A study of 11 courses in 2 institutions (n=999 students) indicates that courses and teaching in which students have adopted deeper strategies for learning also have higher student ratings, supporting, in general, the validity of student ratings. (Author/MSE)

Describes how to plan an online course based on experiences with a college computer-science course. Topics include course layout, HTML conversion, uploading files to the server and editing, online testing, the initial class meeting, student course evaluations, a summary of student perceptions, and course revisions. (LRW)

Discusses some of the major issues faced in attempting to assess systematically the effectiveness of business-communication courses (by assessing the level of improvement of students' writing competency). Discusses goals of assessment, type of test (standardized versus custom-made), guidelines for scoring, use of results, and reliability and…

Calls attention to the difficulties of broaching issues of "race" and "sex" in the classroom context of nationwide calls for multiculturalism. Discusses the current politics surrounding the importance of student course evaluations, and presents strategies for making evaluations more useful in the context of courses that include controversial…

Discusses the use of a student learning journal for collecting course effectiveness data at the University of Technology (Sydney, Australia). Qualitative data from the journals include students' developing perceptions of course content, structure, and activities over a period of time. Addresses issues regarding validity, confidentiality, and data…

Investigates student's opinions of what they believe is valuable for the first class meeting of a course. Reports that a good first class meeting includes a well-organized, focused presentation containing basic course information including requirements, expectations, and information on examinations and assignments. Expounds that faculty should…

Analysis of responses from 1,221 participants in continuing medical education via lecture, and lecture enhanced with a computerized audience response system (ARS), indicated that more than 85% felt ARS facilitated teaching of clinical reasoning and facts and helped maintain their alertness. ARS-enhanced lectures received significantly higher…

Explores how language and political science professors can co-teach a course using the Language Across the Curriculum format to increase student understanding of a country's language and politics. Describes a Georgia Tech course taught in German on post-war German politics. Addresses the elements of a successful course and student and course…

Describes the development of courses at the University of Central Florida that are a mix of traditional classroom instruction and online courses. Discusses course assessment methods to help meet student needs; faculty incentives to participate in the assessment process; administrative support; and accountability. (LRW)

A survey of 101 medical schools in the United States and Canada found most had a centralized evaluation system for course and curriculum evaluation, and over half used oversight committees. Beyond the almost universal use of questionnaires, course evaluation practices varied widely, comprising different combinations of evaluation technique and…

Supports the value of course evaluations. Cautions that (1) there is a need to develop more sensitive instruments to measure effective teaching; (2) students should not be given questions they do not have the expertise to answer; (3) course evaluations should be combined with other modes of evaluation; and (4) evaluations should be read with…

Online learning requires new approaches to teaching and learning. At the University of Montreal, 28 graduate students in education and adult students specializing in educational technology attended an experimental distance education course. Students identified advantages and disadvantages of online learning/teaching and reflected on how the course…

Focuses on the benefits and effectiveness of using a dual-gender team-teaching approach in a human sexuality course focused on issues related to creating a comfortable learning environment. Addresses the student perceptions of the course. Finds that the approach is advantageous to both students and instructors. (CMK)

Points out that assessment of courses and curricula lags behind implementation and focuses on an evaluation project at the University of Arizona. Describes an effort to determine the effectiveness of science courses for non-majors. (DDR)

Analysis of course evaluations by business students (2,812 taught traditionally; 315 at a host site and 155 at a remote site using interactive television) showed that remote-site students had significantly lower satisfaction on every rating item. Although taught by the same instructor as the host site, dissatisfaction with interactive television…