A second semester biochemistry laboratory has been implemented as an independent projects course at California State University, Sacramento since 1999. To incorporate aspects of carbohydrate biochemistry, or glycobiology, into our curriculum, projects in lectin isolation and purification were undertaken over the course of two semesters. Through…

Traditional psychological theories are designed, in large part, to explain the behavior of white males, viewing female behavior as deviant or deficient, or ignoring it altogether. While special undergraduate topics courses, such as those on the psychology of women, address this problem in part, many institutions cannot afford to offer them. In…

In a test-driven society such as ours, the reasons not to take on the time-consuming and controversial topic of critical literacy are many; however, this article hopes to convince educators at all levels that the benefits of engaging students in questioning, reflecting, and taking action are well worth the effort. The article begins with a…

Summarizes the response to complaints that a class examining the sociology of minorities unfairly emphasized negative behavior. The course was restructured to include an examination of resistance and interracial cooperation against racism. This new perspective was incorporated into writing assignments, class discussions, and instructional…

A unit in a college course on technology and human values involves the students' questioning of traditional Western values as they relate to technological rationalism, calling dominant ideology into question. The approach is based on Paulo Freire's problem-posing pedagogy, and incorporates analysis of selected paintings from the Futurist movement.…

This study explored teacher perspectives on the use of socioscientific issues (SSI) and on dealing with ethics in the context of science instruction. Twenty-two middle and high school science teachers from three US states participated in semi-structured interviews, and researchers employed inductive analyses to explore emergent patterns relative…

The current uniform content of college reading programs can be expanded to include insights from other disciplines, specifically those areas of instruction which pertain to the neuropsychological mechanisms governing behavior, especially language behavior. There are several reasons for expanding the boundaries of college reading programs to…

Weaver Award winning speech communication instructor Craig Streff believes the most important goals of his interpersonal communication instruction are a strong cognitive and affective base, without which practical interpersonal skills are not likely to be developed. Given this overview, what he considers to be the most significant points of the…

"Ancient Egypt," an upper-division, non-required history course covering Egypt from pre-dynastic time through the Roman domination is described. General descriptive information is presented first, including the method of grading, expectation of student success rate, long-range course objectives, procedures for revising the course, major…

Questionnaires designed to tap misconceptions of the content of psychology courses can serve as pedagogical devices useful for introducing students to topics and for evaluating student learning. The topic of sleep and dreams is of particular interest to students. To develop a useful introductory tool and to evaluate students' knowledge of sleep,…

The introductory paragraph of this paper briefly summarizes panel presentations by three scholars at The John Dewey Society Meeting (February 28, 1985) on the subject of teaching the philosophy of John Dewey. The approaches of Maxine Greene, Joe L. Green, and Richard Pratte are discussed. Following this, the author discusses several approaches to…

Explains how the use of charts can help students sort out the many and varied cases and concepts in communication law. Contains an example of such a chart. (FL)

Describes a project in which students planned and produced a cable television program. Contains the guidelines used in the project and a statement of the philosophy underlying it. (FL)

Provides a basic overview of legal concerns that affect communications in the business environment, including agency, defamation, credit and collection, information and privacy, employment, and copyright. Furnishes a teaching plan that suggests various classroom activities to help develop students' awareness of these legal concerns. Recommends…

Describes and compares the major approaches to organizing a writing course, classifying them under the following four terms: traditional modes, process, epistemic, and stylistic. Discusses the basic tenets of each teaching philosophy, suggests appropriate textbooks, and identifies various ways of implementing these approaches in the classroom. (JG)