There are now established methods and models to assess critical thinking in any discipline. The approach selected will depend on how critical thinking is defined, whether national norms are needed, and how the results will be used. (Author)

Research support for the Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education is substantial, both from earlier, complex, longitudinal, and multi-institutional studies and from recent, more narrowly focused research. However, the findings raise a number of questions about variability across disciplines, methods, learning styles, and…

Differences in the kinds of knowledge validation processes, truth criteria, and other factors associated with knowledge production are presented for five disciplines (physics, engineering, psychology, education, and English literature), and implications for improving instruction are examined. It is concluded that faculty must understand the…

Writing is central to learning and to evaluation of student progress. Holistically scored writing samples, portfolios, and evaluative grids provide effective assessments of writing proficiency and show students that writing is an essential communication skill. Writing assignments also can be used to evaluate learning in a discipline. (Author)

The enthusiasm generated by workshops in writing across the curriculum can be translated into lasting curricular change, particularly in freshman composition, general education courses, and upper-division writing emphasis courses. Committees, central to any change effort, can take any of a variety of forms. (MSE)

Continuing problems, troubling trends, and many opportunities face writing-across-the-curriculum planners in the future. Proponents must continue to believe in the benefits of writing-across-the-curriculum programs and widen and intensify networks of support. (MSE)

A study investigated whether Biglan clusters of academic disciplines (hard/soft, pure/applied, life/nonlife) could be used to explain disciplinary differences in college student ratings of instruction. It was found that Biglan clusters do not explain the differences, many disciplines still emphasize knowledge acquisition over higher-order skills,…

Research on variables that may bias student ratings of faculty have found them generally insignificant, but students do rate differently by academic field. The real problem arises from not knowing why this occurs. Institutions and individuals should decide how they will take these differences into consideration when interpreting student ratings.…

Writing-across-the-curriculum programs in secondary schools may have been fostered by the same body of knowledge as those in colleges and universities, but their evolution has been shaped by a different set of circumstances. Development of articulation programs between these institutions requires an understanding of their different contexts. (MSE)

Empirical research on aspects of teaching role performance in which disciplinary differences have been observed (teaching goals, teaching practices, course examination questions, and the relationship between teaching and research) is summarized, and implications for faculty and development, academic affairs administration, and improvement of…

Given the strength of departments, pressures on faculty, and the large number of teaching assistants responsible for undergraduate instruction in research universities, writing instruction often seems to be "in spite of the curriculum." However, it is possible to run successful writing-across-the-curriculum programs in such institutions. (MSE)