Student perception of class size remains a consideration in the online setting. This study explored graduate student perceptions of class size and impact on instructor effectiveness and student engagement. Data was gathered via a web-based survey with a sample of online graduate students. Respondents noted 20 or 25 students as the point that…

This study explores faculty beliefs about teaching and learning in different institutional settings and over time. This study surveyed faculty at two Canadian universities, one research-intensive, the other teaching-intensive, using a conceptual replication of a survey originally administered in 1976. Some results differ from the original survey,…

Gateway testing is an important pedagogic tool employed by many university mathematics departments in calculus and precalculus courses. With a goal of ensuring that students attain needed basic skills in courses with a conceptual "reform" orientation, these tests provide an efficient means of assessing a large volume of student work,…

Instructor communication behaviors and student motivation to learn relationships were studied at a small liberal arts university. Specifically, relationships between instructor nonverbal immediacy, verbal immediacy behaviors and student motivation to learn were measured. Only instructor verbal immediacy behaviors had a significant linear…

This paper presents the results of a model that simulates the effects of varying preferential admissions policies on the academic profile of a set of 35 small liberal arts colleges. An underlying assumption is that all schools in the set use the same ratio of preferential to non-preferential admissions. The model predicts that even drastic changes…

Designing and executing a new upper level political science course preparation can be a daunting task, especially when dealing with some of the challenges in the context of teaching-oriented institutions of higher learning. In this paper, I conduct an examination of both the challenges and the opportunities that can be afforded by environmental…

Recent emphasis placed on the cost effectiveness of larger colleges and larger classes is criticized from the point of view that student involvement is more valuable but is difficult to achieve under such circumstances. (MSE)