As an aid for teaching phase equilibria to undergraduate students of igneous and metamorphic petrology, we have designed a laboratory exercise that allows them to create a phase diagram from data produced by differential scanning calorimetry. By preparing and analyzing samples of naphthalene and phenanthrene, students acquire hands-on insight into…

This article describes ways to incorporate high-precision measurements of the specific gravities of minerals into undergraduate courses in mineralogy and physical geology. Most traditional undergraduate laboratory methods of measuring specific gravity are suitable only for unusually large samples, which severely limits their usefulness for student…

This paper presents an example of a project used in an undergraduate business intelligence class which integrates concepts from statistics, marketing, and information systems disciplines. SAS Enterprise Miner software is used as the foundation for predictive analysis and data mining. The course culminates with a competition and the project is used…

This article presents a case study of a technology-enhanced face-to-face health sciences course in which the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) were applied. Students were offered a variety of means of representation, engagement, and expression throughout the course, and were surveyed and interviewed at the end of the term to…

Context: Clinical instructor educators (CIEs) prepare athletic trainers (ATs) to serve as preceptors. Structured performance observation and supervisory conferencing is a well-established method to improve teaching practice that may prove effective for training preceptors. Objective: To explore the impact of a systematic preceptor training program…

This study reports on the pedagogical implications of using the Blackboard feature Discussion Board (DB) to improve students' learning in higher education. The study sample included three sections of female students--a total of 155 students--in an undergraduate course at an international university in Saudi Arabia. The impact of using DB on…

In this qualitative study, we describe and characterize the pedagogical decisions that three college instructors made to mitigate challenges they faced as they taught by inquiry, as well as the rationale for their decisions and their perceptions of the efficacy of their decisions. We found that instructors made a range of decisions, including…

Many instructors seek to improve student engagement, but determining how to achieve student engagement can be complex and complicated. The authors sought to explore how the implementation of active-learning strategies in undergraduate history courses at a metropolitan community college using graphic organizers and group discussion impacted student…

Social work is a discipline that emphasizes personal contact and has traditionally been taught face-to-face. This paper examines whether online learning is appropriate for educating social workers about family violence. It describes a newly-developed online course in family violence and evaluates its effectiveness. Two surveys of the class and an…

The increasingly interdisciplinary nature of today's scientific research is leading to the transformation of undergraduate education. In addressing these needs, the University of Houston's College of Technology has developed a new interdisciplinary research-based biotechnology laboratory curriculum. Using the pesticide degrading bacterium,…

This paper describes the results of a pedagogical experience carried out at the University of Comahue, Argentina, with an interactive text (IT) concerning Homogeneous Chemical Reactors Analysis. The IT was built on the frame of the "Mathematica" software with the aim of providing students with a robust computational tool. Students'…

Over the last generation, the instructional staffing system in U.S. higher education has experienced a significant reduction in the proportion of jobs for full-time tenured and tenure-track faculty members and a dramatic growth in "contingent" instructors--full-time non tenure track, part-time/adjunct faculty and graduate employees.…

There are many factors that make the undergraduate systems analysis and design course somewhat enigmatic in its purpose, and therefore equivocal in its delivery. The purpose of this research is to learn, specifically, what instructors are teaching in their systems analysis and design courses. This paper reports the results of a survey and follow…

A Coordinated School Health Program maximizes a school's positive interaction among health education, physical education, health services, nutrition services, counseling/psychological/social services, health school environment, health promotion for staff, and family and community involvement. The purpose of this semester project is for…

Many colleges and universities today are faced with the problem of low student academic achievement in math. Some of them are trying to improve student academic achievement through the use of technology. Their proposed solution is to teach children how to use the technological tools available to them and integrate that technology into the…