and a technical text for introductory college courses.

Interactive Multimedia: An Alternative Context for Studying Works of Art

Over 30 years ago, Elliot Eisner recognized a newly emerging trend in education toward educating students' responses to works of (Eisner, 1966), an observation that was confirmed in the mid 1980s with the formulation of DBAE theory (Getty, 1985). Today, proponents of both DBAE and multicultural education agree that a general goal for students is to acquire and demonstrate an understanding of works of (Delacruz & Dunn, 1995). Educators are now grappling with the issues of which works to study and how to make them accessible to students. Art educators have assumed that with instruction in formal analysis and exposure to relevant contextual information, students can construct meaning from works of at increasingly higher levels of expertise as they continue through school (Clark, Day & Greer, 1987). Recent research in contemporary cognitive learning theory has suggested a need for curricular models to accommodate the complexity of understandings (Efland, 1995). However, it is important to recognize that there are numerous students who have limited opportunities for instruction in elementary and secondary schools, and many who have their first and only encounter with in college courses such as the history survey. The history survey is a course intended to initiate undergraduates, both majors and non-art majors alike, into historical study of the visual arts. Typically, the survey satisfies general education requirements for liberal arts students, and therefore its impact is felt across the curriculum. Because of its role in general education and in the preparation of future teachers, the history survey has always been of interest to college educators, but particularly now that the survey is undergoing radical revision (Collins, 1995). Ideological issues emerging over the last two decades from feminism, multiculturalism, and postmodernism (Silk, 1995) have stimulated a reconceptualization of not only the structure and content of the survey, but also its instructional methodology. Art history professionals and educators alike are questioning whether pedagogical methods traditionally employed in introductory college courses are adequate for meeting the goals of visual literacy which includes the development of critical and analytical skills necessary to understand works of (Alpers, 1995; Clayson & Leja, 1995; Condon, 1995; Sowell, 1991). The traditional format for the history survey is the instructor-moderated slide lecture. Affectionately known as art in the dark this instructional mode introduces students to vast numbers of unfamiliar images under conditions more conducive to sleep than intellectual stimulation. Because of the large size of most survey classes, opportunities for students' questions or in-depth discussion of works of are rare. Prescribed study methods outside of class are generally limited to reading survey texts and reviewing slides, assignments of which only the most motivated learners take advantage. Assessment in the survey course traditionally takes the form of the multiple-choice slide identification or short-answer objective questions in which the student is typically asked to recall names, dates, periods, and stylistic characteristics. This type of assessment does not account for higher-order understandings, nor does it reveal students' misunderstandings about works of art. A number of changes have been proposed by historians. For example, the Fall 1995 Art Journal is devoted to a series of articles describing the evolution of the history survey from a chronological introduction to the great masterpieces of Western art, to a thematically-taught global survey, including a much smaller, but broader selection of works. Concurrently, a number of alternative, and in some cases, supplemental forms of instruction have been implemented to help the history survey student gain an understanding of works of art. …

Nonconventional Methods in Teaching Matter, Atoms, Molecules &amp; the Periodic Table for Nonmajor Students

Instructional strategies that allow the integration of a variety of approaches such as hands-on activities, visualization, writing, demonstrations, role play, and guided inquiry are important in bridging the gap between concrete and abstract understanding of scientific concepts and principles among students. The following are a few of the instructional strategies that we have used in classes (from middle school through introductory college courses) and have found to be useful in helping nonscience majors better understand the nature of matter, atoms, molecules, the periodic table, and other related topics. The understanding of matter and its atomic properties is fundamental to the study of most biological and physical sciences in their present forms. For example, in biology, a basic understanding of chemistry (the study of matter and the changes it undergoes) is fundamental to understanding how cells, organisms, and ecosystems work. It is also important in understanding physiology, genetics, evolution, and the origin of life on the planet Earth. Therefore, students need to learn the atomic basis of matter and the periodic properties of the elements, in order for them to succeed in understanding most scientific concepts presented in any science class. At the same time, it is not at all obvious that matter consists of in-

The Arts of China to A.D . 900 (review)

Reviews 567 William Watson. The Arts ofChina to a.d. 900. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1995. x, 277 pp. 396 illustrations. Hardcover $65.00, isbn 0-300-05989-2. Every scholar at some time and on some level contemplates the ideal introductory book to his or her field or discipline. Few are bold enough to take on the challenge . Beyond the enormous investment of time, the completion of such a project is an inevitable exposé of one's personal vision of the field to one's colleagues. And, indeed, no two serious scholars would or should introduce a field in the same way. For the arts of China, any new book must stand alongside Laurence Sickman and Alexander Soper's The Art and Architecture ofChina (first published in 1956 with several newer editions), Michael Sullivan's The Arts ofChina (first published in 1967 with numerous updated editions), and, to a certain extent, Sherman Lee's A History ofFar Eastern Art (first published in 1964, also widi numerous revised editions). All three of these for decades have been employed as textbooks in the majority of introductory college courses in Chinese art history in the United States, and they have been used fairly successfully, sometimes in combination with the many other more specialized or less widely used books, including some by William Watson. Although a paragraph similar to the one above, with a different name and title, could stand as die preface to a review of an introductory book in any branch of sinology, for Chinese art there exist two unique challenges. First is the audience . The art field is comprised ofcurators as well as academics, and introductory books are most successful if they can serve both audiences. Second is the problem ofhow to assess the constant infusion of data that emerges from China's soil. Several times a year over the past forty-five years, with no sign of decrease in pace or significance, Chinese excavators have been uncovering finds as major as the thousands of figures in pits near the tumulus of Qin Shi Huangdi. From the most general book to the most scholarly paper, a new find can alter one's conclusions within a month after publication. Since introductory books are expected to have long lifetimes and wide circulation, it is an especially serious task to choose the four hundred or so illustrations that will still best represent the field after another ten years ofexcavation. Any fair assessment ofa new introductorybook on Chinese art must take into account these two factors as well as the author's goals for that book and, perhaps,© 1997 by University the reviewer's point ofview. For TheArts ofChina to a.d. 900, the author clearly ofHawai'i Pressstates his major goal in the preface. As for the reviewer, my primary purpose is to assess the merit of this book as a textbook for a survey of Chinese or Asian art history, or perhaps as a text for a more general college course on East Asia. 568 China Review International: Vol. 4, No. 2, Fall 1997 As Professor Watson tells the reader in his preface, there exists a standard history of Chinese art, that is, a history ofwell-known and well-published monuments with a large body of supporting documentary evidence. Many of these monuments, he writes, are found in Sickman and Soper's Art and Architecture of China, the previous book on Chinese art in this Pelican series, now published by Yale University Press. Watson tells the reader that his own book seeks to explain more of the techniques of the Chinese arts than is offered in other books on this subject, and that it will do so through a discussion of objects in major collections. The Arts ofChina to a.d. 900 succeeds in this attempt. The technical manufacture of the various "minor arts" for which China is known—bronze vessels, lacquerware , and all varieties of ceramics—is explained in detail, as are numerous aspects of Chinese painting. Furthermore, the illustrations for his explanations, which appear on almost every page, are excellent, sometimes spectacular. This book is user-friendly and is presented as the kind ofbook tiiat many, including...