Educators in speech communication are confronted with determining what criteria comprise "disciplinary breadth" in basic courses. Such a course ought to teach students about the disciplinary perspective and process, promote active learning, emphasize methods of thinking characteristic of the discipline, and encourage life-long learning.…

There are numerous ways to structure the introduction to film course so as to meet the needs of the different types of students who typically enroll. Assuming there is no production component in the course, the teacher is left with two major approaches to choose from--historical and aesthetic. The units in the course will typically be built around…

Designed chiefly for the growing number of technical and business writing teachers in two year colleges, this collection of articles helps teachers understand technology and business students so that they can teach courses that satisfy the writing needs of those students. Written by practicing teachers or writers, the articles offer viewpoints on…

Acknowledging the need for objective evaluation of the focus and organization of the basic speech communication course, this paper reviews the progress of the basic course by tracing its changes and development. The first portion of the paper discusses the evolution of the basic course from the 1950s to the present, giving specific attention to…

Reviews recent literature in second language acquisition (particularly concerning Krashen's Input Hypothesis) and in English for specific purposes (ESP) to find a firm theoretical basis for the development of communicative approaches to language teaching in ESP contexts. Tries to define the characteristics of noninterference/input strategies that…

Steps to improving introductory courses to keep the appropriate liberal education emphasis include: teach less, restructure testing, relate course content to problems in the outside world, pursue ethical issues, balance facts with other forms of knowledge, teach the arts of discussion and critical thinking, and help students develop wisdom. (MSE)

Proposed is that the present sequence of algebra followed by geometry leads to frustration. Students should be given the basic skills they need to survive in advanced mathematics and chemistry, with emphasis on percentage and ratio problems. (MNS)

Offers advice on what to teach and how to organize a college course on children's literature so that future teachers have insights into choosing and using children's literature. (RL)

This paper looks at current definitions of aesthetic education and, in light of present views on learning theory and teaching methodology, suggests means and materials for devising new programs which might realistically meet the needs of modern American students. (Author/SJL)

This article proposes that law schools teach trial advocacy and appellate advocacy as a two-course sequence, in which a "trial" is conducted in the first semester and appealed in the second. Students would work on teams and gain experience representing either the party with the burden of proof or the responsive party. (MSE)

A professor of sociology and anthropology chronicles the development of a course in environmental problems, beginning with inquiry into the issues and culminating in design of a course focused on research and discussion rather than lectures. Students responded positively to the exploration of multiple perspectives, particularly those at the…

Responds to commentaries about the author's article "Teaching about Validity." Links these commentaries and the original article to suggestions for curriculum design in teaching about qualitative research methods. Discusses the idea of "meaning making" as a possible way to integrate the approaches described in the commentaries and original…

Describes the authors' experience team teaching a graduate school clinical research course for students concentrating in secondary teaching. Examines the team planning process, actual team teaching, and team grading and evaluation. Most students responded positively to the approach. Each instructor also wrote a reflective piece on the experience.…

A course in advanced English as a second language that focused on the writing of formal research papers revealed that even students who had chosen personally interesting topics and were able to organize facts and present them well still had difficulty. They had problems beginning and ending their papers, they approached their topics warily, and…

Because the criteria, procedures, and goals of both the discipline (research) and the profession (teaching) of sociology are similar, the teaching of sociology may be vastly improved by exploiting the discipline in which sociologists are trained. First, the extension of reliable knowledge about societal issues is a criterion of both teaching and…