Briefly highlights the work of one of the early pioneers of online education, Dr. Linda M. Harasim. Harasim stated five characteristics for online education and included active learning through peer communication and social process of knowledge building in the overall theory and definition of distance education. Other early contributors to…

Discusses the quality of instruction for communication skills and creative thinking skills in engineering education and the difficulties caused by the single-subject approach in different engineering majors. Provides alternative solutions to the problem such as irrelevant teaching methods, difficulties in implementing technology in classrooms, and…

Defines inquiry, a student-centered discovery process, and introduces Pathways to Knowledge(TM), an information process model that provides stages and strategies for anyone interested in gathering, using, and evaluating information. Describes the six stages of Pathways: Appreciation, Presearch; Search; Interpretation; Communication; and…

Introduces a software package available for the climatology curriculum that determines possible climatic events according to a long-term climate history. Describes the integration of the software into the curriculum and presents examples of active learning. (Contains 19 references.) (YDS)

Describes the Center for Human Origin and Cultural Diversity program that is a model for multicultural education in which students learn about the human fossil record, the value of biological variation, and the characteristics common to all humans. Presents results from a study that support the use of this program. (CMK)

Describes a problem-based course in which students in an interdisciplinary program explored the manufacture of biological knowledge. Discusses how students gained an appreciation of the complex interactions between ideals, individuals, institutions, and investments that comprise modern biological research through study of a variety of problems and…

Suggests that formal classroom debate presents an opportunity for dental students to develop important learning/thinking skills and can be incorporated into coursework along with other active learning strategies. Discusses debate organization, presents rules of debate used in second-year dental school classes at the State University of New York,…

In literature on problem-based learning (PBL), it is often difficult to determine whether the educational approach being described is actually PBL. Provides planners and assessors of PBL curricula with a framework for analysis. Educational activities can be categorized as PBL according to three core principles and four criteria concerning their…

An active, case-based project (CBP) learning program in anatomy was evaluated to measure differences between male and female students in perception of the initial discussion sessions as developing deep learning skills, and also in performance on CBP and essay components of the written examination. Females responded more positively to discussion…

Highlights the benefits of active and student-centered learning. Describes the University of Wisconsin Student History Network that uses an updated model of the literary society and includes a Web site and electronic discussion groups for students in history survey courses. Discusses the problems, changes, and success of the University of…

Focuses on the project "Teaching and Learning in the Digital Age: Reconceptualizing the Introductory Survey Course" that facilitates collaboration among faculty from two- and four-year colleges in Wisconsin, North Carolina, and Southern California in creating and disseminating active learning materials for use in World and U.S. history…

Discussion of academic library instruction focuses on the use of humor to make it more effective. Highlights include a literature review on humor in education, as a communication device, and use in the business sector; a stand-up comedy workshop; lecture humor; and humorous active learning activities. (LRW)

Investigates the role of talk, writing, and talk and writing on the learning and retention of simple and integrated knowledge, and describes the mechanisms by which talk and writing mediate these processes. Suggests that talk is important for sharing, clarifying, and distributing knowledge among peers, and writing is an important tool for…

Presents evidence against the use of standardized curricula and testing and in favor of discovery-based instruction. Describes a successful experience with a relatively new form of discovery-based instruction, the scenario educational computer software. (AEF)

Presents an overview of the evolution of experiential instruction theory and practice from its popular emergence in the late 1960s through the present. Simulations, games, and other experience-based instructional methods have had a substantial impact on teaching concepts and applications during this period, and have influenced traditional…