Women continue to be underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields and in STEM leadership positions. According to the most recent data available from the National Science Foundation, in academia only 31% of full-time STEM faculty and 27% of STEM deans and department heads are women. By comparison at Stevenson…

The sustainability movement in higher education has made considerable headway in the areas of research, campus operations, and community outreach, but has been less successful in bringing about curricular reform. To promote greater thinking about sustainability in the undergraduate curriculum, this essay explores three main questions: What are the…

At MIT in the 1990's, data from two sources, a study of the writing ability of a small group of randomly selected MIT juniors correlated to their overall academic performance and a survey of alumni from various years provided the major motivation for the development by MIT faculty and administration of a very ambitious…

Practical teaching plays an important role in developing students' practical and innovative abilities. Starting from the idea of "emphasis on practice and ability", this article proposes to take a series of measures to improve students' practical ability in undergraduate teaching. In addition, a platform should be built to develop…

Colleges and universities across the country are struggling with the issue of accountability, especially with regard to student learning. One attempt to revitalize undergraduate education and to respond to the calls for change is defined by a shift in the dominant pedagogy to a learner-centered focus. If academic administrators are to promote and…

Higher education organizations, institutions, and academic units globally are grappling with the challenges of redesigning curricula and developing and adopting institutional, professional, and program-level learning outcomes. Implementing learning-centered curricula, however, cannot be considered simply as a series of unproblematic and discrete…

This article, presented as a dialogue between the authors, explores what they perceive as critical areas of teaching and learning in the discipline of Medieval Studies. Within the discussion, notions of relevance and usefulness, widening access, and epistemological assumptions about the discipline are discussed and related to the practice of…

Business and accounting curriculums are designed to educate and train future business professionals and leaders. When Congress passed SOX in 2002, it dramatically impacted the responsibilities of corporate executives and CPAs and consequently required corresponding changes in the business schools prepare students to assume these roles. Because the…

The U.S. federal policymakers are implementing the policies to enhance the science and technology enterprise by which they are planning to attract and retain more students into science and engineering degrees.

Many societal trends and needs call for engineers to broaden their outlooks, have more flexible career options, and work closely and effectively with persons of quite different backgrounds. Yet the education and general orientation of engineers have been directed inward toward the profession, rather than outward toward the rest of society and the…

"National CrossTalk" is a publication of the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education. The National Center promotes public policies that enhance opportunities for quality education and training beyond high school. The primary purpose of "National CrossTalk" is to stimulate informed discussion and debate of higher…

University innovations relevant to sustainability education do not always come labelled as such. Inspiration can potentially be drawn from a wide range of fields and initiatives. During a 2005 study tour of Canada, seven universities were visited to investigate such programs, focussing on those that comprise more than one subject and that are…

This article argues that an overhaul of undergraduate education in Ireland is needed. It asserts that at present most students leave university short-changed, never having been exposed to the riches of discovery and research. A framework founded on research and inquiry is designed to stimulate learning and innovation through action. It is argued…

This article describes a possible praxis for an undergraduate learning theories course. The philosophies of "a language-based theory of learning" (Wells, 1999), writing across the curriculum (Young, 1994), learner-centered education (Lambert & McCombs, 1998), and critical-thinking (Paul, 1995) are interwoven with the rationale and…

Several years ago a senior APS colleague challenged the leaders of academic programs to critically think about a preferred future for ensuring that there is not only the capability, but also the willingness to recognize and reform and/or reframe higher education programs within FANRRS to meet the challenges of "preparing society ready…