Over the past two decades, postsecondary classrooms have been shifting from passive to active learning methods. This shift has been supported by behavior analysis, which has a rich history of strategies that promote active student responding and engagement. One behavior analytic strategy is interteaching, whereby students discuss questions based…

Despite the perceived advantages of student centred learning (SCL) in higher education, novice teaching academics' attempts to implement such approaches may be thwarted by a lack of experience with teaching in general and with SCL in particular, difficulties locating suitable practical advice on SCL, and the demands of early career academic…

During recent years, some college classrooms have moved away from traditional teacher-centered lecture pedagogies toward learner-centered strategies. Relatively little empirical evidence exists to date assessing the utility of such pedagogies. This exploratory study examined the content and structure of student speech outlines from…

The importance of incorporating discussion into college lecture classes is discussed, problems in starting and expanding exchange of ideas are examined, and techniques for "raising the intellectual temperature" of a class are offered. Anecdotal examples are drawn from observations of teachers in a variety of discipline contexts. (MSE)

This paper introduces and compares three types of college level teaching: discussion, lecture, and personalized systems. The discussion method is described and identified as one that allows the learner to question and probe, giving increased internalization, greater acceptance of conclusions than other teaching methods, and other benefits. The…

The extent of use of the Personalized System of Instruction (PSI), also called the Keller Plan, at a large university campus was investigated. Attention was also directed to the features of PSI used: mastery criterion, self-pacing, proctors, number of times students could retake an exam, and the number of forms of each examination used. The PSI…

This paper reviews the literature in three areas of change in college teaching--peer teaching or tutoring, individualized instruction, and cooperative learning. The focus of the paper is how knowledge is acquired, and acted upon, by students. The advantages and disadvantages of each type of teaching are explored, as well as the rates of successful…

Describes and evaluates a technique used in two science lecture courses (biochemistry and introductory meteorology), in which lectures were interspersed with frequent, brief discussions within spontaneously formed small groups. Some differences were found in the ways the two professors managed the technique, but both felt in-class participation…

College teachers can act as intermediaries between a class and a body of knowledge by making three important contributions: structure, evaluation, and support. The teacher's task is to keep the student's initial drive and enthusiasm intact while thwarting the desire to be content with easy answers. Teachers need to encourage a critical outlook and…

Student course performance and course evaluation were compared for two methods of teaching general psychology. The self-paced method consisted of a modified Keller Plan (PSI) arrangement in which students progressed through small instructional units at their own pace. The lecture/discussion method consisted of a modified form of the traditional…

The beliefs and experiences of three college teachers at a college of business are described to examine assumptions about teaching and its improvement. One of the teachers was a full professor who had spent 12 years with a consulting firm and continued to work as a consultant. Classroom observation revealed that he was an outstanding narrator who…

The possible difference in the performance on a mid-term and final exam between students taking a quasi-individualized mastery method of instruction and students having traditional lecture-discussion instruction was studied. A second issue examined was the difference between the proportion of students expressing a preference for one method of…

Expectations of 432 college students regarding the following six teaching formats were studied: lecture, discussion, laboratory, personalized attention, computer-assisted instruction, and television instruction. Factor analysis procedures revealed three factors for each format: (1) evaluative had characteristics of preference and goodness and/or…

This guide is concerned with the answering and asking of questions in college-level courses. Suggestions are offered regarding questioning techniques that are appropriate for lecture classes as well as for discussion groups. Ways to help students answer their own questions are to repeat the question by paraphrasing it, redirecting the question,…

This practical reference guide for college faculty who teach large classes is presented, based on a workshop on improving teaching and learning in large classes. The workshop involved weekly meetings for the academic year, 1981-82, at Colorado State University. The following problems of teaching and learning in large classes were identified: (1)…