Describes five in-class exercises for use in consumer behavior classes that encourage student involvement in group and class discussions, promote student interest in course material, and stimulate critical thinking. Explains that the exercises can be adapted for other related courses and are equally successful with students of varying abilities.…

Argues that when a classroom is structured to enable students to work cooperatively on learning tasks, the students benefit academically and socially. Observes that music traditionally has been taught in a competitive atmosphere. Examines the benefits of cooperative learning to restructure the music classroom into a more interactive and…

Presents a college level music appreciation course that combines cohort analysis, action research methods, and distance learning. Students identify generational cohorts and use research methods to determine the preferred musical forms of the cohort. Describes a "cohort," a music appreciation Web site, the course structure, and benefits of the…

One university's use of peer evaluation to develop fair and reliable distribution of grades for group projects is described, and its adaptation to the specific requirements of civil engineering is examined. Results suggest the evaluation model is transferable to this discipline. In particular, use of student journals for grade allocation was found…

Explains an Internet project, used in a college history survey course, with which students posted group position papers to a discussion board. States that the project stimulated debate, discussion, critical analysis, and peer review. Provides student responses to the project and excerpts from student papers. (CMK)

Presents two pedagogical techniques designed to promote the development of a conceptual framework in general chemistry. Describes an exam repechage which turns exams into learning experiences for students, and the grouped laboratory essay approach in which students complete essays outside of class. (DDR)

Interest in the topic of trust both within and between organizations has grown greatly in recent years. One key issue to understanding trust and how it can be more effectively fostered is understanding its causes. Based on the 1995 Mayer, Davis, & Schoorman model of trust, this article describes exercises that allow students to inductively…

This fourth edition of the New Media Consortium's (NMC) annual "Horizon Report" describes the continuing work of the Horizon Project, a research-oriented effort that seeks to identify and describe emerging technologies likely to have a large impact on teaching, learning, or creative expression within higher education. Drawing on ongoing…

Research on cooperative learning has been conducted primarily in elementary education. R. E. Slavin (1991) however, notes that researchers are beginning to investigate the effectiveness of cooperative learning at the college level. A study examined cooperative learning at the college level from a communication perspective. The approach considers…

The use of reflective SEED and I-Search papers in a higher education classroom at North Carolina's Ramseur College has allowed both undergraduate and graduate education students to reflect on their knowledge and experiences, gain meaning from these higher educational experiences, and make connections between their learning and the "real…

The introductory writing course, English 101, at St. John Fisher College in Rochester, New York, has gone through several stages in the last decade, changing from a course emphasizing writing in the rhetorical modes to an issue-oriented interdisciplinary course, to, at the present time, a course focusing on the writing process and on collaborative…

A truly interactive approach in the classroom involves giving students the freedom to add their own "twist" to course materials and allowing them to decide to some degree how the information will be used. Two learning activities employed in a psychology course serve to illustrate how interactive techniques can encourage students to…

This report describes a seminar at Roskilde University Center (Denmark) on project work in foreign languages, which brought together language teachers and theorists from different schools, including universities, business schools, technical schools, merchants schools, and high schools, to discuss their experiences with project work in foreign…

Strengths of the committee system and its value for colleges and universities are discussed. College committees provide more people with the opportunity to participate in the decision-making process. Leadership is provided to a committee by a chairperson who acts as a facilitator. The value of a committee depends on the scope of its mission, the…

A procedure called the Group Mapping Activity has been used to provide for dynamic interaction of students through discussion after reading and to gauge the extent of readers' interactions with text. In using the procedure, however, it was discovered that some students regularly shifted the protagonists in their mapping. A study was undertaken to…