Surveyed 1200 students in a second semester general chemistry course at Purdue. Investigates areas where student and faculty perceptions of the content of chemistry courses differ. Elaborates on each area and suggests explanations for the findings involved. (MVL)

A study compared the performances of Wake Forest University (North Carolina) medical students rotating through an internal medicine program, 88 in a problem-based curriculum and 364 in a lecture-based curriculum. Students in the problem-based curriculum received significantly higher ratings from house staff and faculty on four clinical rating…

Describes a course entitled "DNA and Evolution" in which students develop an appreciation for what science is and how it is practiced as well as an understanding of how some of the most central ideas in biology were developed and tested. Discusses the design of the course, the lecture and discussion topics, and the results and their…

Describes a method for promoting student interest and involvement in an undergraduate marriage and family course. Supplements lectures with problem-solving sessions for small groups. Uses session outcomes to encourage critical evaluation by the class. Combines the traditional scholarly approach with an interactive personal involvement. (NL)

Using data from a national study of instructional practices in 7th- through 8th-grade science classes, this study examined a subset of Christian school teachers to determine what instructional practices predominated in Christian-school science classes. Results indicated that participants used 10 teaching methods (six constructivist and four…

The environment for teaching management in Baltic States' universities has undergone profound changes. The factors involved are: greater interaction between classroom teaching and the "real world", market expansion, internationalization, and increasingly diverse students. The author reports on the survey findings from the three…

We carried out an experiment to determine whether student learning gains in a large, traditionally taught, upper-division lecture course in developmental biology could be increased by partially changing to a more interactive classroom format. In two successive semesters, we presented the same course syllabus using different teaching styles: in…

Computer-based instructional applications are considered an effective alternative to traditional teaching methods and today in numerous educational and training settings, interactive computer programs are used to teach young students and adults computer literacy skills. The purpose of this study is to compare the attitudes and motivations of…

Two groups of middle school students were taught U.S. colonial history during a 5-week period using 2 different instructional strategies. In the experimental group, concepts and problem-solving strategies were explicitly taught; in the control group, content was presented using lectures and reading. All students took a pretest and several…

This monograph examines the nature of active learning at the higher education level, the empirical research on its use, the common obstacles and barriers that give rise to faculty resistance, and how faculty and staff can implement active learning techniques. A preliminary section defines active learning and looks at the current climate…

A learning cycle consists of three phases: exploration; conceptual invention; and expansion of an idea. These phases parallel Piaget's functioning model of assimilation, disequilibrium and accomodation, and organization respectively. The learning cycle perceives students as actors rather than reactors to the environment. Inherent in that…

This study was conducted at John Abbott College to determine the preferences of psychology students among five styles of classroom instruction: films, group discussions, lectures, teacher-led questions and answers, or videos. Questionnaires were distributed in four psychology teachers' upper-level courses, lower-level courses, and continuing…

The relationship between student personality traits and achievement with either mediated self-instruction or didactic large group instruction was investigated. Subjects were 159 female third-year nursing students at Loyola University of Chicago. Subjects received instruction on tracheostomy care and intravenous (I.V.) therapy through either a…

This paper outlines a method of transforming traditional learning methods into a competency-based approach in a series of steps. The paper is organized in three sections. The first section defines competency-based education (CBE) and explains how this approach differs from traditional education. It also advances reasons why the competency-based…

The primary goal of speech communication teachers should be to help students learn to analyze and communicate information in interpersonal, group, and public situations--a goal that can be reached only through a mixture of lecture, lecture/discussion, and performance approaches. Although administrators are currently proposing higher…