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)

Describes the development of a class at Zayed University (United Arab Emirates) that used laptop computers to make classroom instruction more student-centered. Discusses the design of self-paced materials and reports results that indicated students preferred a traditional teacher-centered lecture course. Considers implications for distance…

Being asked to give the 39th Amy Morris Homans Commemorative Lecture at NAKPEHE is a tremendous honor. While certainly aware of Miss Homans' legacy related to the promotion of women, physical education, and the training of teachers, I admit it has been many years since revisiting details of her life and her work. In order to prepare my comments…

Active learning promotes higher-level reasoning, and it can be achieved in large classes without wholesale changes in class format. Applicable methods include in-class mini-investigations, robust multiple-choice exam questions, online quizzes or review, and cooperative learning, particularly during exams. Data gleaned from observing student…

Undergraduate science students took an Inquiry course in their second (sophomore) year. The course was designed to explore the social life of scientific knowledge. They were given a set of eight assessment options: personal logs, targeted oral examinations, commentaries, mini-lectures, individual explorations, research proposals, book reviews, and…

The experiences of a group of seven physicians and medical school faculty who wished to improve their instructional capacities are described by the educational psychologist who led the study group. The participants held appointments at the University of North Dakota School of Medicine and had responsibility for teaching medical students in…

A prison education program that provides inmates the opportunity to complete the requirements for a bachelor's degree at Central Michigan University is described. Since 1976, more than 100 incarcerated students have enrolled, and nearly 40 have graduated with a bachelor of science degree. Students may major in either management and supervision, or…

A study developing a model for assessing teacher motivation and instructional development needs for a developing university system in northern Nigeria is presented. The problem of motivating professors and lecturers to teach effectively is especially acute there. The study focused on patterns of perceptions and behaviors of Nigerian lecturers that…

In the early 1970's, a major modification of the introductory service course in statistics at Brigham Young University was implemented, first on an experimental basis and then in all sections by 1974-75. The basic components of the course that distinguish it are: a self-pacing text prepared under the guidance of educational research specialists; a…

Problem areas with the curriculum at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-Rutgers Medical School were identified: imbalance in class hours in the academic schedule, excessive number of lectures, and need for more small group sessions during the basic science education. (MLW)

Evidence suggests that the usual classroom practices don't work and must be replaced by something more active and involving. Group-inquiry, an untraditional approach to the classroom, is described. Small groups examine central problems of the subjects under study, then a consensus is reported to the class. (MLW)

This brief paper describes a special, informal seminar for international students that used an adjunct instruction model to focus on technical terminology in the field of instructional technology. Foreign students are enrolled concurrently in two linked courses--a language course and a content course with the two courses sharing content base and…

Preparing courses for flexible delivery and distance education is normally a time-consuming and expensive process. This paper describes the design and evaluation of a system that automatically captures and indexes audio and video streams of traditional university lectures without demanding any changes in the style or tools used by teachers. Using…

Based on a technical infrastructure that supports face-to-face university teaching, an environment that enables small groups of lecturers to develop and maintain lecture material cooperatively was developed. In order to allow for a flexible use, only a few formal workshops are imposed on the users while cooperation is supported by easy-to-use…

A multimedia approach to drug therapy for Parkinson's Disease, part of a pharmacy school central nervous system course, integrated use of lecture, textbook, video/graphic technology, the movie "Awakenings," Internet and World Wide Web, and an interactive animated movie. A followup questionnaire found generally positive student attitudes…