The last decade has seen an increased emphasis on assessment of student learning and on the use of instructional technologies in higher education. This emphasis has caused sociologists to pay closer attention to learning theories as they seek to increase learning in sociology courses by more effectively engaging students. Thus, to promote greater…

Information literacy skills are critically important for the undergraduate biology student. The ability to find, understand, evaluate, and use information, whether from the scientific literature or from Web resources, is essential for a good understanding of a topic and for the conduct of research. A project in which students receive information…

Political Science programs have long seen part of their mission as the cultivation of "critical thinking" among their undergraduates. But what exactly does critical thinking mean in our Political Science courses? Can we foster critical thinking in our classes and, if so, how? This article, based on a yearlong systematic study of an…

Building upon a related 2005 panel presentation at the 25th annual Lilly Conference on College Teaching, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, the authors, several tenure-track assistant professors and tenured associate professors who have participated in a Research and Teaching Faculty Learning Community at Bowling Green State University, share their…

This study examines the effects of a portfolio programme on self-regulation--and thus among third year students of teacher education training to be secondary school teachers. Data collection was by means of self-reporting before, during and after the portfolio programme and via perception questionnaires. The study indicates a significant increase…

Increased opportunities for undergraduate students in agricultural and natural resource disciplines to write for diverse audiences besides their instructor may increase motivation to write and improve student writing skills. The objectives of this teaching research were to determine and compare the initial writing experience of students enrolled…

Pedagogical experts contend that students learn best when they are actively involved in and responsible for their own learning. In a student-centered learning environment, the instructor ideally serves primarily as a learning resource or facilitator. With the guidance of the instructor, students in active learning environments strive for…

Designed primarily with the student in mind, this guide focuses on what the student needs to know about essay writing to survive in college. It details a proven, consistent, and effective method for the preparation of undergraduate essays across the disciplines. Not intended as a textbook, the guide speaks directly to the student, providing…

Presents a literature review that focuses on undergraduate discussion. Describes a teaching method in which undergraduate sociology students are assigned to create an open-ended question and write a one- to three-page answer every one- to two-weeks. Addresses the positive and negative aspects of the method. (CMK)

Describes how a computerized environment supplemented traditional undergraduate courses in English literature and composition at the University of Florida, and was developed with a grant from IBM. Highlights include the use of MOO (multi-user, object-oriented) space; student assignments; the client-server setting; and student and teacher…

Provides results of a longitudinal study tracking research behavior of a multi-college undergraduate course in microeconomics from 1996 to 2001. Student term paper bibliographies grew between 1996 and 2000 but included fewer scholarly resources. In 2001, students tended to cite scholarly sources when the professor provided clear and enforceable…

I describe a career research project designed to increase students' knowledge of careers in psychology. Following a detailed outline, undergraduates enrolled in a senior seminar conducted research on a career of their choice, prepared a written summary of the career information, and presented the summary orally to their classmates. Reactions to…

The use of self-assessment instruments to determine students' entrepreneurial characteristics represents a well-accepted practice in entrepreneurship courses, and many professors are only now beginning to embrace Web-based instruments. We describe how we use a comprehensive array of online self-assessments in an undergraduate New Venture Creation…

This article describes a reading and writing project designed for an undergraduate survey course in mathematics. For the Math Book Club, students in groups of four read and discuss one of six books related to mathematics and the history of mathematics. As part of the assignment, students take turns developing discussion questions and summarizing…

Experiential learning is, in its most simplistic form, a philosophical perspective that links the concrete with the abstract. If experiential learning utilizes the experiences of the learner, television is part of the learner's experience, and to ignore the pervasiveness of mass media in modern society is to ignore part of the lived experience of…