"The Secret Syllabus" equips students with the tools they need to succeed, revealing the unwritten rules and cultural norms and expectations not included in the official curriculum. Left to figure out on their own how the academic world works, students frequently stumble, underperform, and miss opportunities. Without mastery of the…

William Blake's poetry seeks to inspire readers to participate in the construction of an intellectual community that he calls "Jerusalem." This process remains ever incomplete and is, in a sense, incompletable, for the work of producing such a community involves "continually building & continually decaying"…

In our previous article about reconceptualizing the course syllabus, we argued that instructors must move syllabi beyond their traditional pedagogically-inspired focus on operational course norms if the syllabus is to remain relevant as a teaching and learning tool. Here, we take the andragogical ideas developed in the prior article and provide…

The author presents keys to designing a class that successfully melds service learning and student leadership development. These prescriptions are based on the lessons learned over 8 years of teaching a class titled "Community Leadership." This class emphasizes experiential learning and revolves around service learning projects. The…

Although many college students enter leadership programs with the express goal of developing leadership skills, some specialized leadership programs draw students who seek to gain expertise in a disciplinary area, with leadership development as a secondary goal. In the latter case, program developers face the challenge of generating enthusiasm…

Research has shown that involvement in campus activities leads to student development and learning. Student development and learning enhances leadership skills and abilities. Leadership skills for young people may be essential in order for them to feel like contributing members of society. Further, student leadership programs assist in shaping a…

Undergraduate research experiences have been shown to enhance the educational experience and retention of college students, especially those from underrepresented populations. However, many challenges still exist relative to building community among students navigating large institutions. We developed a novel course called "Entering…

Briefly describes an ecology course for gifted high school students which focuses on human relationships to the environment and encourages student questioning. (DB)

The Honors Speech course at Florida A&M University, which is a special section of the Public Speaking course, is designed to develop appreciation of and skills in the preparation, delivery, and criticism of speeches. The honors course is different from the regular course in (1) the smaller enrollment in the course; (2) the topics of the…

A course taught at Pacific Lutheran University (Washington) encourages students to transform inner creative energy into an expression of their changing, developing identities. Students make shrines to their childhoods, create models, or costume themselves to express their inner lives. (MSE)

Describes an "exit" course, Senior Seminar in Communicative Theories, developed for students majoring in Speech Communication at George Mason University. Outlines the evolution of this course and the case for adding such a course to speech communication curricula. (KEH)

A freshman course at the College of Liberal Arts at the University of Tennessee is described that mixes the academic and personal experiences in three areas: career exploration, human development, and the history of universities. (Author/MLW)

Rapidly changing demographics are forcing more and more Americans to interact with people who are different from themselves. Americans must become more sensitive to cultural diversity. One way to address this challenge at the university level is to offer courses in intercultural communication. At one university, an upper level course in…

Describes a graduate course in ethics which provides students with a structured opportunity for the development of important ethical skills. Argues that faculty members in graduate preparation programs have the responsibility to see that students receive proper ethical training. Looks at course rationale, course content, and course outcomes. (RJM)

A Piagetian-based, systematic instructional theory developed by A. E. Lawson was used as a reasoning model in a 12th-grade English course at Grand Island Senior High in Grand Island, Nebraska, from 1982 to 1991. The thinking patterns that comprised the hypothetical-deductive stage of human intellectual development used in the course were…