The world faces a number of complex challenges that are sometimes referred to as "wicked problems." Universities have been relatively poor at preparing graduates for such challenges, yet it will be the future professionals who need to tackle the problems. This essay looks at two related projects that have attempted to advance the skills…

As today's marketing graduates formally enter the business profession, they are expected to demonstrate the fruits of their ethics-intensive education. Hence, their professors and future bosses may call upon these graduates to discern and deal with ethical situations that affect various aspects of company and consumer relations. However, students…

Dr. Sally Knipe, Course Coordinator, Bachelor of Education (Middle Schooling) at Charles Sturt University has been teaching undergraduate students in this program for six years. When Charles Sturt University introduced a learning management system, Interact she, with the faculty's educational designer, Miriam Edwards worked together in developing…

The researcher found few studies that explore decisions of social studies teachers as they plan what and how to teach their classes. Over a century, social studies educators have adapted and responded to political, social, and economic changes. From educating immigrants a century earlier to addressing contemporary cross-border issues, social…

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is a survey mandated by the U.S. Congress to collect and report information about student achievement in various academic subjects, such as mathematics, science, reading, writing, history, geography, and civics. The National Assessment Governing Board sets policy and the overall dimensions…

This mixed methods study focused on the perceptions of faculty currently instructing online. The sample was taken from the tri-state area of Pennsylvania, Ohio, and West Virginia, and consisted of a random selection of instructors teaching at least one online course in the fall of 2008. Of the 300 people surveyed via a web-based survey tool, 111…

While Web 2.0 has no universal definition, it always refers to online interactions in which user groups both provide and receive content with the aim of collective intelligence. Since 2005, online software has provided Web 2.0 collaboration technologies, for little or no charge, that were formerly available only to wealthy organizations. Academic…

Concern in the United States for adequate public school education in mathematics dates back at least to the response to Sputnik in 1957, but at that time focused on preparing a cadre of students for quantitatively demanding careers in science and engineering. More recently, however, there has been increasing appreciation of the value of broadly…

Education for citizenship is firmly on the policy agenda throughout Britain, and there is an expectation that teachers will create a participative, consultative ethos in schools. This paper identifies three main vehicles for pupil consultation: elected pupil councils, democratic and participative classrooms and opportunities for pupils to engage…

Preservice student teachers engaged in a collaborative research initiative to examine the memory of the 1954 "Brown v. Topeka Board of Education" decision that culminated in a public performance. Ethnographic data were translated into performance texts through students' performances that confronted issues of privilege, race, and institutional…

Much of the content of college courses on the Vietnam War is superficial and biased toward the American point of view. The greatest problem is ignorance about the Vietnamese perspective, both Communist and non-Communist. (MSE)

Discusses objectives of "Canada in a North American Perspective," a controversial postsecondary course taught as an Ontario Academic Credit course. Argues examination of Canada's perspective and history as a North American nation can benefit from comparison to the United States. Suggests this continentalist approach need not diminish…

The reasons for offering a course in bioethics to law students and some approaches to take in addressing controversial issues are examined. The use of hypothetical vs. real cases, emphasis on clinical problems, and overall course objectives are discussed. (MSE)

Discusses issues related to teaching international relations. Supports the position that teaching controversial issues is an integral part of any social studies course. Explores some controversial issues that might be considered in the classroom, describing approaches to teaching these issues. (KO)

Environmental issues that can be explored in social science courses include problems with potential to cause serious or irreversible change to an ecosystem or biosphere. Areas for discussion include: environmental attitudes, values, and behaviors; the environmental movement; risk perceptions; and the political economy of the environment and…