The evidence on learning communities suggests that student intellectual and psychosocial development is improved by participation. Faculty members become rejuvenated as learners once again through rediscovering the boundaries and intersection of their discipline with others. Active learning, collaborative learning, strategies to improve critical…

This paper evaluates the long-term benefits of a Syracuse University course offering, "Maxwell 201: Quantitative Methods for the Social Sciences" (MAX 201). The authors analyze data collected from class-administered pre- and post-tests and from a questionnaire sent to a random sample MAX 201 alumni to evaluate the extent to which students apply…

The assessment literature frequently ignores the quandary of the department resistant to assessment in its discussion of implementing departmental plans and instead focuses on idealized implementation processes. The approach articulated in this article builds on the assessment literature, generating the hypothesis that a grassroots approach to…

This study illustrates the special value of theater for conducting civic education. It begins by identifying the features of good citizenship in the United States. Citizenship in America includes rights, interests, affections, duties, and virtues. We focus on one duty, civic respect, and the virtue most necessary to meet that duty--civic…

At first glance, academic assessment is simply another request for more paper. But it goes well beyond the design of a plan or blueprint. Instead, assessment involves the much more difficult task of creating a new culture. Borrowing from both the experience of the Department of Political Science at Northeastern Illinois University and from the…

Advocates of computer-mediated instruction have pointed to the potential of online teaching for facilitating students' active learning behavior. Small-group online discussion can have a role in meaningful student interaction. Yet, what is less known are the conditions under which students actually engage in interaction in online discussion groups…

Although Terminal C at Logan airport does not look like a classroom, for about fifty minutes on this author's way back from Boston it was for him. Like many public spaces, Logan now has a very robust Wi-Fi wireless network and this enabled him to take advantage of a departure delay to "teach" his class. In 1970 when the author started teaching,…

The main concern of this article is to illustrate how West Point equips future Army officers with an appreciation and understanding of cultural knowledge. A unique, multidisciplinary goal-based approach to curricular design and assessment (of students as well as the academic program) is described, focusing on the structure, process, and content of…

Pedagogical differentiation (i.e., tailoring instruction to each student's learning style, readiness level, and interest) has been applied to primary and secondary classrooms for over a decade but has never been formally applied to the undergraduate classroom. This paper explores the potential for differentiated instruction within the…