A student-initiated course on death and dying, offered at the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, features a small group format, multidisciplinary representation, and student leadership. Course objectives, course content, teaching methods, course design, and student and faculty assessment of the course are discussed. (JMD)

A coordination between first-year courses in human behavior or behavioral sciences and gross anatomy at the University of Vermont College of Medicine seems to enhance student learning and to improve student and faculty satisfaction in both courses. Details of the innovative integrative steps are provided. (LBH)

Discusses the importance of using good instructional design principles when using new technologies for education. Highlights include identifying instructional objectives; understanding the target audience, and augmenting a presentation with technology instead of letting technology dominate it; organizing the content; and preparing for…

Focuses on problems encountered in an English language teaching program by examining the use of journals. Although the usefulness of the journal as a learning tool and a vehicle for self-reflection may be overestimated, the problems associated with journal writing are not insurmountable. Research on administrative tasks and the journal genre…

Examines a content-based English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) research class focusing on Anne Frank because of the dramatic story of her life and the literary quality of her diary's contents. The students were required to write about the character of Anne Frank and to use the same sources for their research journals. The course was a vehicle for…

Two minipresentations by second-language teachers describe their classroom efforts to instruct their students. The first article focuses on using computers to help students improve their writing skills. The second zeroes in on incorporating speaking activities into the daily life of the classroom. (CK)

Discusses the focus of foreign-language graduate programs on preparing students for their careers. The article argues that the spread of teaching-methods courses and the interest in the utility of education has transformed these programs into hybrids that lack intellectual discipline. The article concludes graduate programs in foreign languages…

Secondary vocational-technical education programs in Mississippi are faced with many challenges resulting from sweeping educational reforms at the national and state levels. Schools and teachers are increasingly being held accountable for providing true learning activities to every student in the classroom. This accountability is measured through…

Online courses are growing in popularity, providing opportunities for individuals to complete their education while overcoming time and distance constraints. Innovations in distance education allow for the design and development of online courses that adapt to meet the specific needs and/or learning styles of the students enrolled, and reflect the…

The Virginia Community College System (VCCS) is increasingly offering more Web-based, online orientation courses to students. Since the fall semester of 1999, the community college campuses throughout the VCCS have offered over 100 sections of online orientation courses. However, no assessment data or research for these courses or students exists.…

Secondary vocational-technical education programs in Mississippi are faced with many challenges resulting from sweeping educational reforms at the national and state levels. Schools and teachers are increasingly being held accountable for providing true learning activities to every student in the classroom. This accountability is measured through…

Secondary vocational-technical education programs in Mississippi are faced with many challenges resulting from sweeping educational reforms at the national and state levels. Schools and teachers are increasingly being held accountable for providing true learning activities to every student in the classroom. This accountability is measured through…

Problem-based learning (PBL) is an instructional methodology placing primary emphasis on students solving realistic problems in a team-oriented environment. In this article, authors discuss using PBL to integrate a language for specific purposes (LSP) track into an undergraduate biological engineering curriculum as a way to prepare students for an…

A consensus has emerged on many issues in communicative language teaching, but one question that needs attention is the question of what ought to constitute the appropriate starting point in the design and implementation of a second language program. Two positions to consider are the following: first, the development of communicative methodology,…

This journal is devoted to the art of teaching in the field of speech communication. Articles collected in this issue address topics in the development of the basic speech communication course and include the following titles: "Concept Speech Assignment,""The Circle Game: A Teaching Device for the Concept of Ethos,""To Hear Ourselves As Others…