Teaching models are essential to provide nursing students with efficient ways to learn. One such model of teaching is the Backward Design (BWD). The aim of BWD is to recognize desired outcomes and then have the student work backward to draw on what was done to reach the desired outcome. BWD facilitates the understanding of a concept by using…

The physiology core concepts are designed to guide instructors in undergraduate physiology courses. However, although past work has characterized the alignment of physiology programs with the core concepts, it is unclear to what extent these core concepts have influenced instructors' pedagogical decisions or how represented these core concepts are…

This article examines the development of a bespoke primary source literacy module for the study of childhood in Ireland. The BA (Children's Studies) at National University of Ireland Galway is a unique interdisciplinary degree that equips students with a theoretical and practical understanding of the lives of children and childhood today. The…

The paper reports on the findings of a PhD study exploring the implications of the separation between language and content in Modern Languages for students' development of intercultural competence and criticality across four universities -- two in the US and two in the UK. In particular, it exposes the diverse views students developed on the…

Foreign language (FL) acquisition requires not only the development of target language skills, but also a cultural understanding of the region and its people. While this article addresses the development of an advanced Chinese language and culture course using film, the principles illustrated can be adapted for use in other advanced-level FL…

Recent scholarship has highlighted the importance of increasing the intellectual viability of lower-level foreign language (FL) study while facilitating connections between academic practice, learners' lives, and global communities. This article reports on a content-based role-immersion simulation (RIS) designed to incite a critical orientation…

In this study, tasks measuring digital media literacy developed by Stanford University were administered at a school in Finland to consider the efficacy and transfer of critical thinking (CT) skills of a 'pre-IB' cohort preparing to enter the two year International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP) and a graduating 'IB2' cohort. While the IB2…

Six years ago, I wrote a composition about the state of indigenous music in the academy with an accompanying research paper. In this work, I attempted to trace the presence of indigenous music in the institution both musically and through an anti-colonial lens. The writing was structured around three musical snapshots entitled Subjugation,…

Research is clear: Employers want college graduates who can communicate clearly, think analytically, and interact respectfully. Targeted educational experiences have measurably improved these capacities. To better prepare undergraduates, the University of Massachusetts Amherst developed the Community-Engaged Research Program, a pilot program…

Present-day curricular designs have to take the pupils' psychological needs in account, thus becoming melodies of mental health and happiness for the next generation. Emphasizing the findings from previous investigations using the research synthesis methodology, the present study has been conducted aiming at achieving some integrative knowledge…

Group and team tasks are the culminating outputs of student learning in team and collaborative learning environments. How they are conceived and designed, therefore, can directly determine the success of the pedagogical strategy. A key design issue for creating effective tasks is how best to focus student knowledge, observation, and analysis…

Have you ever avoided discussing controversial issues in the classroom? Teachers report often avoiding these types of discussions due to concerns about the unpredictability of student reactions, accusations of trying to push a political agenda, and insufficient knowledge or skills to work through complex issues. Debates, however, have been shown…

Issues concerning inclusion of ethics instruction in the medical school curriculum are discussed, including whether ethics should be presented as a body of knowledge or matter of professional identity and the "hidden curriculum" of medicine as a form of socialization. Recommendations for the structuring of an ethics curriculum are…

Illustrates the curriculum approach to teaching critical thinking to fifth grade students. Suggests that the use of critical thinking within the structure of the curriculum makes it an integral part of the learning experience of the student. (FL)

Arguing that great ideas from the past possess intrinsic value and provide students with the knowledge and attitudes essential in developing the liberated mind, this paper identifies the world's significant thinkers from Plato (427-347 B.C.) to Bertrand Russell (1873-1971). Structural ideas from each philosopher are discussed in an effort to…