Teaching interdisciplinary courses requires instilling interdisciplinary habits of mind by using strategies for active learning and reflective thinking. This publication emerged from discussions and surveys used to evaluate interdisciplinary habits of mind and pedagogies drawn from different disciplines. Prior to face-to-face discussions, surveys…

Three separate baseline decisions are recommended when designing an undergraduate course prior to considering any course content. The "Three S" course design decisions include determining (1) the "setting" (on-campus, online or hybrid), (2) the learning "style" (passive or active), and (3) the learning…

Implementing remote and blended higher education courses motivated the design for new support services for autonomous learning. Thus, combining a competence-based approach and self-regulation, the COMPER project offers a service to be used in addition to the courses. It consists of a graphical presentation of the learners' competency profile…

This paper introduces an innovative course design incorporating both communities of practice and reflective practice as a learning strategy for part-time learners in higher education. The new design has been applied to teaching HR practitioners in a UK-based business school. Findings indicate that the suggested way of organizing teaching and…

In this paper, we report on the impact of four activities and two interviews on the organization of an introductory statistics course attended by future mathematics teachers at the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil. The activities were designed to enhance students' learning and collaborative knowledge construction, based on Vygotsky's…

The role of learner autonomy and self-regulated learning in distance education has received much attention. The application of these concepts impacts course design and, potentially, learner achievement. In the case of distance language learning, course designers must consider not only how to help learners gain communicative competence but also…

Given that Latinas/os make up the fastest-growing population group in the U.S., according to the 2000 U.S. Census, classroom teachers increasingly are in need of meaningful resources and learning strategies for students of Latin American heritage. These same resources can also serve to help internationalize/diversify classrooms serving non-Latino…

The National Research Center on Career and Technical Education has supported four studies on one of the major components of Perkins legislation: programs of study. In this article, we present qualitative data linking the research center's longitudinal projects based on programs of study, via a one-time cross-case study of sites deemed highly…

The six editions of this newsletter provide a forum for the sharing of research findings and instructional strategies by faculty of Western Michigan University on issues connected with critical thinking. Topics addressed include alternative program designs for critical thinking instruction, a philosophical exploration of what critical thinking is,…

This paper discusses the challenges and difficulties of adopting new "authentic" methods of instruction that help students not only learn but also develop habits that enable them to use their knowledge more effectively. "Authentic" methods of instruction are defined as those that require students to produce (not just reproduce) knowledge relevant…

The six editions of the newsletter provide a forum for the sharing of research findings and instructional strategies by faculty of Western Michigan University. Topics addressed include: active learning; lecture variations; lecture techniques; grading student participation; leading discussions; overcoming silence; discussion challenges; course…

The manual designed to accompany an orientation seminar for students concerning language learning processes and strategies and the design of their program includes materials for five sessions, in three sections. The first section covers language learning and acquisition in general and contains a survey of the participants' foreign language…

This study explores how teachers experience an online course designed to provide a situated approach to developing understanding of online learning. It describes how the course designer aimed to exploit the potentials of online tasks and interactions in relation to a rationale for situated teacher development, and then explores evidence of how…

Paper reports the development and application of a framework for assessing course characteristics. Discussion focuses on the usefulness of the framework for predicting variance in students' performances and constructing, evaluating, and revising curriculums. (RB)

Based on the assumption that good teaching helps students understand how to actively acquire, use, and extend knowledge in an ongoing learning process, this guide presents strategies for constructing learning-centered course syllabi. Following prefatory materials, part 1 reviews implications of shifting from traditional syllabi, which focus on…