Guided notes covering lectures have been shown to improve note quality and increase scores on quizzes covering lecture material. We sought to determine whether guided notes would also be beneficial in helping students prepare for quizzes covering assigned readings. We evaluated the efficacy of guided notes for reading assignments on…

Many students, particularly underprepared students, struggle to identify the essential information in empirical articles. We describe a set of assignments for instructing general psychology students to dissect the structure of such articles. Students in General Psychology I read empirical articles and answered a set of general, factual questions…

The writing across the curriculum movement has rightfully gained recognition as a transformative force in how teachers conceive of, use, and assign writing in their classes throughout various disciplines. Drawing on data from the first three years of an ongoing study of faculty "WAC fellows" at a large, comprehensive state university,…

Assigned textbook readings are a common requirement in undergraduate courses, but students often do not complete reading assignments or do not do so until immediately before an exam. This may have detrimental effects on learning and course performance. Regularly scheduled quizzes on reading material may increase completion of reading assignments…

Team-based learning (TBL) combines independent out of class preparation with in class small group discussion. We adopted TBL in teaching first year medical gross anatomy. In this study, we evaluated student perceptions of TBL by using a survey that elicited perceptions of both pedagogy and mode of learning. Anatomy lectures were replaced with…

The reasons behind the reading habits of undergraduate MIS students were examined to learn from the students' point of view why many don't read the textbook. Willingness to work hard on homework and project assignments and an appreciation of what is expected of them appears to be in place. However, carrots, sticks, ruses and requests all meet with…

This study presents preliminary findings from research developing an instructional quality assessment (IQA) toolkit that could be used to monitor the influence of reform initiatives on students' learning environments and to guide professional development efforts within a school or district. This report focuses specifically on the portion of the…