Reports results of an investigation into the complexities of student attrition in a distance education course at the University of Sydney. Results of interviews were divided into four main categories: situational, including a student's particular circumstances; dispositional, including student attitudes; institutional; and epistemological,…

Explores Cornell's use of CourseInfo, one of the new course-management tools that provides the support infrastructure to help faculty create and maintain course Web sites. Discusses reasons for selecting CourseInfo; faculty training and orientation; the support site; communications; staffing issues; and assessing benefits and planning for change.…

Summarizes professional issues related to technology and distance education courses and different delivery formats. Typical problems encountered as well as questions that may guide decision making regarding the selection of delivery formats for specific programs are addressed. An example of a distance education course is provided. (Author/CR)

Explores strategies for creating online learning environments on the World Wide Web. Describes a framework that identifies elements needed in the design of online learning: course content, learning activities, and learning supports. Concludes that online courses are more successful when they are not designed as supplements to conventional teaching…

Describes a psychology course that implemented a problem-solving approach to provide students with a hands-on experience of community psychology in a multicultural South Africa. Traces the students' reactions to the course from their initial enthusiasm and emergence of frustration to their eventual understanding of other cultures. (CMK)

Presents a course that integrates psychology and drama in order to study drama therapy and psychodrama. Explains that the instructors utilized both a lecture method and an active learning approach to increase student motivation. Describes the course, addresses the benefits for the students, and discusses the students' reactions to the course. (CMK)

Describes a matrix that depicts the relationships between desired perspectives, skills, knowledge, and attitudes and an undergraduate psychology curriculum. Expounds that the curriculum matrix is a useful tool for representing the coverage of specific material in the individual courses offered within the overall curriculum. Provides a blank…

Gauges inclusion of diversity issues and discussion within journalism and mass communication classes from students' perspectives. Finds instructors at nonaccredited programs scored better on every diversity variable; women instructors were far more likely to bring diversity issues into the classroom; part-time instructors did best on the diversity…

Recommends that teachers develop integrated curriculum units with their students. Describes a course for preservice teachers in which they become familiar with a problem-based interdisciplinary approach. (DDR)

A discussion of the term "grammar" in the context of second-language teaching and learning looks at various approaches to/definitions of grammar, including linguistic, psychological, sociological, and pedagogical grammars. Pedagogical grammars are viewed as learning tools for the second-language classroom, and their properties and components are…

Argues for the use of instruments in introductory level chemistry and presents multiple perspectives on the issue. Reasons for employing instrumentation include the ability of introductory classes to reach a large number of students, the need to model situations in which scientists work, and student expectations regarding the use of technology.…

Outlines the aims and principles underlying recent reforms in the junior school physics course in China. Focuses on developing students' abilities and the benefits of experimentation rather than the simple transfer of knowledge from teacher to students. (DDR)

Describes the way in which a new applied-physics course introduced in British Columbia as part of a program in applied academics can be seen to construct different networks in different contexts. Employs actor network theory (ANT). Contains 20 references. (DDR)

Describes a method for organizing the subject matter associated with the history of economic thought. The conceptual matrix is an organizer and visual display that cross references normative and economic issues with their historical context. Maintains that the matrix promotes critical thinking and allows students to focus on the issues. (MJP)

Outlines techniques for integrating race, class, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability, and other categories of socially defined identity into a survey course on women and violence in a student-centered participatory classroom. Early efforts indicate that an open and participatory classroom facilitates dealing with the stresses of this…