Describes a partnership between a family foundation and the National Conferences on Undergraduate Research to encourage and support interdisciplinary research. Describes some funded projects. (EV)

Explains the Association of American Colleges and Universities' initiative to define the aims of twenty-first century undergraduate education, called "Greater Expectations: The Commitment to Quality as a Nation Goes to College." Then introduces articles that describe successful change and innovation at three colleges. (EV)

Describes the seven steps over a course of several years, which enabled Worcester Polytechnic Institute to implement and sustain a reconstruction of undergraduate education to involve no set curriculum, but rather three qualifying projects. (EV)

Describes strategic changes at Richland College including the consolidation and expansion of special programs through the Office of Academic Enrichment, and institutional improvements involving student learning undertaken during the process of re-accreditation. (EV)

Describes the process undertaken at King's College to create an invigorated teaching and learning environment, including a new Core Curriculum designed to ensure that students engage in cumulative and transferable learning in three general areas. (EV)

An undergraduate gerontology internship allows scaffolding between a service-learning activity and a graduate school internship. A humanistic approach to teaching about aging provides opportunities to develop critical thinking and deep understanding. (Contains 49 references.) (SK)

Examines various challenges facing higher education in light of growing concern over the quality of undergraduate degree programs and the graduates of these programs and formulates recommendations to colleges of business. (Author/JOW)

Of 58 colleges of pharmacy surveyed, 80 percent required a communications skills course for undergraduates. Course descriptions vary widely in format, time allotment, content, and types of practice exercises. Most are taught as a specific course, by pharmacy faculty, and in the third or fourth year. (Author/MSE)

Reports on two studies that assessed the interchangeability of logical and empirical estimates of readability and human interest for college-level introductory psychology texts published between 1977 and 1988. Uses Flesch's procedures to obtain logical scores and student ratings to obtain empirical scores. Finds that correlations are too low to…

Reports on a study that investigated curricular patterns in undergraduate music education courses and attempted to determine predictor variables for these patterns. Concludes that although a core content can be identified, data indicates inconsistencies in curricula across institutions and a lack of agreement regarding priorities in some content…

Results are reported from a study, involving 35 female undergraduates, which examined the correlation between the health of the students, as measured by self-reported incidence of illness and directly observable physiological (blood pressure) measures, and the frequency and perceived stress of examinations and assignments. (IAH)

Students at Willamette University (Salem, Oregon) desiring to become teachers must major in the liberal arts. The college curriculum has long emphasized reading, writing, broad cultural experiences, and appreciation for our culture's politics and technology. Through disciplined study in their major fields, future teachers develop the capacity for…

Reports the use of a heavy duty hacksaw blade and a 1000 turn pick-up coil to form the basis of a mechanical oscillator for a laboratory exercise in mechanical resonance designed for either the elementary undergraduate course or in association with an upper level mechanics course. (LZ)

Defines faculty development. Suggests that these programs are driven by changes in expectations about quality of undergraduate education; societal needs; technology; student populations; and models in teaching and learning. Discusses faculty development options and lists variety of resources. (CRR)

Reviewed are short articles that contain new insights on topics taught in the early years of undergraduate mathematics. Included are the elementary theory of curves defined by the combination of polynomials, the differentiability of the sine function, and another proof of the irrationality of the square root of two. (Author/JJK)