This paper compares how two universities, Iowa State University and the University of Saskatchewan, exploit a service-learning and authentic learning approach to instructional design. Both programs emphasize student engagement and responsibility, as well as projects that have social significance. At the same time, the courses offered by the two…

Recent work integrating Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) with Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) forms a basis for systematizing action research in higher education. This basis strengthens what are often otherwise its methodological weaknesses, namely, the disconnection between analysis and subsequent plans for action and the…

This paper reports the findings of a study that investigated the effectiveness of online instruction. A web-based, graduate special education course, "Teaching Exceptional Learners" was offered at a state university. At the end of the course, the students responded to a Likert type questionnaire that collected the needed data. Findings indicate…

This paper describes academic programs in college teaching designed for doctoral students at the University of New Hampshire. Programs include a 12-credit program "Cognate in College Teaching," which a doctoral student can add to a Ph.D. program, and the Master of Science for Teachers program, which doctoral students can complete as a…

This paper discusses the conceptual reform of university-based graduate level administrator preparation programs. The functionalist, interpretative, and critical approaches to social science have important implications for the study of motivation, decision-making, communication and leadership. Interpretative and critical approaches must be woven…

Since graduate students in education are expected to direct educational inquiry at the termination of their doctorates, the program to prepare educational inquirers at Indiana University stresses critical understanding as well as mastery of techniques or methods. There are two essential aspects of the Indiana University Program in Educational…

To investigate the extent to which graduate level education students found a required educational research course helpful, a questionnaire elicited occupation information about the student and about when the course was taken, the degree pursued, and degree attained. Additionally, the questionnaire asked the extent to which the course was…

Survey instruments requesting information about the teaching of education law were sent to 102 major land grant and state universities with graduate programs in educational administration. All 78 colleges responding in this study offer education law as an elective or a required course. Thirty-three of the respondents returned the questionnaires…

Of all the uncertain problems which curriculum theorists encounter, teaching curriculum to graduate students is among the most problematic. On the one hand is the mass of knowledge and concepts about curriculum. On the other hand is the student who, more often than not, has limited experience in putting abstract ideas to practical use. If the…

This paper examines the feasibility of delivering graduate level education courses using student-designed curricula. A total of 56 students in three different graduate education courses were given the option of following the instructor's syllabus or creating their own course. Students in the "History, Foundations, and Philosophy of…

As part of the education reform movement seeking change in both teaching and teacher education, a graduate teacher education course at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, "Integrating Museum Resources into Classroom Instruction," offers teachers a chance to engage in problem solving for their own students through varied…

This overview of the programs, activities, and facilities relating to computer-based education at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) includes, (1) a brief account of the history and mission of OISE; (2) a description of the OISE Computer Applications Department and its merger with the Department of Measurement and Evaluation in…

This report describes and evaluates various team teaching models that were implemented through the Training Rural Special Educators in Kentucky through Distance Learning (TREK-DL) project at the University of Kentucky. During the TREK-DL project, five special education courses were taught via distance education, each using a different team…

Researchers and teacher educators who study teacher learning have examined how teachers' beliefs influence their thinking about teaching, learning, and subject matter. Paying attention to these beliefs has become an essential feature of studies and programs designed to help teachers understand research. This study takes the emphasis on teachers'…

Project-based and problem-based learning are instructional methods that are being used to promote active and authentic learning. A graduate education course was first implemented using a project-based approach. The second time the course was offered, problem-based learning (PBL) using the Barrows (1988) tutorial process was used. The participants…