Core management courses bear a particularly challenging curricular as well as pedagogical burden insofar as they are typically the sole or primary vehicle for integrating management principles with larger university and school objectives. Compounding the challenge is that these very objectives are neither universally clear nor necessarily…

This article develops the familiar metaphor of teaching as performance towards a definition of "teaching as performative act," where words and actions aim to effect cognitive, affective, and behavioral changes in learners. To what extent, however, are the consequences of pedagogical actions commensurate with their intended effects? Can a science…

Introductory biology courses are widely criticized for overemphasizing details and rote memorization of facts. Data to support such claims, however, are surprisingly scarce. We sought to determine whether this claim was evidence-based. To do so we quantified the cognitive level of learning targeted by faculty in introductory-level biology courses.…

Distinguishing between motivation and cognition in goal-directed activity is discussed; goal and energy are assessed from motivational and cognitive viewpoints. Motivation is a broader concept than cognition. If a problem or goal-solving activity is ego-involving or self-challenging and affects the individual's personal standards, the term…

Views difficulties in determining educational objectives for the 1980s with specificity and precision. A major problem is that educators must formulate objectives more carefully now that education is so strongly influenced by the management-by-objectives movement. Topics discussed include theories of educational objectives, the relationship of…

Designed to provide a broad introduction to the subject of educational objectives, this booklet discusses an objectives-based approach to course design, highlights the key role played by educational objectives in any systematic approach to course or curriculum design, distinguishes between the terms "aims" and "objectives," and…

Student achievement of cognitive and psychomotor objectives was evaluated in Saginaw, Mighigan's prekindergarten program. During the 1985-86 year, 454 children participated, based on their Prekindergarten Readiness Screening Device scores. The half-day program was funded through Chapter 1 of the Education Consolidation and Improvement Act to…

A process evaluation was conducted of the Saginaw, Michigan Public Schools' Prekindergarten Program. During the 1985-86 year, 454 children participated, based on their Prekindergarten Readiness Screening Device scores. The half-day program was funded through Chapter 1 of the Education Consolidation and Improvement Act to develop the school…

A research-oriented project to improve the effectiveness of undergraduate education at the state University of Antwerp, Belgium, is described, and the higher education system and conditions in Belgium are noted. Attention was focused on the outcome-based paradigm, according to which the primary goal of instruction is to ensure that all students…

A graduate teaching assistant (GTA) training program at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, which has applied formative evaluation techniques, is described. The following nine teaching topics were identified as a result of a needs assessment: principles of student learning, communicating learning objectives, organizing and presenting lectures,…

Competence in humanities may be considered in terms of knowledge (the mental processing of information), thinking skills (the organization of knowledge), communication skills, and personal integration (the effect of knowledge upon the individual). Specific competencies to be acquired in an interdisciplinary twentieth century humanities course…