Recent years have witnessed the spread of purpose-built active learning classrooms throughout the higher education sector. While these innovative learning spaces are well-suited for a variety of active learning strategies, their lack of a single focal point means they are inconvenient spaces for lecturing. While educational developers often…

A well-designed college course syllabus can serve a variety of purposes: as an agreement between teacher and student; as a device for communicating intent, seriousness, and expectations; as an overall plan of action for the course; and as a cognitive map of the course to share with students. This article identifies the major components of a good…

A University of Idaho introductory course in political science describes basic concepts, institutions, and processes of politics and relate their importance to students' daily lives. The course is comparative in organization and structured to promote critical and analytical thinking about politics. (MSE)

A University of Redlands (California) calculus course was redesigned to include computer demonstrations and homework assignments in which the computer could play an important role. Comparison of results of this instruction with that using traditional methods suggest the approach using computers has merit. (MSE)

Factors in development of a new introductory economics course, primarily for nonmajors, are discussed. These include selection of course content to capture student interest and reflect societal change, creation of a more stimulating classroom environment, and use of three cooperative learning activities on poverty, inflation, and budget deficits.…