Introductory Undergraduate Course Research Articles

Changing Teacher Beliefs about Giftedness and Differentiation Practices

This study explored the developing belief of a group of pre-senice and in-senice teachers (n=28) about the nature of giftedness and of teaching and learning of gifted learners as they participated in a six-week undergraduate introductory course in gifted education. Case study method, field notes, interviews, and open-ended questionnaires were used and triangulated to interpret the nature and extent of changes in teacher beliefs. Through participation in the course, students developed broader conceptions of the nature of giftedness and increased their awareness of the options available for differentiating curriculum for gifted learners.

Introductory business OR cases: successful use of cases in introductory undergraduate business college operational research courses

A case methodology for developing the modelling skills of students in introductory operational research courses taught in undergraduate business programmes is presented. Motivated by a desire to develop such skills in students when the primary objective of such courses was to expose these students to various solution techniques, the approach takes on greater relevance now that many instructors of such courses have shifted their focus to the development of modelling skills. Example case scenarios that have been used by the author in the classroom are presented, and a comparison of the results achieved by the author after implementation of the case methodology is made with those achieved by the author prior to implementation.

Software engineering education

An introductory undergraduate course in real-time embedded software development should acquaint students with the fundamental scientific issues of real-time computing and practical skills in software development. While the theoretical issues can be covered without a laboratory, real-time embedded programming skills require the experiences that a laboratory provides. A major problem is finding equipment suitable for teaching these skills. For over a decade I have used a computer controlled model railroad in my real-time embedded systems course

Using Robot Competitions to Promote Intellectual Development

� This article discusses five years of experience using three international mobile robot competitions as the foundation for educational projects in undergraduate and graduate computer science courses. The three competitions—(1) AAAI Mobile Robot, (2) AUVS Unmanned Ground Robotics, and (3) IJCAI RoboCup—were used in different years for an introductory undergraduate robotics course, an advanced graduate robotics course, and an undergraduate practicum course. Based on these experiences, a strategy is presented for incorporating competitions into courses in such a way as to foster intellectual maturation as well as learn lessons in organizing courses and fielding teams. The article also provides a classification of the major robot competitions and discusses the relative merits of each for educational projects, including the expected course level of computer science students, equipment needed, and costs.

Some Class-Participation Demonstrations for Introductory Probability and Statistics

We present several classroom demonstrations, based on well-known statistical ideas, that have sparked student involvement in our introductory undergraduate courses in probability and statistics.

Bringing the introductory computer graphics course into the 21st century

The field of computer graphics has matured greatly since the formal statement of the introductory undergraduate course for computer science majors was created for ACM/IEEE Curriculum 91, and introductory courses need to reflect the substantive changes in the discipline. Recent discussions with graphics educators and a syllabus survey have found six trends in recent course offerings. Further discussions at GVE 99 identified similar trends as well as an important enduring topic. Perhaps these findings will evolve into a basis upon which people can develop courses that fit their local needs as well as reflecting the changing field.

Perceptions of Reform-based Teaching and Learning in a College Mathematics Class.

This study investigated, from the students',professor's, and researchers' perspectives, the effects of a reform-based introductory undergraduate mathematics course, and the efforts of a mathematics professor to teach such a course. The class had been designed for teacher candidates of middle school mathematics and science (Grades 4 to 8) but was open to all qualified students. We addressed the following research question: What perceptions about learning and teaching mathematics emerged through the participants' experiences in a reform-based mathematics course? Results of the analysis of the data suggested that the teacher candidates and the professor took an important first step toward enculturation into a reform-based vision of mathematics learning and teaching. Implications for mathematics faculty and teacher education faculty interested in promoting reform-based mathematics are presented.

Introducing organisational behaviour: issues in course design

This paper explores some of the theoretical issues involved in the process of designing introductory undergraduate courses in OB (organisational behaviour). The basis of reflection for this study is the authors’ recent experience at Lancaster University. This paper is a commentary on the conceptual bases underpinning our views. We take a hermeneutic and phenomenological perspective which results in a design that works as a heuristic device meant to circumvent the limitations of traditional approaches – especially the tensions between theory and its practical relevance in business education, and the limited range of models presented as possible recipes for contingencies facing managers in modern organisations.

Integration of instructional approaches through media combination in an undergraduate information systems course

Reviews instructional approaches based on the use of different media to provide examples of strategies and evaluation tools for media integration. Uses an introductory information systems undergraduate course taught at the George Washington University as an example.

The Nature and Role of Statistics in the Business School Curriculum

The purpose of this study was to investigate the statistics curriculum at AACSB-accredited business programs. The results show that 72.8% of the responding universities were providing undergraduate students with the opportunity to take two statistics courses, and 69.3% also provided a graduate level course in statistics. The most commonly taught topics in the introductory undergraduate course were descriptive statistics, probability distribution, hypothesis testing, and tables and charts. The second course tended to concentrate on multivariate techniques.

Spectroscopic Selection Rules: The Role of Photon States

Selection rules play a central role in spectroscopy. In an introductory undergraduate course it is frequently desirable to give some justification for these rules without recourse to a formal deriv...

Developing Students' Adaptive Learning Skills

Introductory undergraduate courses a special challenge to teach because the course materials often introduce students simultaneously to new vocabu lary, new procedures, and many theoreti cal perspectives.1 Students who actually have the potential to become both inter ested and competent in a subject may barely scrape by simply because they lack the experience (e.g., interacting with chil dren before taking a child development course, or looking at paintings before tak ing an art history course) necessary to make meaning of the subject. The com mon advice we have all heard?to reach students where they are or to get stu dents interested by giving them hands on experience?typically is not put into effect, does not explain why such experi ence might be effective, and fails to in struct teachers how to connect experience to theory and research.

The Effects of Team Size in a Marketing Simulation

This study was conducted to determine if team size is related to team performance and individual student self-reports of satisfaction, task difficulty, perceived level of participation, personal commitment to the exercise, and personal performance rating in a computer based marketing simulation. The setting was two sections of an introductory undergraduate marketing course. Results indicate that team size is positively related to team performance, satisfaction, and personal performance ratings. The findings suggest using equal size teams when course grades are affected by team performance.The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support for this study provided by the Program for Teaching Effectiveness (PETE), University of Richmond.

Computer graphics

The field of computer graphics has matured greatly since the formal statement of the introductory undergraduate course was created for Curriculum 91, and courses must change accordingly. This panel will describe a philosophical basis for the changes and will give some examples of courses that are responding to that change.

Beating the System: Course Structure and Student Strategies in a Traditional Introductory Undergraduate Physics Course for Nonmajors

The purpose of this study was to describe relationships among instructor and student goals, course design, and student strategies for learning physics in a traditional introductory undergraduate physics course for nonmajors. The procedures included 16 hours ofnonparticipant observation, during which detailed field notes and photographs were taken and documents were collected. Audiotaped open‐ended interviews were given to instructors and students, and all students participated in a limited survey. The data were analyzed using qualitative methods of the Chicago School. Results indicated that both differing goals of students and instructors and the structure of the course inhibited the understanding of physics and were conducive to students engaging in unexpected behaviors designed to help them successfully pass the course. The consequences of the structure of the course and subsequent student behaviors inhibited their understanding and appreciation of physics and deterred them from enrolling in further science courses. The paper includes implications for teaching introductory college physics.

Multimedia courseware sparks interest in the industry

The PowerLearn approach to power engineering education is under development by a core group of faculty and students at Iowa State University (ISU) and Virginia Tech (VT), under funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI). Four basic features characterize the approach. Courseware modularity provides that the material is organized by topic rather than by course. A Web site provides module storage and dissemination. Interactive visualization and simulation tools are heavily used in module construction. In addition, this project is integrated with efforts at both schools to develop new introductory undergraduate courses in electric power engineering. These courses serve well to illustrate the modular approach to course design.

Teacher’s Corner: Using Exams for Teaching Concepts in Probability and Statistics

We present several classroom demonstrations that have sparked student involvement in our introductory undergraduate courses in probability and statistics. The demonstrations involve both experimentation using exams and statistical analysis and adjustment of exam scores.

Chemistry for Pre-Service Middle School Teachers

Chemistry 121, a first-year undergraduate introductory chemistry course for non-science majors has been redesigned under the sponsorship of the Maryland Collaborative for Teacher Preparation to improve the pre-service preparation of science and mathematics teachers for grades 5-8. A constructivist approach guided the redevelopment efforts. The most significant ways in which the new Chemistry 121 differs from the previous version are summarized.

Avoiding object misconceptions

This paper identifies and describes a number of misconceptions observed in students learning about object technology. It identifies simple, concrete, measures course designers and teachers can take to avoid these misconceptions arising. The context for this work centres on an introductory undergraduate course and a postgraduate course. Both these courses are taught by distance education. These courses both use Smalltalk as an introduction to object technology. More particularly, the undergraduate course uses Smalltalk as a first programming language.Distance education can limit the amount and speed of individual feedback that can be given in the early stages of learning. For this reason, particular attention has been paid to characterizing measures for avoiding elementary misconceptions seen in beginning learners. At the same time we also address some misconceptions observed in postgraduate students. The pedagogical issues discussed are of particular importance when devising an extended series of examples for teaching or assessment, or when designing a visual microworld to be used for teaching purposes.

Survey of Functional Neuroanatomy, 3rd Ed.

by B. Garoutte, 224 pp., ill., Millbrae, CA, Mill Valley Medical Publishers, 1994. There is a continuing need for books that can be used for instruction in neuroscience. The comprehensive textbooks have become too expensive and unwieldy for most medical student courses and even more so for undergraduate, graduate, or professional introductory courses. The basic dilemma faced by course directors is to find a textbook that covers the basic subject material adequately without being overwhelming. The two books reviewed here are examples of moderately successful attempts to provide basic surveys of neuroanatomy. Basic Human Neuroanatomy is divided into four parts. …