The nature of undergraduate students' out-of-class interactions with peers was studied through a survey of all undergraduate students at the University of Melbourne, Australia. The most common reason for peer interaction was to discuss assignments. There is a significant positive relationship between the frequency of such peer interaction and the…

Since 1980, a large increase in the number of undergraduate students majoring in international studies at Miami University (Oxford, Ohio) has occurred. This paper describes the historical development and present structure of this University's international studies program and the program's relationship to other academic departments. The advantages…

Independent study involves those activities that help students develop the capacity for self-paced, lifelong learning. Independent study may be pursued concurrently with regular courses or as an intensive experience by itself. A major question faced by all who consider offering independent study concerns the students. Few institutions offer…

This study examined the addition and expansion of graduate programs at primarily undergraduate colleges. The primary approach of the study was quantitative, consisting of descriptive and multivariate analysis of master's degree programs at colleges that were classified in 1994 as Baccalaureate Colleges. Data came from the 1994 and 2000 Carnegie…

This study examined the role of different goal-setting instructional interventions in facilitating students' shift to more sophisticated mental models of the circulatory system as indicated by both performance and process data. Researchers adopted the information processing model of self-regulated learning of P. Winne and colleagues (1998, 2001)…

This study examined the role of different scaffolding instructional interventions in facilitating students' shift to more sophisticated mental models as indicated by both performance and process data. Undergraduate students (n=53) were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 scaffolding conditions (adaptive content and process scaffolding (ACPS), adaptive…

Livingston College, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey, offers a minor in organizational leadership. The university has a body of courses that are fundamental to leadership instruction. The minor gathers those courses into a curriculum that provides the expertise students need to assume a leading role in an organization. Most of the course…

Effective teaching of college level introductory courses in anthropology should include techniques used by anthropologists themselves. An effective learning environment is first achieved by having respect for one's discipline, for students, and for the processes of learning and intellectual development. Once the environment has been established,…

This document suggests a number of ways of thinking about quality control in those undergraduate programs that depart from commonly accepted forms and objectives. Institutionalization and evolution of these new departures are required if our currently accepted model of mass undergraduate education is to be transformed into a more effective…

Presented in this address by the recipient of the American Sociological Association's award for contribution to undergraduate education are reflections on teaching and a personal biography. Social relationships in academe are also discussed. (Author/RM)

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between testing condition and student test scores. The testing conditions studied were: independent, cheat sheet, homogenous grouping with cheat sheet, and heterogeneous group without cheat sheet. Participants were 141 undergraduates in a course required for entry into the teacher…

Appellate court simulations, also known as "moot court" and "mock Supreme Court," are widely used in U.S. colleges and universities, especially by law schools. Undergraduate appellate simulation is less widely used and less well known. This document describes some U.S. undergraduate appellate simulation activities and focuses…

At the annual meeting of the Association of American Colleges, the chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities called for a new core curriculum that she said would bring more coherence to undergraduate education. Wayne Booth discussed an institution caught up in its ambitions. (MLW)

The paper explains an alternative structure to teaching micro and macroeconomic theory and describes the characteristics that make it an effective framework for introductory and principles courses. The teaching of economics principles typically proceeds by separating macroeconomic theory and microeconomic theory. But the use of the macro-micro…

Assesses, through a survey, whether instruction in research methods has filtered down to the undergraduate level. Finds that the introductory communication research methods course on the undergraduate level appears to be growing rapidly, and that there is general agreement about purpose, content, problems, and plans for it. (MS)