Most postsecondary faculty in the United States include course goals or objectives as key components of their syllabi. In addition to individual course objectives, many institutions have identified institution-wide student learning outcomes (SLOs). This paper describes one faculty member's attempts to elicit feedback from students regarding their…

Recent research has touted the benefits of learner-centered instruction, problem-based learning, and a focus on complex learning. Instructors often struggle to put these goals into practice as well as to measure the effectiveness of these new teaching strategies in terms of mastery of course objectives. Enter the course evaluation, often a…

Undergraduate research experiences have been shown to enhance the educational experience and retention of college students, especially those from underrepresented populations. However, many challenges still exist relative to building community among students navigating large institutions. We developed a novel course called "Entering…

The successive applications of the model of instruction discussed here resulted in marked improvements in the course as determined from a variety of indices of student performance. (Author)

This is a workbook that assists college faculty to design their own courses. The process is organized in a series of stages each of which is given a chapter: gathering, planning, implementing, teaching and evaluating. The first chapter on gathering describes the process for collecting as much information about the course as possible by describing…

A model is presented for response to evaluating instruction in a university based on the teaching-at-a-distance concept. Technically appropriate and operationally viable, this model is applied to the National Open University of Venezuela (UNA). The model is based on two principles of educational evaluation: (1) the concept of evaluation as a…

A general education course for sophomores at Baker University entitled "Shaping of Western Thought" is described. The goals of the university's general education program are enumerated and the ways in which this course serves those purposes are discussed. Focus in the course is on both personal and social values. Three values--love,…

Small group discussions with Illinois State University freshmen to evaluate the integration of library instruction and technology training in a new gateway course found that students were confused about course purpose, that students received inadequate instruction in e-mail use, and that campus e-mail technology was inadequate to meet demands of…

This document is a guide for use in self-study by groups of college faculty using the Course Planning Exploration (CPE) survey. The CPE is designed to uncover approaches to course planning and thereby stimulate discussion, collegial learning, and development among faculty members. Section I describes the CPE including the history of its…

A model for course planning that provides a way of looking at college instruction and an approach to preparing effective courses is presented. It is suggested that: teaching is an experimental activity, there is no correct way to teach, a teacher sets up the conditions for learning, and both the course and teacher need to assume part of the…

Results of research performed to determine whether or not newly enrolled freshman students improved after one and one-half quarters of composition instruction at Western Illinois University are presented. Using an essay-type placement test given at initial enrollment as a pre-test, 158 students were selected as the experimental group to write…

Analyzes methods of teaching American social history and the merits of new (narrative) versus old (analytic) methodologies. Using college syllabi as models, the article concludes that historians must remain storytellers to be effective. (TRS)

Proceedings of a 1980 workshop in Queensland, Australia, on evaluation in distance teaching are presented. Two focal areas were the assessment of students and evaluation of programs and courses. In addition to keynote and workshop papers, a variety of evaluation forms are presented. Among the papers and authors are: "The Setting of Tertiary…