The sociological literature on teaching and learning includes a number of discussions devoted to the importance of multicultural education. Much of this literature encourages educators to revise the curriculum and shows how the experience of multicultural education can stimulate student's sociological imaginations. To this end, some scholars have…

This study examined students' preferences for lecturers' personalities on three continents. Two-hundred and 35 university students in Malaysia, 347 university students in Britain and 139 university students in the United States provided ratings of 30 desirable and undesirable lecturer trait characteristics, which were coded into an internally…

Medical and nursing schools in the United States have traditionally had a limited emphasis on end-of-life care. The present study is a comparison of these 2 professional programs' current offerings on death education. Data were gathered via a mailed survey from the 122 medical schools in 2005 and the 580 baccalaureate nursing programs in 2006.…

Ensuring that students spend time preparing for class has always been one of the challenges of teaching. Indeed, when students are given an assignment that they are required to do before coming to the next lecture--whether it be written exercises or just studying--one wonders how often they are actually doing it. There are many ways in which…

This hearing discussed how lack of coordination between laboratory exercises and classroom lectures, inadequately trained teachers, languishing facilities, and current high school organization diminish the value these exercises can have or prohibit them all together, and highlighted how a strong hands-on experience can create scientifically…

The significance of improving conservation education in the classroom with international guest lectures is presented and a survey on 14 Swedish students and 23 American students is conducted. Such survey evaluates teaching skills and activities like lab exercises, field trips, and promoting personal experiences incorporated therein.

Educators value reading as an academic practice and express frustration with student noncompliance with assigned reading. Some research has addressed this issue and recommends multiple strategies for overcoming the problem of student noncompliance. Much of this research, however, treats the problem as exclusively student-centered. This paper…

This study investigates and compares American and Chinese secondary students' science achievement, their attitudes toward science, and other factors influencing science learning. The subjects, in Grades 7-12, include Chinese students (N=495) and American students (N=469). A survey of attitudes towards science developed by the authors was employed…

Forty U.S. and 70 Israeli occupational therapy students received lecture or group discussion treatments in groups based on active versus reflective learning styles. Matching reflective style with lectures and active style with discussion resulted in better problem-solving performance and shorter learning time. (SK)

In business schools across the United States, one of the most common pedagogical tools is the use of groups and group projects. "Passive" instruction (i.e., lecture only) is considered to be an inferior mode of teaching. In this article, the author suggests that the use of group-based projects as pedagogical tools should be reconsidered.…

In the United States of America, there are about 35 separate Children's Museums; in the rest of the world, hardly a dozen. In Europe there is one. Yet many museums in Continental Europe, in Great Britain and the British Commonwealth, and in the Americas do provide for children in a variety of ways. How museums of different types, including…

The current status and frequency of nonmajor biology courses offered in colleges and universities in the United States and Canada were investigated. A random sample of 300 four-year colleges was sent a questionnaire and a request for copies of their syllabi for nonmajor biology courses and other nonmajor science courses. Of the 134 respondents,…

Graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) in the sciences are a common feature of U.S. universities that have a prominent mission of research. During the past 2 decades, increased attention has been paid to the professional development of GTAs as instructors. As a result, universities have created training programs to assist GTAs in selecting…

The drivers in a battalion about to be deployed to Germany were taught the meanings of international road signs using one of the following techniques: Sign Only, in which the road signs were presented via a slide projector and the names of the slides provided orally by the instructor; Sign Elaboration, which was identical to the Sign Only…

Computer conferencing offers many opportunities for linking college students and faculty at a distance. From the Binational English and Spanish Telecommunications Network (BESTNET) has evolved a variety of bilingual video/computer/face-to-face instructional packages to serve institutions and nontraditional students on several continents. (MSE)