This work focuses on a possible teaching approach to promote chemistry learning for students during the first two years of technical high school in Italy (age 14-15). Critical thinking skills can be developed by integrating two different curriculum designs, converging in a novel didactic approach, a modified version of the Systemic Approach to…

This study examines an original dramaturgical method for creating virtual world experience called virtual world drama. The instructional focus is improving students' aptitude for analyzing ethnic identity by instilling both conceptual and multicultural competency. An exploratory research method is used, relying on observation (disguised and…

The use of appropriate Educational Simulation systems (software and hardware for learning purposes) may contribute to the application of the "Learning by Doing" (LbD) paradigm in classroom, thus helping the students to assimilate the theoretical concepts of a subject and acquire certain pre-defined competencies in a more didactical way.…

As the business world becomes more complex, the role of professional higher education in the development of "reflective practitioners" becomes more cogent. In this article, the authors argue for the Bases of Competence model, which articulates base competencies required of today's higher education professional graduates, as a tool in…

Online education has come of age, and along with the advent of online education, there have been numerous calls for improvement in administrator preparation programs. As a result, many administrative preparation programs have revised and reshaped their programs to address this concern. In this regard, this paper will discuss one component of the…

Merges the following into a model: various writer's refinements to systematic instructional design and development and the author's practical experience. There are four phases: competency identification, overall design, production, and evaluation, each of which is broken into a series of steps for thinking and doing. (Author/JEG)

This paper proposes a theoretical, yet practical, framework for managing the formation process of students unrealistic expectations in a college course. Using relational contracting theory, alternative teacher interventions, aimed at effective management of students expectations about the course, are described. Also, the formation of the student…

In this article, the author examines the added value of strengths-based interventions in response to her college president's challenge that an educator should not be simply out for a talk in teaching. She redesigned her dissertation experiment to measure the impact of strengths-based teaching in two classrooms of Introduction to Public Speaking…

A laboratory course designed to provide simulated practice experience for pharmacy students at Drake University College of Pharmacy was redesigned by restructuring laboratory schedules to provide more time, by establishing competencies to be attained, and by self-pacing. Student evaluations of the changes were highly supportive. (MSE)

A series of highly structured, criterion-referenced, small-group discussion tutorials were designed to be used with a large introductory lecture course, Biology of Mankind, that is taught at the University of New South Wales. The design of these tutorials and their role in achieving course objectives are discussed. (JMD)

Our department has redesigned its electrical engineering and computer engineering programs completely by adopting a learning methodology based on competence development, problem solving, and the realization of design projects. In this article, we show how this pedagogical approach has been successfully used for learning compiler design.