The introduction of case studies on the autonomic nervous system in a fourth-semester physiology course unit for Pharmacy students is described in this article. This article considers how these case studies were developed and presents their content. Moreover, it reflects on their implementation and, finally, the reception of such a transformation…

This report presents research findings for Advanced Placement (AP) student success at the college level. Strong AP programs in high schools, coupled with strong AP policies at colleges, support many positive outcomes for students. Multiple research studies have confirmed that AP students who earn credit and advanced placement for the corresponding…

This study estimated the effects of teacher organization, clarity, classroom challenge and faculty expectations, support, and prompt feedback on students' inclination to inquire and lifelong learning during the first year of college. Controlling for a battery of potential confounding influences, teacher organization was positively associated with…

Teaching the ability to find, analyze, evaluate, and synthesize information is an important part of creating an environment in which ESL students feel empowered in the information age. However, a preliminary search of professional literature shows that there is a lack of research in information-literacy programs for ESL learners in higher…

"The First-Year Seminar: Designing, Implementing, and Assessing Courses to Support Student Learning and Success," a five-volume series, is designed to assist educators who are interested in launching a first-year seminar or revamping an existing program. Each volume examines a different aspect of first-year seminar design or…

In 2011, the National Resource Center for The First-Year Experience and Students in Transition revisited its 1999 National Survey of Senior Seminars and Capstone Courses to explore the current state of culminating experiences in American higher education. Drawn from a sample of public and private colleges and universities across the country, the…

In this paper we identify some of the issues and problems that we confronted while developing a new, one-semester, interdepartmental, multidisciplinary capstone design course. We implemented the following changes to the pre-existing capstone design course: (1) Utilized a website to enhance information transfer, (2) Modularized the course and…

Experiments in Content Language Integrated Learning have been carried out most of the time at primary and secondary education. However, not much is known about what higher education institutions are doing in this respect. This article aims to present an experience that occurred in the Languages Department at Universidad Central (Bogotá, Colombia)…

This formative evaluation within a graduate initial teacher education program sought to identify student teachers' perceptions of lecturer practice and its influence on their developing practice. Data collected from course and teaching evaluations and focus group interviews suggested that microstructural course elements--lectures, tutorials, and…

In recent years, learning management systems (LMS) have become very popular in almost all traditional universities, generating a new learning strategy approach, mixing elements from both traditional and online learning: the blended learning or b-learning. How these new environments influence teaching activities and learning processes are the main…

Higher education institutions and scientific funding agencies are emphasizing international projects that involve the integration and synergy between research groups, particularly if different disciplines are involved. Students with an education that reflects these trends will have more tools to succeed in the future, but it is challenging to…

The role of learner autonomy and self-regulated learning in distance education has received much attention. The application of these concepts impacts course design and, potentially, learner achievement. In the case of distance language learning, course designers must consider not only how to help learners gain communicative competence but also…

Given that Latinas/os make up the fastest-growing population group in the U.S., according to the 2000 U.S. Census, classroom teachers increasingly are in need of meaningful resources and learning strategies for students of Latin American heritage. These same resources can also serve to help internationalize/diversify classrooms serving non-Latino…

Recently, many counselor education programs have considered whether and how to offer courses online. Although online counselor education courses are becoming increasingly common, the use of synchronous (real-time) teaching approaches appears to be limited at best. In this article, we provide a context and rationale for incorporating online…

Literature on engineering education stresses the need for graduates to have skills such as working globally in a multicultural environment; working in interdisciplinary teams; sharing of tasks on a global, around the clock basis; working with digital communication tools and in a virtual environment. In addition, accreditation criteria include…