Teaching soft skills like team dynamics and critical thinking in content-heavy higher education curriculum can be challenging. Employing educational escape rooms is a novel game-based learning strategy in various disciplines, including health sciences. Escape rooms provide the opportunity for a group to work together as they solve puzzles within a…

This paper reports the design, delivery, and evaluation of a mentoring programme which aimed to promote critical thinking and problem-solving skills in Chinese university students. Several new elements in this mentoring programme distinguish it from many previous such programmes within the context of higher education. These new elements include…

This essay examines the tension between rigor and relevance in a newly designed EdD program in School System Leadership in a Research 1 institution. After a three-year redesign of this program that prepares students to become superintendents, our faculty continue to wrestle with questions around how to make methodology coursework meaningful,…

Sharing the journey of developing an ePortfolio assignment, this article focuses on the design process, implementation, and benefits of the ePortfolio as a capstone project for a bachelor's degree program using a constructivist approach. Integrating constructivist educational practices (e.g., student-centered learning, autonomy, self-regulation,…

This essay posits that an institution's program design mandates the curriculum for the classes we teach and that curriculum affects the concept of "canonical" literature, teacher preparation, textbook content, and comfort with discussing difference in the second language classroom for undergraduates. For that reason, this essay argues…

We report on a study of how instructors in an online management classroom aim to develop critical reflection through asynchronous discussions. There is an ongoing debate centered on improving asynchronous discussions in online management education but insights into how these discussions could be facilitated to promote critical reflection remains…

While undergraduate research programs (URP) have been used by the higher education community to engage students and develop critical thinking skills, little if any research has been conducted to examine what type of URP exist within the non-STEM disciplines. The purpose of this study was to (a) identify and examine the goals, types, and methods of…

To address the need for STEM reform in K-12 schools, this article describes the design and implementation of a rigorous, interdisciplinary science and research program (ISR) in two local high schools (HS-S and HS-H). The ISR, adapted from the successful School for Science and Math at Vanderbilt program, provides seven courses over four years that…

The Evaluating and Upscaling Telecollaborative Teacher Education (EVALUATE) project was a European policy experiment funded by Erasmus+ between 2017 and 2019. The EVALUATE consortium trained teacher trainers and organised virtual exchanges which involved over 1,000 student teachers at over 34 initial teacher education institutions in Europe and…

We describe the development and implementation of an online graduate bioethics program that weaves a theme of health justice throughout the curriculum. Our account relies on a constructionist model of curriculum development and adult teaching and learning theory. Our curriculum draws upon core values of Jesuit higher education, including content…

This paper discusses the promotion of critical thinking through an interdisciplinary curriculum design using multidisciplinary faculty as well as details the implementation of an experiential short-term study abroad program in China. To achieve this educational goal of critical thinking, along with meeting the requirements specific to each course,…

Despite the desire of employers to hire those with the critical-thinking and communication skills a general education (GE) program can offer, the value of GE programs is often questioned due to concerns about four-year graduation rates, perceived low immediate economic payoff, and a dearth of evidence to support their efficacy. This article…

This article details the design and implementation of a reading program in a university EFL setting as a strategy to encourage creativity, critical thinking, collaborative learning, and reading for enjoyment (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2001; Richards & Renandya, 2002). This student-centered project challenged ELLs to address issues such as…

Graduates of an Abu Dhabi transnational nursing degree struggled with the mandatory national licensing examination. Poor pass rates undermine graduate career futures and impact on the workforce capacity building contributions of the partnering transnational educational providers. This paper describes how the design and delivery of an intensive…

The development of critical thinking (CT) skills has become a key goal for educators in first and second language contexts. There is evidence that the use of such activities has still not become widespread in a number of ELT situations. One reason for this may be lack of awareness about how levels of thinking can be conceptualized in ELT…