According to national statistics, there is a growing need for qualified educators in early intervention and early childhood special education (EI/ECSE). Almost all of the nation's school districts are reporting shortages in special education teachers (Boe & Cook, 2006; McLeskey & Billingsley, 2008). A project funded by the United States…

System models are commonly used in tertiary education as a mechanism for describing the interacting components of educational phenomena, but have hitherto been uncritically accepted. This paper provides a critical review of existing systems models, including the 3P model defined Biggs, and outlines their conceptual challenges. A revised model…

The chemistry department at Washington & Jefferson College implemented an "organic first" curriculum in the fall semester of 2005. Assessment data suggest that the net impact of this change for the department and associated constituencies has been positive: (i) Student outcomes have generally not been impacted by the curricular…

For more than thirty years, personnel from the University of Louisville J.B. Speed School of Engineering have presented a summer program targeting high school students historically underrepresented in engineering fields. INSPIRE provides these students with an introduction to careers in engineering and assists the students in planning their…

In this society where ethical misconduct is prevalent, faculty and staff can do a better job of providing training and encouragement to help students make ethical decisions. At the University of North Carolina Wilmington, a task force was created to develop a workshop for student leaders to enhance their awareness of ethical issues and the…

This paper introduces a graduate course, continuum mechanics, which is designed for and taught to graduate students in a Mechanical Engineering (ME) program. The significance of continuum mechanics in engineering education is demonstrated and the course structure is described. Methods used in teaching this course such as topics, class…

This essay examines the collateral benefits to faculty from a guided learning literature review project for students. We describe a 3-year continuum of project creation and refinement designed to foster critical thinking and writing for second year dental students at the University of the Pacific Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry. We discuss…

This article provides a model for incorporating a student-run campus awareness week into the course objectives of a sociology class. It reflects on four semesters in which students in a sociology course on eating disorders create social change by developing and implementing a campus-based awareness week. Although the article focuses specifically…

The mission of Minding Our Business (MOB), a service-learning course started in 1997 to meet community needs, is to advance the personal and vocational development of urban youth through entrepreneurship education and mentoring. This paper evaluates the long-term impact of MOB on the personal and vocational development of the alumni mentors…

This article examines the opportunities and limitations presented by organizing an undergraduate field research methods class as a policy think tank working for a government client. Organized as such, the course had both the learning objectives of a traditional undergraduate methods class and the corporate objectives of a policy think tank (i.e.,…

This article describes and assesses two learning modules designed to make students aware of gender and racial inequalities present in their own intended careers. Students identify their intended occupation in respect to the Standard Occupational Classification system and then use that code to determine the composition and earnings in that…

This article describes a computer science course that uses service learning as a vehicle to accomplish a range of pedagogical and BPC (broadening participation in computing) goals: (1) to attract a diverse group of students and engage them in outreach to younger students to help build a diverse computer science pipeline, (2) to develop leadership…

Genetics is considered one of the most challenging courses in the biology curricula at both the secondary and post secondary levels. Case based teaching has been shown to improve student perception and performance outcomes in both non-science and science courses. Thus in an effort to improve outcomes, case studies were integrated into an…

Pre-service teacher degree programs are increasingly crowded with subjects covering the wide gamut of knowledge a teacher requires. Ensuring musical knowledge and language for classroom teaching poses a difficult problem for teacher educators. This article examines the challenges of including in the pre-service classroom teaching program a music…

In 2007, we offered an innovative blended graduate level rehabilitation counseling course. The course was delivered online and in Hong Kong. It included readings, PowerPoint presentations and discussion board features on Blackboard, as well as face-to-face lectures and guest speakers in a classroom context at the City University of Hong Kong.…