A critical review tracing the key policy decisions on freshman composition courses in college curriculums, and a suggestion that all the attention given to the course by teachers and professional associations may not merit the net results. (DS)

A 36-item list of references is appended. (JES)

To make psychology course content more relevant to college students, popular television presentations can be used to illustrate psychological concepts. Students in a theories of personality course wrote brief essays explaining the behavior of their favorite TV characters. (RM)

The policy of treating student evaluations of their courses and instructors as a straight-forward measure of good teaching invites abuse. The applicability of the "journeyman principle" to college faculty members is discussed. How this principle would result in a radically different approach to the measurement of good teaching is examined. (RM)

Argues that a series of video programs based on Borg's minicourse model could help to resolve some of the problems related to the training of speech therapists. A description of one specific video course is presented along with reports on its evaluation. Eleven references are listed. (Author/LLS)

Reviews arguments for and against student evaluation of faculty instruction. Discusses the following alternatives to rating scales: mail questionnaires, telephone interviews, observer evaluations, in-class discussions, weekly logs, and students' course descriptions. Offers guidelines for refining and implementing these alternatives. (PD)

Objectives, methods of instruction, and evaluation of a preclinical decision-making course are described. Objectives were for reading and writing clinical algorithms and clinical decision analysis. Taped interview problems are found a promising tool for measuring decision-making skills. (MSE)

Summarizes 1980-81 data from 1,158 newly promoted executives who rated business administration courses that best prepare a young person for a general management career. Business communication--oral and written--was the course selected as "very important" more often than any of 13 courses. (PD)

An attempt to attain various high level aims such as "training the mind,""developing judgment," and "achieving independence" within the framework of a first-year physics laboratory course is described. Evaluations of the course and the effectiveness of consequent improvements are discussed. (Author/MLW)

Using the IBM Interactive Instructional System software, a series of interactive study modules for college students taking a course in analysis of variance techniques was developed. Results of the study show that students responded positively and there were significant increases in unit examination performance. (Authors/JN)

Two thousand students from 66 academic departments in six contrasting disciplines from British colleges completed an "approaches to studying" inventory and a course perceptions questionnaire. The implications of these findings are discussed in relation to ways in which the organization of teaching and courses may affect students'…

A course to coordinate all of the various specialities and disciplines of dentistry with emphasis on esthetics, designed as an elective for the 1980 graduating senior class at Emory University School of Dentistry, is described. (MLW)

An instructional approach to pathogenic microbiology appropriate for dental medicine, which was developed by the University of Texas, is described. This approach is perceived by the students as relevant to their needs, and it increases the instructor's awareness to emphasize the oral aspects of the infectious diseases. (Author/MLW)