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Feedback is crucial to developing skills, but meaningful feedback is difficult to provide. Classroom videotaping can provide effective feedback on student performance, but for video feedback to be most helpful, students must develop a type of "visual intelligence"—analytical skills that increase critical thinking and self-awareness. The author describes strategies for effective use of classroom videotaping and describes how it can improve student skills and performance as well as deepen understanding and empathy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Through a review of the literature on the test-frequency effect, we identified several underlying factors that may determine student learning outcome beyond the number of tests administered in a course. A realignment of the conceptual framework of the test-frequency effect with these variables is therefore proposed for future research. However, the accumulated research on the test-frequency effect does provide some practical guidelines. An optimal classroom practice for a typical semester-long course may be a schedule of monthly tests combined with effective posttest feedback to the students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To assess the effect of debate format on learning, four formats were separately employed in an environmental issues course. Learning was greatest when students wrote about a debate they witnessed, the teacher provided debate questions, and students received a reward for winning. Students valued debates for developing their arguing skills, used the Internet as a primary source, and placed trust in sources based on the author more than on their critical reading of the source. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While collaborative student projects can be effective in improving student learning, the failure of students to work together effectively remains a widely reported problem in collaborative learning. This article describes a team-building intervention designed to improve the students' abilities to work together in teams successfully. The intervention consisted of an initial team-building workshop with subsequent evaluation and feedback. The results include positive student perceptions of team performance and the overall value of collaborative learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Through interviews with twenty-nine students who completed an educational psychology class that required self-study, the author investigates the relation between the amount of dissonance students experienced between their schemas for learning and the type of learning required by the course, as well as the type of knowledge the students constructed. Findings suggest that high levels of dissonance were associated with constructing knowledge about themselves as learners that students could transfer to new learning environments. Implications for practice in classes that push students to see learning as student centered are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author discusses a project called "The Sunflower Symposium," named in honor of Simon Wiesenthal's The Sunflower (1998). The project was a catalyst for discussions on legalized discrimination, the infringement of civil rights, (in)justice, (in)tolerance, and civic responsibility, influencing students to connect the Holocaust to other world events. It proved an effective pedagogic method for examining critically and taking action on important global issues. Evidence of the effectiveness of this message is presented and suggestions for integrating literature into courses are offered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Web sites like RateMyProfessors.com (RMP) are increasing in popularity. However, many have questioned the validity of unofficial online teaching evaluations. We first surveyed students about their use and perceptions of RMP. We then compared RMP ratings to official student evaluations of teaching (SET). We found that students believe RMP ratings are honest and representative of instructors' abilities. The results of our comparison suggest that, in lieu of SET ratings, RMP ratings may serve as a practical alternative for students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A central problem in higher education is how to best develop in students interdisciplinary thinking and application skills necessary to work and engage effectively in the twenty-first century. Traditional university structures make addressing this problem especially challenging. Using as a model courses with diverse perspectives on water taught by teams of interdisciplinary faculty, we explore one successful approach. We highlight the importance of institutional infrastructure and pedagogical strategies that nurtured our approach and allowed it to work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional scholarship on revision often creates a narrative of the "resistant student" versus the "enlightened teacher" who inherently accepts revision as natural and productive. Yet this narrative is a myth, one which often hampers effective instruction. In place of "traditional revision," I argue for teaching "critical revision," a dialogic process that allows students to take ownership over their choices as writers, helps to discourage plagiarism, and allows teachers to pinpoint areas in their own teaching-response style that they may need to approach in new or different ways to better facilitate student learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article describes a travel course to New Orleans that allows students the opportunity to study a unique culture in the United States. Students in the course are able to study how the culture developed through its immigration patterns, its food, its architecture, and the development of jazz. Since the flooding following Hurricane Katrina, a service learning component has been added. The article includes the syllabus and is based on the experiences of the author, a native of the city, taking students from Gwynedd-Mercy College in suburban Philadelphia to New Orleans over the past four years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors examined student reactions to an activity in computer science, psychology, women's studies, and education courses. The reciprocal interview involves the instructor gathering information about the students, followed by students collectively asking questions of the instructor. The interview aims to make students more comfortable in interactions with the instructor by soliciting student input. Student responses indicated they enjoyed the activity and recommend faculty use it in various courses. Participants also reported the interview process helped create a more comfortable classroom environment and helped clarify instructors' expectations of students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transformative pedagogy encourages students to critically examine their assumptions, grapple with social issues, and engage in social action. The author extends literature in this area by describing ways faculty members who teach online courses can effectively use transformative pedagogy, including (1) creating a safe environment; (2) encouraging students to think about their experiences, beliefs, and biases; (3) using teaching strategies that promote student engagement and participation; (4) posing real-world problems that address societal inequalities; and (5) helping students implement action-oriented solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Facilitating productive class discussions is one of the most challenging tasks facing college educators, especially when potentially divisive issues are discussed. The author shares ten recommendations derived from teaching a course on current and controversial managerial issues via conversational learning. Excerpts from student comments are included to demonstrate the appropriateness of these recommendations. These recommendations are applicable to conversations across subjects and are meant to encourage college teachers to experiment with conversational learning in their own classrooms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the statistical effect of changing from a 10-point to a 5-point response scale on students' evaluation of instruction. Participants were 5,616 students enrolled in classes offered by the College of Social Sciences and Public Affairs at a large Western university, who completed both the old evaluation (10-point response) and the new evaluation (5-point response). On average, students used a greater range of points on the scale for the 5-point scale (32 percent) than on the 10-point scale (19 percent). The effects of changing the response scale are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental context can affect memory retrieval in a wide range of situations. The authors investigate the relationship between the location of a collegiate final examination and student performance. Although several other studies have looked at the impact of environmental context on test taking, this study does so in a real-world environment, looking at a large number of students tested across a wide variety of disciplines. Students who took final examinations in their regular classroom scored significantly higher than those who took their final examinations in a different room. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the fall 2005 semester, the author designed a course in the history of America's modern wars hoping to encourage students to criticize and oppose the country's current aggressions in Afghanistan and Iraq. Surveys of student attitude change suggest that the course did promote criticism but did far less to facilitate student activism. The author concludes that instructors may need to model activism in addition to offering historical evidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author explores the ethical and pedagogical dimensions of teaching politically charged subjects or in politically charged contexts. The author notes the ways in which faculty have failed to engage well in difficult dialogues, often attaching attacks on scholarly and teaching competence to what are really accounts of political difference. The author argues for intellectual and pedagogical engagement that acknowledges and accounts for the intellectual challenge of difficult dialogue, the indeterminacy of knowledge within politically contested domains, and the ongoing need of both teachers and students for unconditional commitment to the relational. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this interdisciplinary analysis, the authors examine the use of visual images in the college classroom. They share examples and critical reflections that illuminate the strengths and challenges in using this medium to enhance the social context for learning. The use of visual images to develop classroom community and connect learning outcomes to students' lives beyond the classroom is explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Portfolios have received mixed but primarily positive reviews in colleges and universities. The portfolio offers a tool of authentic assessment as well as an opportunity for students to be reflective practitioners. Portfolio implementation and evaluation has become a feature of many university departments. The author describes different approaches to portfolios, as well as the origins of and research related to portfolio use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At the reference desk, librarians engage in an often predictable sequence of instruction with students that centers on assisting students with focusing their topics before they can move to the information collection stage. It is an area of instruction that is often taken for granted and that most faculty are unaware of, but it is critical for successful student research papers. The author summarizes some of the strategies librarians use to assist students in focusing their topics and some suggestions for teaching faculty on how to build topic focus strategies into their research assignments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author devised a classroom activity that facilitates discussion and increases awareness about sexual assault. Students read scenarios involving sexual situations that varied in ambiguity, then labeled whether the situations involved a sexual assault. Students also gave their definitions of sexual assault and completed an evaluation of the activity. Results showed that students have difficulty labeling certain situations as sexual assault even though they meet the legal definition, and that their definitions are significantly more accurate after activity and discussion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Too often students who obviously need help in a course choose not to seek help, with predictable consequences. In an effort to encourage our students to get help, we supplemented our regular office hours with a course center, a one- or two-hour block of time in which help was available from us away from our offices. Because students can be intimidated by meeting individually with instructors and because students cannot always articulate their questions "on the spot," we hoped that the course centers, held in a location where students could interact with each other in addition to the instructor, would promote interactions conducive to seeking help. We present results from a survey that compared and contrasted student views of course centers versus office hours, and discuss positive aspects of the course center as well as potential limitations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research has consistently found that college students, especially freshmen, are not independent learners. To help students become self-regulated learners, reading and study skills courses as well as academic assistance programs should be designed to address this concern. Students must develop an inventory of study strategies that can be selectively employed to meet the particular demands of the materials and assignments involved. The purpose of this study is to review several study strategies and to analyze which strategies correlated with test performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Promoting the acquisition of reflection skills among students in higher education has long been a goal of educators, yet, it has remained a challenging task with varying results. This article presents a study that rekindled the use of the genre of a friendly letter and implemented it as a reflection tool. Education majors' reflections, following a four-week practicum experience, included a variety of reflection orientations with more meaningful content and higher quality reflections than had been previously demonstrated. This reflection genre has applications for a variety of content areas in teacher preparation programs and other academic areas in higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The AIR model we describe in this article is a practical framework for cultivating reflective inquiry into ethical issues that students, faculty, and administrators experience in the midst of busy daily lives and encounter in classroom discussions in a discipline field. The model is highly adaptable to academic and workplace settings and enables students to clarify and refine their ethical thinking and make more caring, compassionate, and respectful choices. Quantitative and qualitative assessment indicates that students who use AIR as an organizing framework become more empowered and competent to engage in reflective ethical inquiry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Leading a productive discussion, one that both engages students and enhances their understanding, may be the most complex and challenging task in teaching. This article explores three approaches to increasing the productivity of discussions. They include framing discussions in a way that allows students easier access to the topic, making the kind of discourse moves that propel discussions forward, and creating an atmosphere that is conducive to discussion. Examples are provided and discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Problem-solving research has consistently found that students have great difficulty when asked to apply concepts and principles discussed in texts and lectures. It is often unnoticed knowledge extensions or transformations that allow faculty experts to solve such problems. Because faculty members normally use these extensions automatically, they do not emphasize them in their teaching. Therefore, knowledge transformations often remain completely hidden to students. This paper presents a first attempt at a field guide to help faculty members identify and teach about hidden knowledge transformations. Examples from introductory psychology and physics teaching are included, along with some pedagogical techniques that have been found to be helpful in dealing with these in both disciplines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ample evidence supports the notion that keeping a course-related diary improves students' writing, knowledge of material, and awareness of psychological processes. Scant evidence supports the authenticity and completeness of diary entries. A questionnaire was developed to assess students' perceptions of self-censorship and pedagogical value of diary keeping in three psychology and three nonpsychology courses. Significant differences in self-censorship and in pedagogical value were obtained across courses. Students attest to the positive pedagogical value of diary keeping, but they censored diary material in all courses. Psychologists interested in diary keeping need to address honesty and censorship issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, we examine a new global studies program that departs from the traditional state-centric approach and uses a geocentric, or earth-centered, approach that emphasizes the roles of individual, grassroots organizations, cultural groups, and international organizations in an attempt to help students conceptualize global events and their role in the world as interrelated and interdependent. We describe the process of program development, the program itself, and the challenges of program approval. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses several strategies for planning a course that facilitates quality discussion and thoughtful debate. Background on students' difficulty in thinking and responding productively to controversial issues; Impact of pre-existing emotions on critical thinking; Significance of creating structured learning exercises.

The problem of motivation has received a great deal of attention, and many successful approaches have been developed. However, in areas such as introductory college mathematics, students often question their own potential for success. At the first sign of trouble, their fears are confirmed and many of them drop out, formally or informally. If a method could be found to improve persistence, motivational techniques would have an opportunity to succeed. In this article, the author describes a simple method to improve persistence using assessments that are normally already in place. Data are presented indicating that the method improves persistence and achievement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Provocative Question icebreaker encourages students to ask questions, cultivating a lively, interactive, student-centered climate. It engages all students, empowers them to initiate conversations, and stimulates their knowledge construction. Although this activity lends insight into students' thinking, it is dangerous to make hasty assumptions about their cognition. The author explains implementation of this activity and the nature of different types of questions. Examples of students' provocative questions and possible interpretations are included. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents advice for students and faculty on the use of the library. Guidelines on designing and implementing effective library research assignments; Characteristics of effective assignments; Recommended assignment checklists for students and teachers.

Deals with reforming higher education curriculum to emphasize students responsibility of learning. Requirement of curriculum implementation; Goal of education; Details on establishing a curriculum that enables students to develop a sense of autonomy.

Understanding one's cultural system leads to greater skills in appreciating other cultures. When students and teachers from diverse cultural backgrounds come together, they bring diversity that can either improve or break down the process of learning and teaching. If handled properly, cultural diversity can enrich the classroom; if ignored, however, cultural conflicts may arise. In this paper, I provide a personal account of my teaching practices. I present ways of investigating, analyzing, and understanding cultural conflicts that result from interactions among students and teachers in various classes. I highlight the importance of students working as "cultural investigators" to better understand the nature of conflicts in the classroom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article underscores a classroom exercise which focuses on the use of puzzles to help students integrate key figures and ideas in history courses. It states that students were advised that the purpose of the puzzle exercise was to encourage them to learn the relations and interconnections between various people and ideas discussed in a semester. The manner by which this exercise was performed is also discussed.

The article presents a tip on how to teach students to learn using the Learning Assessment, a final assignment to develop students' metacognitive skills. It is a series of questions that students answer in a short paper due on the last day of class, but the questions vary by discipline and pedagogical approach. This assignment helps students reflect on the course as a whole and consider what they have gained from it, rather than focusing only on getting through each graded task, and it encourages students to think about their learning process and what has helped and hindered it.

The article recommends ways to enable students envision a goal and find an innovative way to achieve that goal. The first one is encouraging imaginative questions. The teacher should focus on inviting students to ask substantive questions. Second is assigning creative tasks. With a little imagination, teachers could give assignments to students which require them to do something new. Third is rewarding creativity and imagination. Creativity and imagination are important for students to become leaders.

Focuses on methods of collecting data about how students view teaching styles. Misconceptions of what students perceive as good teaching; Habits of professors that bothered students; Significance of the data collected.