Context: A major goal of any evaluation is to demonstrate content validity, which considers both curricular content as well as the ability expected of learners. Whether evaluation blueprints should be published and the degree of blueprint transparency is controversial. Objectives: To examine the effect of blueprint publication on students'…

It is challenging for biomedical engineering programs to incorporate an indepth study of the systemic interdependence of cells, tissues, and organs into the rigorous mathematical curriculum that is the cornerstone of engineering education. To be sure, many biomedical engineering programs require their students to enroll in anatomy and physiology…

Secondary career-technical education programs in Mississippi are faced with many challenges resulting from sweeping educational reforms at the national and state levels. Schools and teachers are increasingly being held accountable for providing true learning activities to every student in the classroom. This accountability is measured through…

Objective: To allow students an opportunity to speak publicly on the first day of class while becoming familiar with fellow students. The activity encourages students to examine the perceptions and stereotypes they have about one another by blindly guessing certain characteristics about their partner. By participating in the exercise, students…

The ongoing integration of instructional technology within community colleges has occurred for a variety of reasons. First, community colleges have implemented technology-based models to make operations more efficient and cost-effective. Second, instructional technology has been used to expand student markets through alternative course-delivery…

The purpose of this study was to examine existing data to determine if a significant difference existed between student evaluations from an online asynchronous and an online synchronous learning environment, as well as their impact on retaining students. The data available were from a national online university that serves students across the…

An undergraduate student offers reflections and observations on college course syllabi. Since the syllabus is the student's guide through the course, it should be clearly organized allowing students to find information quickly. It should outline the expectations that students and instructor will have during the course. In addition a syllabus must…

This guide presents a course outline and description of drama/theater arts that satisfies Idaho state graduation requirements for humanities. After a brief description of the philosophy of such courses, the guide describes the critical components that drama/theater course must significantly deal with: aesthetic perception, creative expression…

This paper provides a unit of instructional design for teaching an undergraduate public speaking course at Southern Arkansas University. According to the paper, the unit, consisting of 6 lessons, is designed to be taught in a 50-minute period 3 times each week. The paper points out that students are given many opportunities to practice the…

This document contains a slightly-revised syllabus for a Virtual Reality course taught in spring 1994. The syllabus begins with an introduction which contains information on the software used in the course and examples of schools that have introduced virtual reality technology in the curriculum. The remainder of the document is composed of the…

This sourcebook contains descriptions of original leadership course syllabi and programs for use by educators, student activity directors, and others designing and delivering leadership-development courses and programs. To be selected for this sourcebook, programs must focus on leadership; contain details about curriculum objectives, format,…

The colloquium reported in this document was conducted as part of the assessment process of the University of Central Texas in an attempt to suggest qualities for effective syllabi. The colloquium resulted from a student perception survey conducted by the university in fall 1989 which indicated non-congruence between what was stated in the…

This booklet presents statements of outcomes and competencies in basic entry college level communication courses for both community colleges and 4-year colleges in the state of Illinois. The booklet's first section describes the origins of the project. The aims were to clarify and articulate statewide what was being taught under what headings. The…

It is the thesis of this article that a serious effort to decide "why" results in the teacher's formulation of a basic rationale--a consciously derived position upon which classroom decisions are based. (Author)

Views a speech as behaviorally influential and reflective of both the speaker and the audience, and provides a content description of an American public address course. (MH)