In its recent report outlining principles for teaching undergraduate students in psychology, the American Psychological Association Board of Educational Affairs recommended including experiential learning in the curriculum and identified study abroad opportunities as being particularly valuable. Unfortunately, although American universities offer…

This article discusses the development, implementation, and outcomes of a Faculty Course Redesign Camp for full-time and adjunct faculty members. The purpose of the camp was to educate and coach faculty in effective strategies to promote learner-centered teaching skills. Evaluation results show that the participants changed their orientation…

This paper describes a development project aimed at reducing the large number of dropouts in online degree project courses. The idea was that the introduction of group tutorials in virtual seminars, combined with extensive support materials, would reduce dropout rates. Among the students who participated, the dropout rate was reduced by 50%…

School and district leaders are commonly faced with diverse student needs and interests that could be effectively addressed with a course that is not currently offered in local schools. Virtual schools have grown up over the past 15 years in different policy and budget ecosystems, but most online course programs can be classified in one of six…

Over the last decade, the Intelligent Computer Tutoring Group (ICTG) has implemented many successful constraint-based Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITSs) in a variety of instructional domains. Our tutors have proven their effectiveness not only in controlled lab studies but also in real classrooms, and some of them have been commercialized.…

Interest in improving the quality of professional development in this age of educational reform has intensified as a growing body of research suggests that teaching practices matter in terms of student achievement. Some have argued for embedding professional development in the context of teachers' work in order to transform both teaching practices…

Western Carolina University's task force on teaching effectiveness and the resulting faculty development program are described. Section 1 outlines the conditions from which the effort emerged, all supporting a climate in which mediocre teaching appeared to be the norm: changes in the student population, steadily increasing pressure on faculty for…

A visual tool used to evaluate instructional program performance has been designed by the University of Hawaii Community College system. The tool combines features from traffic lights, blood-chemistry test reports, and industry production control charts, and is labeled the Program Health-Indicator Chart. The tool was designed to minimize the labor…

Negotiation skills are essential in everyday life, whether in a professional or personal context. Negotiation enables two parties to address misunderstandings and avoid conflicts through an exchange that depends as much on the interpersonal skills of the negotiators as the tactics employed. Acquiring these skills requires not only sound conceptual…

This report describes the methods used to plan, organize, and teach an integrated thematic unit in the Spring of 1994 at Fairmont Junior High School in Boise, Idaho. The unit was planned collaboratively with assistance from preservice teachers and their professors at Boise State University, the principal and teachers at the junior high school, and…

Most successes in intelligent tutoring systems have come in well-defined domains like algebra or physics. We investigate how to support students in acquiring ill-defined skills of intercultural competence using an online environment that employs clips of feature films from a target culture. To test the effectiveness of a set of attention-focusing…

Outlines a descriptive (not prescriptive) approach for the creation of a literature-based reading curriculum. Describes the 4 steps (behaving with basals, redefining reading, revving up for reading, and letting literature loose) that took the author 14 years of teaching to complete. Argues that literature-based reading programs are fun, enjoyable,…

The need to increase the content knowledge of American History teachers is emphasized by the Teaching American History Grant. This focus recognizes the crucial role played by classroom teachers in helping students increase their knowledge and understanding of American History. Oakland Unified School District's Teaching American History project,…

Paterson Teachers for Tomorrow (PT4T) is a collaborative project between the Paterson, NJ Public Schools and the College of Education at William Paterson University of New Jersey (WPUNJ), created to attract talented high school students from Paterson to careers in teaching, prepare them to be effective teaching professionals, and return them to…

The Medical College of Pennsylvania has introduced a four-hour interdisciplinary class for sophomore students in the role of folk and popular healing systems in patient care. Student and faculty responded enthusiastically, and the program will be expanded. (MSE)