Compares the past and projected use of media of beginning education majors as a function of their "communication apprehension," indicating high or moderate fear in professional discourse resulted in less past and projected future use. Decreasing the communication apprehension may increase the possibility that such teachers will use instructional…

A study evaluated peer assessment in two areas of an undergraduate music curriculum (composition and performance) at Kingston University (England). Data were drawn from teacher interviews, a student survey, and from evaluation and feedback of the peer assessment process. Concludes that peer assessment improves students' critical faculties and…

Universities that devise models to involve faculty in curricular change, building on commonalities among academic fields, can progress toward curricular coherence. The story of an imaginary committee developing a core course for lower-division students, based on information drawn from research, illustrates this planning process. (Author/MSE)

An examination of trends in undergraduate liberal arts degrees and curricula reports two findings: (1) renewed interest in the liberal arts degree has occurred primarily outside liberal arts colleges, within universities; and (2) the struggle for institutional survival has caused some colleges to scale back or abandon their original missions. (MSE)

Proposes that higher education scholars distinguish among professional subjects taught to undergraduates as they do among traditional disciplines. Other distinctions may be more meaningful than the research-based dimensions used in the popular Biglan classification. A framework for differentiating collegiate career fields is proposed, evidence…

Numerous studies have found a host of factors that are likely to result in more successful applications to graduate schools. This study was a retrospective examination of the variables that distinguish graduate students who believed they were better prepared for graduate school. We examined several of these factors, including variables associated…

Despite the assumption that transferable skills are part and parcel of a graduate's portfolio, there is a lack of information about the extent to which such skills may be perceived by students to be valuable. Although the skills agenda has been at the forefront of Higher Education (HE) provision for some time, contemporary studies focus upon…

Advanced approaches to the construction of software systems can present difficulties to learners. This is true for multi-agent systems (MAS) which exhibit concurrency, non-determinacy of structure and composition and sometimes emergent behavior characteristics. Additional barriers exist for learners because mainstream MAS technology is young and…

This article describes the following aspects of teaching biochemistry in undergraduate health courses: objectives, number of hours, time in which the subject is studied, selection of content, teaching strategies, and evaluation methodologies used. Fifty-three courses distributed in 13 areas within the health field and offered by 12 institutions…

This paper provides an overview and critique of a team taught, senior level, interdisciplinary college course entitled "AIDS: Challenges and Crises." The details of the course and its underlying rationale are outlined. The paper concludes with a curriculum proposal rooted in the idea of critical education for citizenship. Those who teach political…

A 3-year project was developed to increase students' abilities to perform competently as professional engineers. The project sought to infuse into existing courses concern for, practice with, and development of three competencies critical to professional success: problem-solving, communication, and value clarification. Eight elementary and…

In 1986, the Far West Laboratory for Educational Research and Development was contracted to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the California State University's (CSU) Summer Bridge and Intensive Learning Experience (ILE) programs. These new remedial/developmental programs are designed to provide basic skills instruction, orientation, and…

The College Outcomes Evaluation Program (COEP), intended to be a comprehensive assessment of higher education in New Jersey, focuses on outcomes in order to improve undergraduate education. After an introduction covering the national perspective, New Jersey's efforts, COEP, and rationale and principles, subcommittee reports summarize the content…

Women over age 25 represent a substantial age group that may be recruited to bolster undergraduate student recruitment efforts at Northwestern University and similar institutions of higher education. By 1990, the number of recruitable 18-year-olds will fall by 20 percent nationwide, causing financial hardship for many private colleges and…

This set of five essays explores the pros and cons of undergraduate core curricula in colleges and universities. Core curricula are seen as either providing the ideal educational base and a shared background, or as a loss of diversity and a protective shell that faculties can use to avoid considering the relevance of a liberal arts education. (JMD)