In this essay, I explain how I switched the lens of my sophomore research unit to one that focuses on rural issues. This essay follows the unit from beginning to end. I explain what I do to raise awareness through the use of daily articles along with providing models for their own research. The essay then details the writing portion and how it has…

Despite university policies and classroom procedures designed to deter student plagiarism, upper-division students seemed to be violating the rules in growing numbers. Recent research suggested that student plagiarism results from a complex mix of factors, including a need for instruction, but offers little guidance regarding effective teaching…

Skilled, ethical use of social media can advance social justice, impact policy, engage and educate the community, and elevate social workers. To assure that MSW students develop these skills, we created an assignment that required students to use a professional social media profile to advocate for a cause or policy based on findings from a needs…

We describe the impact of a hybrid Earth and space science course, taught online and complemented by a 2-hour face-to-face lab, on the science teaching self-efficacy of elementary preservice teachers over a 3-year span. Guided by the two overarching objectives of engaging students in the content and increasing their comfort level with teaching…

Biography is a popular approach to history education in the younger grades, especially when teaching units of study during Women's History Month, which is March. A biography-centered approach, however, can be problematic when such lessons are not tied to any context, promoting the misconception that individuals create social change in isolation.…

College readiness has several dimensions, but of particular import is readiness to produce scholarly work that meets the expectations of college instructors. Differences from high school and college are well documented in the literature, and this study adds to that body of work by delineating the characteristics of first-year college assignments…

This article describes an analysis of course syllabi from selected courses in the biology curriculum at Iowa State University. The purpose of this research was to learn about the numbers and types of information literacy assignments given to students majoring in biology. Overall, the most common assignment type for biology majors was a lab report…

This pilot study examines the role of metacognitive awareness as a motivational strategy in second language learning. The paper begins by exploring metacognitive strategies within the general language learning strategy framework, and then zooming in upon "interest enhancement" as a particular strategy that influences motivation and…

How much do specialized academic discourse communities matter to undergraduate writers? To what degree should theories of specialized discourses influence the design of undergraduate Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) programs? At the University of Iowa, where an undergraduate Writing Fellows program engages peer tutors in writing-intensive…

Suggests several high school writing assignments with civic themes. Includes assignments on the Iowa caucuses, the political and economic future of Iowa, and city-administrator government. (RDS)

In this article, the author, an associate professor at Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa, describes how her early childhood education class assisted in the development of the "Literacy Luncheon." As part of a class assignment, each student was required to create an "ABC" book that would fit into a unit of study they would…

Describes a fourth-grade project at Malcom Price Lab School at the University of Northern Iowa in which students write and produce a community brochure about their hometown, Cedar Falls, Iowa. The brochure provides a "kid's eye-view" of Cedar Falls' history, cultural events, and recreational activities and is distributed by local…