This book, written by authors representing 12 countries and five continents, is a collection of international perspectives on distance learning and distance learning implementations in higher education. The perspectives are presented in the form of practical case studies of distance learning implementations, research studies on teaching and…

Analyzes two studies in which undergraduates set deadlines for either nine course tasks or five course tasks in a personalized psychology course. Compares results of student-set (SS) and instructor-set (IS) deadline conditions. Shows students who met nine deadlines complied better with the testing schedule; students in SS deadline conditions…

To determine objectively the difference between "committed teaching" and "nonteaching" institutions as ranked in "U.S. News and World Report" ratings of colleges and universities, 1,519 institutions were surveyed concerning their selection of faculty, faculty evaluation during probationary period, evaluation for…

In a controlled experiment, students in two sections of introductory sociology were exposed either to conventional classroom lectures or to identical lectures broadcast live in an adjacent room on a television monitor. Class attendance and learning under the two modes were statistically equivalent. The findings confirm those of past studies.…

A guide to help instructors establish grading policies and practices or review and revise current grading procedures is presented. Advantages/disadvantages of four common comparisons used to determine grades are considered: comparisons with other students, comparisons with established standards, and comparisons based on learning relative to…

Argues that assignments requiring the student to write in a specific genre stimulate formation and retention of critical concepts about the genre. A classroom experiment compared the results of a sonnet-writing assignment with a traditional essay-writing assignment about sonnets, confirming the effectiveness of the experiential approach.…

The use of cooperative education as a technique for increasing both test performance and interest in a course of introductory statistics was studied. The hypothesis was that students in voluntary groups would perform better than students in assigned groups and that group learning would be more effective than individual learning. (MLW)

A study of the comparability of results of two techniques of testing, the traditional approach and that of giving the students the questions before the examination, revealed little difference in the two approaches' results, and supports the use of "prior notice" to reduce test anxiety. (MSE)

Observation of 401 college teachers indicates that teachers of different academic disciplines (arts/humanities, social sciences, natural sciences/mathematics) differ in the frequency of specific classroom teaching behaviors, but that what makes an effective teacher, in the perception of students, is consistent regardless of discipline.…

In a review of literature on college teaching and advising, characteristics of each are outlined and compared. Parallels between processes of teaching and advising are drawn. It is proposed that, if teachers were to transfer teaching knowledge and skills to the advising setting, they would perceive the advisor role differently. (MSE)

A college psychology teacher enamored of instructional technology examines what techniques and applications have worked, which ones have not worked well, and what might work with some modification. Topics include various audiovisual aids, strategies for designing instructional materials, and creation of new forms for computer-enhanced classroom…

Several attempts by the author to improve his small group teaching sessions are described and their advantages and drawbacks are discussed. Focus is on his preferred approach, which uses a pattern system to enable students to participate in the structuring of the discussion. (Author/JMD)

Differences in the kinds of knowledge validation processes, truth criteria, and other factors associated with knowledge production are presented for five disciplines (physics, engineering, psychology, education, and English literature), and implications for improving instruction are examined. It is concluded that faculty must understand the…

Because colleges and universities have adopted new information technology idiosyncratically, formal structures to manage and govern its use have not evolved at the same pace. In creating such structures, issues to be considered include centralization vs. decentralization, attitudes toward change, institutional diversity, entrepreneurial spirit,…

Describes a study conducted to assess the effects of teaching a structured notetaking procedure to Calculus I students. Reports higher success rates among students who learned the technique than students taking the course the previous term, and increasingly positive attitudes toward the procedure over the course of the term. (DMM)