This paper presents the methodology and results of teaching an entire engineering course using challenge-based instruction. The challenges consisted of eight biomechanics multimedia learning modules developed by the authors as part of a broader NSF educational coalition. The biomechanics modules were presented in an undergraduate mechanical…

In this article, the author discusses how her sixth-grade students gained writing skills and learned to "dream big dreams." She wanted to celebrate literacy, and also create something that could raise funds to support literacy projects, so she challenged her students to write to their favorite authors and ask each for a recipe. The end result of…

A case study on the teaching of writing, this paper discusses what motivates students in a freshman writing course to complete increasingly difficult writing assignments. The study provides a glimpse into how one class of freshman students developed positive expectations for writing a paper about a difficult poem by helping each other map…

Reading several documents from the early history of Francis W. Parker School and an essay by John Dewey entitled "The Need for a Philosophy of Education" helps the author's students gain some precision in defining what otherwise remain rather loosely held opinions about the core values of the school. For most of the students, these…

The topic of international education continues to gain the attention of educators. However, the American Council on Education (ACE) spotlights a slow response from universities to make intercultural learning a critical part of the undergraduate education process. Nonetheless, intercultural components are common not only in intercultural…

The aim of the study was to look at the effectiveness of combining a variety of teaching and learning methods in an attempt to facilitate students' understanding of assessment criteria. Fifty-three psychology students were asked to complete the mismatch exercise (Norton et al., 2002), and a booklet entitled "Your Assignment results and how to…

In a College Composition II (ENG 112) class offered during the spring of 2005 at John Tyler Community College (JTCC), the author implemented an information-literacy curriculum whose salient features include: students collaborated on a semester-long, original-research project. The Metro Richmond Supermarket Price Comparison provided a focused,…

Teaching students to think critically while integrating their personal experiences with feminist scholarship has become a very important objective in the Introduction to Women's Studies course. Women's studies introductory courses are designed to introduce students to feminist inquiry, using gender as the center of analysis while examining its…

We describe a workshop in which 10 teachers from 10 schools, located in central Israel, participated in the development of alternative assessment tools in the context of implementing a new science curriculum for senior high-school students, namely "Science for All" (an STS type curriculum). In order to assist a group of teachers (who…

Individual or group presentations are common assignments in business communication courses, and many students use PowerPoint slides as audiovisual support. Frequently, curriculum constraints don't allow instructors much time to teach effective design and delivery of presentation graphics in their courses; guidelines in the form of minilectures or…

Standardized tests are increasingly used to determine students' growth in reading comprehension. In some U.S. school districts, the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 has led to a focus on multiple-choice questions to better prepare students for these types of tests. Even though such questions can provide some important information, they do not…

A team of secondary school language teachers and a teacher trainer developed a new method for Dutch writing instruction. The principles underlying the method were derived from insights regarding activating instruction and self-directed student learning. The development entailed two phases. In the first phase, the exploration of actual problems in…

Accounting educators struggle with ways to incorporate the development of critical thinking and communication skills into the curriculum. Case analysis is one tool for developing these skills. We examine whether students' case analysis scores improve as a result of participation in peer grading and peer review. We find that students improve their…

Writers in this journal have presented a number of strategies that sociology teachers can use to facilitate the expression--and serious analysis--of unpopular opinions. This article contributes to this dialog by illustrating the application of a Bill of Rights learning module. In this module, students are expected to create a document that…

This article examines how Chicana/o and Latina/o youth employed their political-historical knowledge to "talk back" to the xenophobia and political contradictions that underlie the (im)migration "debate." A literacy unit that honed bilingual students' everyday translating created opportunities for students to utilize this political-historical…