This study was conducted to analyze first impressions of a professor and student motivation for taking a college course. The researcher hypothesized that a course syllabus with a professor welcome statement would have a more positive effect on first impressions of the professor and student motivation as compared to a course syllabus without a…

Although the literature on critical thinking and transformative learning has remained relatively distinct, they have both emphasized the importance of working through and resolving states of doubt. There has been less focus, however, on how we can bring ourselves from a confirmed belief to a position of doubt. This is a foundational skill. Without…

The influence of fonts in marketing education may be underestimated as font usage/selection may benefit both department programs and courses in terms of attracting students and enhancing student learning outcomes. Across four studies, this research examines the effects of handwritten fonts on student inferences from course information. A course…

This study was designed to inform the renaming of a credit-bearing information literacy course. Researchers surveyed librarians to gather existing information literacy course titles. They also surveyed and held focus groups with students to learn what students consider when choosing electives, to understand how well the researchers' current…

Students invest time and money in post-secondary education to secure employment in their chosen field of study. In the past, choices were often constrained by the type of credential (college diploma or university bachelor's degree). Albeit this decision criterion became blurred when colleges started offering bachelor's degrees. Matriculating…

Research exploring a student's "path to purchase" when considering course selection has revealed a number of influential factors including course content, reputation, and professor style. To date, little is known about the direct (or indirect) influence that course titles and course descriptions have on student interest and enrollment in…

Syllabus-boundness constitutes an important attribute of a so-called surface approach to learning, whereby students are seen as highly assessment-oriented, doing what is minimally required from them, and wanting well-organized courses and clear instructions. When this concept emerged in the late 1960ies, it was linked to a discussion on issues of…

Purpose: In collaboration with their home cities, universities increasingly develop courses in which students investigate urban sustainability challenges. This paper aims to understand how far-reaching the collaboration with urban stakeholders in these courses is and what students are meant to learn from the transdisciplinary pedagogies.…

Despite its importance in the classroom, there has been limited research into the functional design of the syllabus as a means to motivate students to read and use it. This mixed methods study investigates student impressions of a 4-page full-length infographic-style visual syllabus. Identically formatted infographic syllabi were used in three…

This article discusses findings from an ongoing qualitative studies about the incorporation of popular culture in university-based professional education. The focus is on how popular culture can become a curricular resource to support learning about theory or concepts and contentious or sensitive issues, at a time when neoliberal trends of…

In this paper, we present an overview of a series of 1-credit applied problem solving courses. The goal of these courses was to help students develop their oral and written communication skills, ability to work as a team, and general problem solving skills through preparation and participation in the Mathematical Contest in Modeling (MCM) and…

The current and ongoing challenges brought on by climate change will require future scientists who have hands-on experience using advanced molecular techniques, can work with large data sets, and can make correlations between metadata and microbial diversity. A course-embedded research project can prepare students to answer complex research…

Background: Mental health issues are increasing in higher education and finding ways for students to get help when needed is important. Objective: We tested if the tone of a short syllabus and the presence of a special statement addressing mental health would increase intentions to approach instructors for help. Method: We used a 2 (Tone: warm vs.…

This study determined the effectiveness of a developed MOOC 'Statistical Analysis and Information Processing for Research' in enhancing Kazakhstan's young researchers' research skills. This study employed pedagogical experience generalization, pedagogical observation, discussion, questioning, and mathematical statistics to process experimental…

The purpose of this study was to examine teachers' use of mediated immediacy in a syllabus to determine effects on students' communication apprehension with instructors and student out-of-class communication with instructors. Participants viewed either a basic course syllabus with high levels of mediated immediacy or low levels of mediated…