Robust evidence links physical activity to positive cognitive and academic performance outcomes, and engaging students in movement within the classroom has the potential to benefit learners at every age. Offering college students an opportunity to be active in the classroom can enhance learner engagement, promote critical thinking, and increase…

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury (TBI) remain central topics in institutions' efforts to address student veteran needs. From the authors' experiences with student veterans, they present the five principles of effective instructional practice identified by the National Research Council (NRC) within the context of…

Policymakers and educators are increasingly expressing concerns that the U.S. is lagging behind other countries in educating the next generation of mathematicians and scientists. In response, the federal government, private foundations, and many "institutions of higher education" (IHEs) are encouraging STEM (science, technology,…

Summarizes traditional problem areas in environmental education (including whether and how to teach notions of contrasting values and planned change). Also describes the goals and organization of Deep Springs College and discusses how values and change are taught within environmental programs at the college. (JN)

Examines three broad areas related to the formal learning of engineering. These areas focus on: (1) approaches to learning; (2) developing engineering curricula; and (3) curriculum planning for the future. Also considers whether current engineering curricula can accommodate needed changes. (JN)

Suggests five ways to make college proposal-writing assignments correspond more closely to the proposal-writing situations faced by engineers. They include emphasizing sales proposals over in-house planning or research and development proposals, using actual or fictional cases as the basis for assignments, and requiring oral presentations of the…

Describes the teaching of professional ethics in a senior-level course on process analysis and professional practice. Students pose ethical problems and discuss/report their solution to those problems in the context of the Ontario code of ethics. (JN)

The adoption and use of the lost-work concept has been strongly hindered by the existence in the literature of two different quantities which bear the name "lost work." These two different concepts are discussed, focusing on their similarities and differences. Also discussed are advantages of the lost-work approach over other approaches.…

Using elementary and secondary school teaching methods in the college classroom is proposed, and examples of class activities are described. Incorporating elementary or junior high style in-class activity that nevertheless uses and is geared to college-level material, can be successful in making a dull course interesting. Although the classroom…

Shows how a problem from engineering thermodynamics is used to teach process design. Advantages of using this method are noted. (JN)

Students in a senior engineering design course are given a routine design project typical of the first project given to a fledgling engineer in industry and a project more typical of what an experienced engineer does. Routine and nonroutine design approaches and instructional strategies used in the course are described. (JN)

Essays and essay tests need to be a central feature of every class. Informing students about what is inadequate in their essays and counseling them on how to improve seem to be impossible, time-consuming tasks. The use of codes or abbreviations is described. (MLW)

A teacher should assist others to participate in the life of the mind rather than to be mere spectators. A teaching strategy called the metaphorical technique is described. The ability to see the universal in the particular is necessary for the mastery of any discipline. (MLW)

Outdoor environmental education activities were designed as part of a field trip focusing on design concepts. The field trip consisted of four sessions: (1) acclimatization; (2) patterns and layout; (3) form and function; and (4) moods and patterns. Activities related to each session are described and discussed. (JN)

For teachers to be less purely academic, they need to design courses of study that offer more varied opportunities than the standard lecture or discussion for the exercise of varied skills. Schematic plans for developing such courses are presented. (LBH)