The educational benefit of the traditional didactic lecture to learners in Higher Education is hotly debated. Given increasing student numbers, existing technical set ups and many logistical concerns, lectures remain the norm in many Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). In this personal view piece, we discuss the benefits, opportunities, and…

In the days since NEBHE convened hundreds of educators and opinion leaders in Boston for the "University Unbound" conference, people have received a surge of reactions including the one from George McCully, founder of the "Catalogue for Philanthropy." NEBHE has begun focusing the attention of New England institutions on the…

According to the recent "New York Times" Education Life section, this was the "Year of the MOOC." That's "massive open online courses." It is what "Times" columnist David Brooks called a "campus tsunami" and Thomas Friedman declared as the "college education revolution." That's because anyone, anywhere can now take a course from some of the best…

The editor of "Teaching Theology and Religion" facilitated this reflective conversation with five teachers who have extensive experience and success teaching extremely large classes (150 students or more). In the course of the conversation these professors exchange and analyze the effectiveness of several active learning strategies they…

In Miyamoto et al. (2015, this issue) the authors looked to substantiate the presence of the spacing effect, referenced from the psychology literature, in several MOOCs. Their secondary analyses constituted a robust, empirical finding on the correspondence between session distribution and certification but with only a coarse, analogous…

J. Michael Spector's academic preparation was in philosophy--epistemology and logic, primarily. His dissertation was on skepticism in modern philosophy, and that led him to a deep-seated appreciation for classical skepticism. The word "skeptic" is derived from the Greek word "skepsis," which means investigation. While the…

In April 2013, the "New England Journal of Higher Education" ("NEJHE") launched its "New Directions for Higher Education" series to examine emerging issues, trends, and ideas that have an impact on higher education policies, programs and practices. In this installment of the series, DiSalvio speaks with American…

The 1993 inaugural issue of the "Journal of Statistics Education" ("JSE") published an article about a small conference for Principal Investigators (PIs) and co-PIs of twelve projects in statistics education funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). This twenty-year retrospective (1) offers some personal memories related…

Sebastian Thrun gave up tenure at Stanford University after 160,000 students signed up for his free online version of the course "Introduction to Artificial Intelligence." The experience completely changed his perspective on education, he said, so he ditched teaching at Stanford and launched the private Web site Udacity, which offers…

The author discusses the vices, virtues, and problems of mass instruction in college sociology. His observations are based on personal experience. A "mass" class is defined as one with an enrollment exceeding 250 students who meet together as a class at least part of the time. Sociologists generally believe that mass classes are not a good form of…

Examines alternatives used to teach introductory accounting classes in a way that enhances both learning and motivation when the environment is characterized by increasing class size, multiple sections of the same course, and limited resources. Includes samples of transparencies. (JOW)

Takes issue with the opinions of K. Patricia Cross, as expressed in her article "Old Practices and New Purposes" (EJ 216 532), pointing to the positive effects of grading, group teaching, and a standard time-frame. (AYC)

Information and suggestions are provided on the use of team learning in large college classes. Introductory material discusses the negative cycle of student-teacher interaction that may be provoked by large classes, and the use of permanent, heterogeneous, six- or seven-member student learning groups as the central focus of class activity as a…

Paul Lehrman mentioned in Mix Magazine that school music programs, which traditionally have given students the precious opportunity to hear what real instruments sound like from both player's and listener's perspective, are in the toilet. Some within the profession have voiced similar concerns. K-12 music teachers have historically have had very…

Argues that, if teachers do not make additional changes in how they teach when they make the shift to whole class reading instruction, new problems will be created which are as unpalatable as the ones left behind. Suggests some potential new problems. (MG)