Although research methodology is a staple and essential requirement of many undergraduate political science programmes worldwide, there are still many intense and ongoing debates among teachers and students on the series of effective learning and teaching approaches and strategies for this subject matter that involve theoretical understanding,…

Within the literature on decolonizing the curriculum, a clear distinction is frequently made between diversity and decolonization. While "decolonization" entails dismantling colonial forms of knowledge, including practices that racialize and categorize, "diversity" is a policy discourse that advocates for adding different sorts…

Introductory psychology is one of the most popular undergraduate courses and often serves as the gateway to choosing psychology as an academic major. However, little research has examined the typical structure of introductory psychology courses. The current study examined student learning objectives (SLOs) and course content in introductory…

Educational leadership programs face increased pressure to ensure graduates are prepared (Barnett, 2004; Bass, 1990; Yukl, 2002) to guide progress toward student achievement targets. The ISLLC [Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium] Policy Standards (2008) uphold the importance of inquiry in leading school improvement. However,…

Most institutions of higher education allow students to drop or add courses in the first 2-3 weeks of each term (D&A). Arguing that course cancellation is not merely an administrative issue involving enrollment trends but represents complex decision making processes taken by students, this study investigated antecedents and correlates of course…

This study examined how qualitative research is taught in foundation MSW courses using a content analysis of syllabi and a survey. The Council on Social Work Education required qualitative research content in 1994 and several authors advocate for greater inclusion of it. Yet no research about what qualitative content is included on syllabi is…

Describes a two-semester course in fieldwork taught by the author in several universities. The first semester is entirely classroom-based, with students required to read heavily on all aspects of research design, methods, analysis, and problems. The second semester is a structured, qualitative fieldwork study. (GC)

Online delivery of university-level courses has grown exponentially in the last decade and is increasingly being recognised as a viable and effective alternative to face-to-face classroom teaching. Many scholars have already written about the benefits and best practices of online teaching in general. However, not many studies have paid specific…

Offers a model for interdisciplinary courses, altering the relation of the discipline, teacher, and student. Describes a University of Texas at Austin course as an example of the model, which focuses on major models for research; on developing students' methodological competence; and on validity and significance as writing criteria. (AYC)

Explains how to teach undergraduate students in a comparative psychology course to undertake social science research. Information is presented on selecting appropriate research projects, choosing students with a variety of research styles, and course evaluation. (DB)

Qualitative research procedures such as interviewing and recording observations are in large measure intuitively easier to apply and understand than their quantitative counterparts, and seem more doable than complementary statistical analyses. The purpose of this paper is to provide some recommendations for planning and teaching a graduate-level…

Explores the basic communication research course for undergraduates. Discusses several key notions for making this course valuable to the undergraduate: the attitude of the instructor, the attitude of the students, course requirements and activities, and evaluation techniques. (SR)

Outlines an approach to teaching fieldwork that the author has used in graduate seminars. The course, which requires students to engage in data collection, is organized to follow the stages of an actual research project. (GC)

Stresses the importance of theory in fieldwork, and describes a fieldwork course for graduate students in education at Stanford University. (GC)

Presents overview of teaching of popular culture in schools of library and information science assembled from course information and syllabi from 10 schools. Common components in courses offered and descriptions of three specific courses (University of Pittsburgh, University of Illinois, University of North Carolina) are provided. Twelve…