Educators continually encounter new challenges that require different tools or ways to utilize current tools in novel ways. Common challenges when working with students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may include addressing interfering behavior, developing communication systems, increasing social opportunities for students, and addressing…

Anyone who has taught neurophysiology would be aware of recurring concepts that students find difficult to understand. However, a greater problem is the development of misconceptions that may be difficult to change. For example, one common misconception is that action potentials pass directly across chemical synapses. Difficulties may be…

Although academic librarians have been teaching information literacy online for years, the increasing number of nontraditional students learning online has motivated many librarians to develop Web-based tools that help students independently learn to identify, access, evaluate, and use information resources in the online environment. Adult…

This module is designed as a self-paced package to teach persons in educational psychology to conduct literature searches. The module could be easily adapted for use in other academic areas. The systematic method of approaching library research is divided into eight specific research skills: (1) writing an outline, (2) writing notecards, (3)…

Argues that teaching innovation in the university is influenced by teacher attitudes and the existence of satisfactory teaching materials. Teaching packages from the Open University in England are described. (JJD)

A pharmaceutical company redesigned its sales personnel training program to emphasize specific objectives, self-directed learning, and concern for career development. (SK)

This program was designed to permit students to enroll in elementary Spanish in any academic term. A lesson packet containing five parts was designed to accompany a regular text for first-year college Spanish. During the first week of classes, the students meet in a large group for instruction on how to learn a language and how to use the…

Changes made in the Czechoslovakian system of undergraduate study to accommodate individualized and independent study as a major form of instruction are outlined, including the use of learning modules, instructional objectives, student-teacher communication through written instructions, self-grading and self-correction, and grading and promotion…

The author provides a personal account of the actions taken by several teachers at Naperville High School to individualize a traditional Freshman English course through learning modules and a credit/no credit grading system. (Editor/SJL)

An innovative, off-campus course offered by the nursing department at Moorhead State University in Minnesota is described. The course was implemented to meet the requirements of nursing students living in rural towns located some distance from the university department of nursing. This curriculum innovation is examined as a change process that was…

Describes the University of Illinois' independent study approach for presenting fundamental concepts of librarianship to entering master's program students. The advantages and disadvantages of this approach are contrasted as it evolved from four formal courses and an intermediate team-taught approach. (RAA)

The experience of the second language team at the "Centre de Langue Francaise" (CLF) at McGill University (Montreal) is reported. The emphasis placed on designing courses and laboratory experiences in response to student needs is reviewed from the late 1960's until the present. Some of the factors that were operative in curriculum change were the…

Individualized learning by distance education is discussed, with examples from Lincoln College, New Zealand. After identifying advantages and disadvantages of this approach for students, five degrees of freedom in learning encompassed by this mode are covered that involve content, method, pace, assessment, and sequence. Freedom of content allows…

The purpose of this project was to develop, administer, and evaluate an inservice education program designed to provide entrepreneurial competencies for owner-managers of newly formed small business firms. The project objectives included the following: (1) identify the core-crucial managerial-entrepreneurial competencies needed by the…

Attitudes of students, faculty, and recent graduates to a self-paced, self-instructional junior-level program using learning modules were significantly positive for all groups. Faculty stressed the need for continuing support, and older students and seniors were the most positively disposed group. (MSE)