Charles Schroeder, "About Campus" executive editor, interviews Russell Edgerton, director of the Pew Forum on Undergraduate Learning, to get his views of a number of important issues including the status of the undergraduate reform movement; the role of assessment in performance improvement; and the emergence of deep learning as a new focus in the…

Focuses on an undergraduate course, "Outside Politics: How Minorities Play the Political Game". Describes how to create a foundation for active and collaborative learning and to promote critical thinking, discussion, and writing through reading assignments. Discusses the use of debates and role playing, autobiographies and videos, and…

Presents the results of a study, in which undergraduate students (n=105) in student-centered courses (one first-year and one second-year psychology course) completed a questionnaire evaluating their perceptions of the best college courses based on the course, professor, and the student's role. (CMK)

Explains a summer research program which is a part of a required junior and senior independent study program. Provides information on selection of applicants, activities, outcomes, and a list of names and student projects. (RT)

Presents a blueprint for innovation and change in psychology undergraduate education to help psychology be recognized and strengthened as a science and a profession. It offers the characteristics that psychology programs should have in order to enhance the quality of undergraduate students, the faculty, and the curriculum. (GR)

Provides data from two studies that compared student attrition, performance, and evaluation in classroom-based and online sections focusing on introductory psychology. In study 1 students chose whether to enroll in an online versus classroom section while in study 2 students were assigned. (CMK)

Addresses the issue of teaching students in the U.S. history survey course to read historical works by shifting the focus from the lecture method to collaborative learning techniques. Describes various techniques that can be used in the classroom such as expert groups, Particulars into Generalizations (PIG), and making lists and evaluative…

This work describes outcomes of a research-driven advanced microbiology laboratory and literature research course intended to enhance undergraduate preparation for and contributions to original research. The laboratory section was designed to teach fundamental biochemistry and molecular biology techniques in the context of an original research…

In this article, the authors investigate how incorporation of moral and civic goals into the curriculum affects the students' capacity to contribute productively to the world. Case studies of a dozen different types of higher education institutions show that purposefully building moral and civic learning into the heart of undergraduate education…

Notetaking is important for recording and remembering class content in most university courses. Despite the importance of this behavior, however, students are often poor notetakers. This study compared undergraduates' notes after traditional lecture, lecture with slides, and lecture with slides plus guided notes. Data on the percentages of…

Inquiry-based laboratories are acknowledged as the preferred method of instruction for development of research skills. Much has been written about changes in student performance associated with inquiry, but less is known about how students view the inquiry-based format or whether they perceive a benefit from this type of instruction. The Student…

This book reports the findings of a national survey of college student experiences in the 1980s, particularly focusing on what students do and what they perceive to have gained from their college experience. Data for this book are from the responses of 24,427 undergraduates from 74 colleges and universities to the "College Student Experiences…

Summarizes the results of a preferred method of study questionnaire in which college students explained how they approached reading a new textbook. Reports that women showed a significant preference for adopting a single method of study. Indicates that there was no discernable relationship between study strategies and college level. (CW)

Although recent results from the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) suggest there is considerable variation in levels of undergraduate student engagement within Carnegie institutional classifications, research also suggests different classifications of institutions exhibit different types (Pike and Kuh, 2005) and levels (Pike, Kuh and…

As debate continues over who should get what kinds of aid to attend college, it is important to know what students and their families are actually paying for college, where the money is coming from, and how students' methods of paying vary with their family income and the type of institution they attend. To inform these debates, this report uses…