Evidence-based practice in educational development includes leveraging data to iteratively refine center for teaching and learning (CTL) services. However, CTL data collection is often limited to counts and satisfaction surveys rather than direct measures of outcomes. To directly assess impacts of consultations on course and syllabus design, we…

Physics lab instruction is evolving in response to changing technology, a desire to better prepare students for diverse careers, and renewed focus from physics education researchers. To prepare researchers to evaluate progress in instructional labs in the future, this study set out to understand the current state of instructional physics labs in…

This paper presents a series of novel project-based learning labs for an introductory robotics course that are developed into a semester-long Robotic Decathlon. The last three events of the Robotic Decathlon are used as three final one-week-long project tasks; these replace a previous course project that was a semester-long robotics competition.…

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 second paper describes how the Internet was used to modernize a graduate accounting capstone course to enhance student interest and learning, and is an extension of an earlier paper that examined a similar approach with an undergraduate accounting capstone course. Course content was developed from contemporary issues and cases obtained from…

This paper details an assignment sequence that requires graduate students in an applied communication program to identify problems that clients may not be aware of. Good writing and good problem-solving are "inextricably linked to [a student's] ability to frame an issue, gather, and analyze information, and to structure a helpful response" (Musso,…

We describe our pedagogical approaches and experiences with an academic club service learning project (one semester, 20 club participants, including both graduate students and lower and upper-level undergraduates). Our service learning project responds to the recent demand for more community service-based club projects within the College of…

This chapter describes the use of popular film and semiotics for the development of critical media literacy in a graduate-level education course entitled "Pop Culture as Pedagogy: The Role of Entertainment Media in Teaching for Critical Consciousness and Critical Media Literacy." The course focused on analysis of different forms of pop culture,…

An exploratory study examined the effectiveness of a Public Relations Management course offered over a 6-month period in a 3-weekend accelerated curriculum format. The theoretical framework from which the study was designed is derived from Malcolm Knowles' andragogy theory of adult learning. The study investigated how students in the class…

Describes a graduate course for teaching therapists about the contributions that have been made to the understanding and treatment of substance abuse by family researchers, theorists, and clinicians. Delineates course purpose, student selection, instructional methods, and course content. (Author)

Offers some revisions and alternatives to Heath and Atkinson's 1988 model for designing a course on the family treatment of alcohol and drug problems in order to make it generalizable to a greater number of contexts. Suggests the two papers together could serve as a guide for self-study in the area for clinicians. (Author/ABL)

Briefly describes two guidebooks, published by the National Center for Research to Improve Postsecondary Teaching and Learning, designed to assist both teaching assistants (TAs) and professors to improve instruction. Stresses the importance of course planning and writing effective syllabi. Argues TAs need to learn skills from their current…

This guidebook is designed to help graduate teaching assistants plan a college course more effectively and efficiently. It is based on information from instructors in community colleges, liberal arts colleges, and universities regarding how they plan their courses. Course planning considerations are presented, sequenced generally in the manner…

A course was designed to teach the use of learning principles in the development of teaching materials reflecting the best in the present state of the "theory of instruction." Based on Keller's Personalized Instruction System, the course aimed to establish in students a working knowledge of behavioral principles, the ability to…

The origins, development, and implementation of a course in oral presentation skills in English for graduate students in the sciences and engineering are described. The course was piloted at National Tsing Hua University in Taiwan to train students for presentation of technical papers. Background information is offered on English language…