Undergraduate education is very important for higher education. Among the factors affecting the quality of undergraduate education, teaching quality is the most important factor. At present, an important issue that affects teaching quality is insufficient teaching investment. An open-ended questionnaire survey was conducted on 62 faculty members and 65 university students in China. Results found that the undergraduate teaching investment of faculty members mainly consists of four parts: workload investment, ability investment, energy investment, (...) and teaching emotional investment. A preliminary test was conducted on 342 faculty members, and the results of an exploratory factor analysis supported the proposed four-dimensional teaching investment model. The test involved 293 faculty members and confirmatory factor analysis showed that the four-dimensional model had a good degree of fit. A further criterion-related test showed that the four-dimensional teaching investment of faculty members has a significant positive correlation with classroom management, clarity of teaching materials, teacher–student interaction, teaching strategies, and skills application, and work engagement. These results show that the proposed four dimensions of teaching investment effectively measure the teaching investment of faculty members, specifically the indicators of teaching investment and that they promote the development of faculty teaching investment research. (shrink)

Introduction The General Medical Council stipulates that doctors must be competent professionals, not merely scholars and practitioners. Medical school curricula should enable students to develop professional values and competencies. Additionally, medical schools are moving towards integrated undergraduate curricula, Cardiff's C21 being one such example. Methods We carried out an audit to determine the extent to which C21 delivers GMC professionalism competencies, and a student questionnaire to explore student perspective on ethics and professionalism. Results and discussion C21 delivers explicit or (...) implicit teaching for all major GMC competencies, though some missed opportunities remain. The questionnaire responses showed that most students value ethics and professionalism teaching, and that it is most well received when delivered in a variety of ways and contexts throughout the curriculum. We also note that some respondents confuse ethics and professionalism with the policing of student behaviour. Conclusions C21 and curricula like it offer many opportunities for nurturing ethically and professionally competent physicians. Students appear to value this, though there remains confusion between medical school discipline and ethics and professionalism which needs further explication. (shrink)

In teaching courses on Karl Rahner to undergraduates, I have come to appreciate the importance of finding a starting point with which students readily connect. After much thought, I begin these courses with an extended consideration of the human person. This starting point has the advantage not only of being Rahner’s but also of being one which seems attractive to students. I have found little evidence that students have to be convinced about the importance of self-concern. I am careful (...) to emphasize, however, that in Rahner’s understanding of the dynamism of conversio and reditio this starting point never allows for any form of narcissistic subjectivism. Starting with the concreteness of our lives naturally leads to other considerations which also seem attractive to students: the burden of self-responsibility, the sense of awe and wonder, the need for hope. These are among some of the concerns which I try to address when teaching Rahner. (shrink)

The teaching of the ethical implications of scientific advances in science courses for undergraduates has significant advantages for both science and non-science majors. The article describes three courses taught by the author as examples of the concept, and examines the disadvantages as well as the advantages. A significant advantage of this approach is that many students take the courses primarily because of the ethical component who would not otherwise take science. A disadvantage is less time in the course for (...) the science; arguably, this is outweighed by the greater retention of the science when it is put into context. (shrink)

Teaching research methods is especially challenging because we not only wish to convey formal knowledge and encourage critical thinking, as with any course, but also to enable our students dream up meaningful research projects, translate them into logical steps, conduct the research in a professional manner, analyze the data, and write up the project in APA style. We also wish to spark interest in the topics of research papers, and in the intellectual challenge of creating a research report, but (...) we have learned just how difficult these goals can be from teaching undergraduates and from serving as journal reviewers: many submissions contain flaws such as elementary errors of logic (e.g., using a null control condition instead of a placebo or dummy treatment), tangled statistics, a lack of graphs, and ungrammatical, unclear writing that violates APA rules. Yet these manuscripts are written by university faculty, often with doctorates and years of experience. Even published papers may contain egregious faults (Standing & McKelvie, 1986). And although we have both published widely, we still hone our skills. It requires optimism to expect that a typical undergraduate will do better, on the basis of just a year or two of studies in psychology. In this paper, we describe a systematic set of methodology courses and two specific practices that we think can help. Methodology Courses as the Backbone of our Psychology Program How can methodology courses promote undergraduate involvem... (shrink)

Fourteen philosophers share their experience teaching Peirce to undergraduates in a variety of settings and a variety of courses. The latter include introductory philosophy courses as well as upper-level courses in American philosophy, philosophy of religion, logic, philosophy of science, medieval philosophy, semiotics, metaphysics, etc., and even an upper-level course devoted entirely to Peirce. The project originates in a session devoted to teaching Peirce held at the 2007 annual meeting of the Society for the Advancement of American Philosophy. (...) The session, organized by James Campbell and Richard Hart, was co-sponsored by the American Association of Philosophy Teachers. (shrink)

A number of colleges and universities offer writing intensive courses that emphasize writing as a primary means of learning. This paper presents an approach to teaching undergraduate philosophy courses that makes an effective use of writing as a means to teach students philosophy. The paper begins by discussing the aims and requirements of writing intensive philosophy courses and the nature of philosophical writing. In addition, five course activities (classroom discussion, in-class writing assignments, paper assignments, in-class peer review, tutorials) (...) are discussed along with a summary of the work required by both the student and the instructor. (shrink)

This article discusses experiences in the integrated teaching of Environmental Studies and Science Studies in a generalist curriculum at a university campus in Scotland. At the University of Glasgow Crichton Campus, a mixed curriculum has been developed to combine coherently Environmental and Science Studies, perhaps the first such curriculum in the UK and equally uncommon in America. The Crichton curricum is intentionally multi-disciplinary, drawing closely on the successful nineteenth-century Scottish model exported to America. This generalist approach, emphasising broad philosophical (...) principles, informs the courses and their inter-relationships. (shrink)

Annotation Contains 17 contributions which together aim to speed the process of epistemological reform of undergraduate science teaching in order to align it with the social constructivist reform goals of the science education community. Chapters include impressionistic accounts, studies of recent transformative teaching endeavors, and radical new approaches to learner-sensitive science teaching. Of likely interest to graduate teaching students, science educators, and the educational discourse community. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com).

The apartheid ideology in South Africa had a pervasive influence on all levels of education including medical undergraduate training. The role of the health sector in human rights abuses during the apartheid era was highlighted in 1997 during the Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings. The Health Professions Council of South Africa subsequently realised the importance of medical ethics education and encouraged the introduction of such teaching in all medical schools in the country. Curricular reform at the University of (...) Stellenbosch in 1999 presented an unparalleled opportunity to formally introduce ethics teaching to undergraduate students. This paper outlines the introduction of a medical ethics programme at the Faculty of Health Sciences from 2003 to 2006, with special emphasis on the challenges encountered. It remains one of the most comprehensive undergraduate medical ethics programmes in South Africa. However, there is scope for expanding the curricular time allocated to medical ethics. Integrating the curriculum both horizontally and vertically is imperative. Implementing a core curriculum for all medical schools in South Africa would significantly enhance the goals of medical education in the country. (shrink)

Arts and Humanities in Higher Education, Volume 21, Issue 1, Page 74-93, February 2022. This study seeks to investigate aspects of the relationship between the core academic activities of teaching and research in higher education, through a theoretically enriched discussion of the design of an innovative popular music module on Adele’s 25 album and its delivery to first-year undergraduates on a general-purpose music degree during the academic years 2015–21. Drawing on autoethnographic approaches, it contemplates the challenges associated with the (...) execution of a module on genuinely contemporary topics, outlining the case for the importance of ensuring that university curricula remain up-to-the-minute as well as exploring strategies by which to realise this aspiration in the absence of a body of academic literature that might ordinarily have provided strong foundations for the content of such teaching. These lines of inquiry lead to consideration of broader questions concerning the evolving relationship between teaching and research in light of the substantial changes that have taken place within the UK higher education sector in recent years, as well as the possibilities for teaching-led research, developed exclusively for and in the academic classroom, as an alternative to the more traditional research-led teaching. (shrink)

The teaching of engineering ethics is on the increase at universities around the United States. The motivation for this increase (WHY?) has several driving forces, including: a new Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) accreditation criteria; new questions on Professional Engineering (PE) licensing examinations; new industrial marketplace needs; and a growing awareness in the engineering profession of a need for ethical sensitivity to the consequences of our actions as engineers. The subject (WHAT?) is likely to be taught quite (...) differently at each school, depending upon who is teaching it, in which department, and to which audience. The approach may range from applied ethical moral theory to case-based engineering consequences; with many different mixes within these two extremes. Common features for all approaches are the generic kinds of problems dealt with and the kinds of cases utilized. (shrink)

The authors, one a trained geneticist and the other a trained ethicist, designed and team-taught a bioethics course where nineteen third- and fourth-year undergraduate students were enrolled at Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, Michigan, during the fall 2016 semester. The syllabus, including democratically-chosen ethical debate topics, peer-led student working groups, and varied assessment methods were novel aspects of the course. The students, being either philosophy or biology majors or minors, successfully completed the course and indicated being highly satisfied with (...) the course at its completion. Although there were limitations to a course such as this one, educators at similar small liberal arts institutions could offer a bioethics course by following our suggestions, including collaborative teaching and assessment and incorporating students’ preferences into the scheduled curriculum. (shrink)

There are questions about how ethics is best taught to undergraduate business students. There has been a proliferation in the number of stand-alone ethics courses for undergraduate students but research on the effectiveness of integrated versus stand-alone mode of delivery is inconclusive. Christensen et al. :347–368, 2007), in a comprehensive review of ethics, corporate social responsibility and sustainability education, investigated how ethics education has changed over the last 20 years, including the issue of integration of these topics into (...) the core course offerings. We use Brenner and Molander’s :57–71, 1977) situational ethics survey instrument to examine the effect of the mode of delivery of business ethics education on undergraduate student responses. We found a significant difference on mode of delivery. Studies have also found interesting results in respect of the effect of cultural differences and gender on the effectiveness of business ethics instruction. While not the primary focus of this study, we also looked at the influence of gender and culture on students’ responses. Our results indicate significant differences in respect of mode of delivery and culture. In contrast to other studies, we found that gender was not significant. We did test for any interactive effects of gender, culture and mode of delivery. However, no significant differences were found. (shrink)

The advancement in technology has changed the workflow and the role of human translator in recent years. The impact from the trend of technology-mediated translation prompted the ratification of technology literacy as a major competence for modern translators. Consequently, teaching of translation technology including but not limited to Computer-aided Translation and Machine Translation became part of comprehensive curricula for translation training programs. However, in many institutions, the teaching of translation technology was haunted by issues such as: narrow scope (...) of curriculum design, outdated technologies, and unbalance between theories and practices in teaching. The study was the pilot evaluation of a tailored course to foster translation trainees’ knowledge and abilities of data science. The course was designed to be a fundamental step toward sophisticated translation technologies. During the pilot evaluation of the 8-week course, 85 students were recruited as participants. The study adopted a mix-method design by employing a survey to investigate student’s level of satisfaction toward the course and focus group discussion to understand students’ attitudes and perceptions of key aspects of the course. By interpreting the results from statistical analysis of the survey and thematic analysis of the focus group discussion, the course of data science for translators was well received among participants. The evaluation project manifested the feasibility and effectiveness of a translator-oriented data science course. (shrink)

This is a case study of my reflections on teaching a first-year undergraduate tutorial on Ancient Greek Philosophy in the UK. This study draws upon the notion of reflective practice as an essential feature of teaching, in this case applied to Higher Education. My aim is to show how a critical engagement with my teaching practices and the overall learning experience modified, developed, or strengthened my practices, attitudes, and teaching philosophy during the course of one (...) term. Methods for data collection included a weekly logbook, student questionnaires, teaching observations, reflective exercises, and peer discussions. The findings shed light on the complexities of teaching Greek philosophy to small groups and the challenges of the practitioner's reflective process in this teaching. (shrink)

Education ecology is a new crossover research field in network age. Its research content can be either microscopic classroom teaching or macro educational ecology research on teaching and culture. The university music classroom is a special kind of ecology. The reason why this is special is that compared to natural ecology, the classroom ecology of university music has a unique relationship between the environment and the subject. The classroom is ecological and becomes the logical prerequisite for ecological research (...) in the classroom. In the Internet age, as the most advanced teaching medium, it has become the need for the development of the new era. The Internet era has broadened the channels and scope of people's access to information and greatly enriched the information resources. The design of teacher's music teaching should have sustainable development. It is no longer a pursuit of only the answer. It must consider the students' multiple ways of learning and must leave room for students to practice independently. Guides help students continue to explore musical arts. This article mainly conveys the innovation of the traditional teaching “learning” and “learning” dichotomy to form an interactive and harmonious classroom ecosystem. The interaction between various factors has handled according to the principles of educational ecology, combined with the development of network technology and Cultivate students' enthusiasm for learning, self-study ability and practical ability, to improve the effectiveness of university music teaching. (shrink)

The National Medical Commission of India introduced the Competency Based Curriculum in Medical Education for undergraduate medical students in 2019 with a new module named Attitude, Ethics and Communication (AETCOM) across the country. There was a consensus for teaching medical ethics in an integrated way, suggesting dedicated hours in each phase of undergraduate training. The AETCOM module was prepared and circulated as a guide to acquire necessary competency in attitudinal, ethical and communication domains. This study was aimed (...) to explore the perceptions of students and medical teachers and identify the challenges in teaching and learning process of the newly implemented AETCOM module. It was a mixed method designed study with structured questionnaires for students and teachers at various medical schools in India. Based on the quantitative data, in-depth interviews with medical teachers were undertaken. Challenges were perceived by both students and teachers. The students had a mixed perception, facing difficulties in passive learning with scarce resource materials. Challenges identified by teachers were a lack of knowledge and skills required for teaching bioethics, the logistics of managing large numbers of students in the stipulated time frame, interdisciplinary integration—both horizontal and vertical, and assessment program in terms competency-based education. The study draws the attention of all stakeholders for a revision and efforts for further improvement in the teaching and assessment process, and setting a standard model in medical education in India. (shrink)

Teaching business ethics to undergraduates has disclosed difficulties for both students and teacher which raise deeper issues about what is the purpose of teaching ethics and of engaging in business. The author is Lecturer in Business Ethics in the Faculty of Business and Social Studies, Cheltenham & Gloucester College of Higher Education, Swindon Road, Cheltenham, Glos GL50 4AZ, UK.

The Medical School for International Health was created in 1996 by the Faculty of Health Sciences at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in affiliation with Columbia University’s Health Sciences division. It is accredited by the New York State Board of Education. Students complete the first three years of the program on the Ben-Gurion University campus in Be’er-Sheva, Israel, while fourth-year electives are completed mainly in the United States along with a two-month global health elective at one of numerous sites located (...) around the world . The unique four-year, American-style curriculum is designed not only to prepare physicians who will be able to work at both an individual and community level but also at both of these levels anywhere in the world. In this way, it combines elements of medical and public health curricula not limited to an American perspective. (shrink)

This paper describes an attempt to introduce philosophy and history of science to pre-service science teachers. I argue briefly for the view that science in the schools cannot be taught without implicitly assuming a particular philosophy of science. Therefore, both philosophy and history of science are necessary components of undergraduate science education courses.

The updated consensus report on undergraduate medical education (1) provides an extensive framework for teaching ethics and law. However, there is a need for further research into the indicators of good progress towards sound moral reasoning and action to take into account personal and professional developmental trajectories. The report indicates competencies which should be demonstrable by students: additional consideration needs to be given to those competencies which institutions should be able to demonstrate in relation to the provision made (...) for students and teachers. (shrink)

The combination of student Self-Regulation (SR) and the context of Regulatory Teaching (RT), each in varying degree, has recently been demonstrated to have effects on achievement emotions, factors and symptoms of stress, and coping strategies. The aim of the present research study is to verify its possible further effects, on academic behavioral confidence and procrastination. A total of 1193 university students completed validated online questionnaires with regard to specific subjects in their degree program. Using an ex post facto design, (...) multivariate analyses and structural equation modeling (SEM) were carried out in order to test the relationships predicted by the model. SR and RT had a significant joint effect in determining the degree of academic behavioral confidence and of procrastination. Academic behavioral confidence also significantly predicted reasons for procrastinating, and these in turn predicted activities of procrastination. Conclusions are discussed, insisting on the combined weight of the two variables in determining academic behavioral confidence, reasons for procrastinating and activities subject to procrastination, in university students. Implications for guidance and educational support of university students and teachers are analyzed. (shrink)

Undergraduate ethics teaching has made significant progress in the past decade, with evidence showing that students and trainee doctors feel more confident in identifying and analysing ethical issues. There is general consensus that ethics education should enable students and doctors to take ethically appropriate actions, and nurture moral integrity. However, the literature reports that doctors continue to find it difficult to take action when faced with perceived unethical behaviour. This has been evident in recent healthcare scandals, in which (...) care has fallen below acceptable ethical standards, despite the presence of professional ethical guidelines and competencies. The National Foundation Training Programme forms the first 2 years of training for new UK doctors. We designed a Foundation Doctor -led teaching programme in which medical students were invited to bring cases and experiences from clinical placements for small group discussion facilitated by FDs. The aim was to enable students to act ethically in practice through developing moral sensitivity and moral identity, together with skills in ethical reasoning and tools to address barriers to taking ethical action. FDs were chosen as facilitators, based on the evidence that near-peer is an effective form of teaching in medicine and may provide positive role models for students. This article reviews the background rationale for the programme and its design. Important themes emerging from the case discussions are explored. Student and FD facilitator feedbacks are evaluated, and practical challenges to the implementation of this type of programme are discussed. (shrink)

Those teachers in contact with medical students from pre-clinical days onwards will impart their ethical views by example and by precept, but such learning by 'osmosis' is insufficient. There is a knowledge base to be imparted which will enrich the understanding of ethical judgements on clinical problems seen during the undergraduate years. However, the learning process continues after qualification and in particular the doctor's capacity to make ethical clinical judgements will evolve with maturity and experience. It is essential therefore (...) that students see their teachers willing and able to debate ethical issues at the postgraduate level. (shrink)

IntroductionEngaging undergraduates in the research process is one of the most rewarding aspects of being a professor because it more deeply connects us to our work and helps shape the professional futures of students by immersing them in the culture of research (including peer-to-peer mentoring and authoring publications; Russell, Hancock, & McCullough, 2007). But there is a real trick to working with undergraduates in a way that both shapes students’ futures and produces high-quality, publishable research because mentors must invest a (...) great deal of time developing undergraduates’ technical and writing abilities, and this effort is time not spent on the research itself. In this article, we describe a powerful, flexible approach that makes the production of publishable research possible. For context, we teach and conduct research at a small liberal arts college with a population of just over 2000 undergraduates. Research at primarily undergraduate institutions (PUIs) does not benefit a system of graduate students, post-docs, and paid research staff, so we have found it necessary to developed a structured, team-based approach to faculty-student research that provides excellent mentorship and produces publishable research (see Detweiler-Bedell & Detweiler-Bedell, 2013). Importantly, this team-based model can be put into practice with a broad array of students, including underrepresented and first-generation students. What we have learned in adopting this approach reflects... (shrink)

The paper describes a two week course that has been offered as a special study module to intermediate level undergraduate medical students at Dundee University Medical School for the past five years. The course requires students to research the various aspects of ethical dilemmas that they have identified themselves, and to “teach” these issues to their colleagues in a short PowerPoint presentation as well as to prepare an extended 3000 word essay discussion. The course specifically asks students not to (...) disclose their own ethical positions, as these are probably still in formation and the objective is to promote critical thinking capacity in ethical and moral issues as a prelude to the development of practical skills in dealing with clinical problems. The course is easy to resource for the school and has received universally high evaluations from the students since its inception. (shrink)

Can video games teach students about the history and philosophy of science? This paper reports the results of a study investigating the effects of playing an educational video game on students’ knowledge of Galileo’s life and times, the nature of scientific evidence, and Aristotle’s and Galileo’s views of the cosmos. In the game, students were immersed in a computer simulation of 16th century Venice where they interacted with an avatar of Galileo and other characters. Over a period of two weeks, (...) 71 undergraduates were exposed to lectures about Galileo and the Copernican revolution in a traditional classroom setting. However, only half of the students also played the game. The other half were only exposed to lectures. The knowledge of both groups was assessed at the beginning and end of the two-week period. The results demonstrated objective improvements in knowledge for the experimental group while the control group showed virtually no change. Implications of these findings for teaching and learning the history and philosophy of science are discussed. (shrink)

The COVID-19 outbreak spurred unplanned closures and transitions to online classes. Physical environments that once fostered social interaction and community were rendered inactive. We conducted interviews and administered surveys to examine undergraduate STEM students’ feelings of belonging and engagement while in physical isolation, and identified online teaching modes associated with these feelings. Surveys from a racially diverse group of 43 undergraduate students at a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) revealed that interactive synchronous instruction was positively associated with feelings (...) of interest and belonging, particularly for students of color, while noninteractive instruction reduced social belonging, but was related to more cognitive engagement. Small group and one-on-one interviews with 23 of these students suggest that students derived feelings of connectedness from their instructors, peers, and prior experiences and relied on their sense of competency to motivate themselves in the course and feel a sense of belonging. Two embedded cases of students in physics classrooms are compared to highlight the range of student feelings of connectedness and competency during the lockdown. Findings reaffirm that social interaction tends to support belonging and engagement, particularly for under-represented (Black or African American and Hispanic) racial groups in STEM. STEM instructors who aim to support feelings of belonging and engagement in virtual learning environments should consider increasing opportunities for student–student and student–teacher interactions, as well as taking a flexible approach that validates and integrates student voice into instruction. Future research is needed to further explore the themes of relatedness and competency that emerged as aspects of course belonging. (shrink)

The history of science and technology has been a scholarly discipline with little attention given to the special needs of undergraduate teaching. What needs to be done to transform a discipline to an undergraduate subject? Suggestions include using the relation between science and technology as well as the role of interpreters in formulation of the popular world view. Relations with science and history departments are considered. Curriculum materials are surveyed with some recommendations for correcting deficiencies.

In growing recognition that the business community must play a key role in the global issues encapsulated by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, Babson College, which has a business-focused curriculum, has striven first to reinvent its teaching of ethics and then, particularly over the past decade, to enhance its focus on sustainability, social responsibility, and social entrepreneurship. As previous initiatives did not build sufficient linkages between the liberal arts, natural sciences, and business curriculum, the College is now engaged (...) in a far more comprehensive effort to educate our undergraduate business students in “integrated sustainability,” which it defines as “systems thinking that integrates ecological integrity, social responsibility, and value creation simultaneously.” By examining the meaning, skills, and pedagogical opportunities in systems thinking within the context of larger discussions on humanistic management, this article shows how systems thinking is a particularly fruitful way to ground business students in the natural sciences and the liberal arts, develop their complex problem-solving skills, and thereby reinvigorate management education in ways that prepares students to “render service to humanity.” Our hope is that sharing Babson College’s experience in this regard – both our successes and challenges - may provide useful insights to other faculty and academic leaders seeking to enhance humanistic management within their own higher education institutions. (shrink)

This article assesses undergraduate teaching students’ assertion that there are no right and wrong answers in teaching philosophy. When asked questions about their experiences of philosophy in the classroom for primary children, their unanimous declaration that teaching philosophy has ‘no right and wrong answers’ is critically examined across the three sub-disciplinary areas to which they were generally referring, namely, pedagogy, ethics, and epistemology. From a pedagogical point of view, it is argued that some teach­ing approaches may (...) indeed be more effective than others, and some pupils’ opinions less defensible, but pedagogically, in terms of managing the power relations in the classroom, it is counter-productive to continually insist on notions of truth and falsity at every point. From an ethical point of view, it is contended that anti-realist approaches to meta-ethics may represent a viable intellectual position, but from the point of view of normative ethics, notions of right and wrong still retain significant currency. From an epistemological point of view, it is argued using Karl Popper’s work that while it may be difficult to determine what constitutes a right answer, determining a wrong one is far more straightforward. In conclusion, it is clear that prospective teachers engaging in philosophy in the classroom, and also future teachers in general, require a far more nuanced philosophical understanding of the notions of right and wrong and truth and falsity. In view of this situation, if we wish to promote the effective teaching of philosophical thinking to children, or produce educators who can understand the conceptual limits of the claims they make and their very real and often serious practical and social consequences, it is recommended that philosophy be reinstated to a fundamental, foundational place within the pre-service teaching curriculum. (shrink)

The paper reports the outcomes of the collaborative use of Google Sites in teaching undergraduate courses in Economic Terminology at Volgograd State University. Based on a students’ survey, that allowed the project team to collect relevant data grouped according to four criteria: accessibility, interactive capacity, problem solving facilities, and feasibility of online tasks, as well as on a teachers’ questionnaire where page creation potential, interactive capacity, problem solving facilities, and task formulation options were assessed. The findings demonstrated that (...) Google Sites may considerably support instructors of undergraduate courses in their efforts to motivate students’ learning and empower them with interactive course materials; virtual education community needs experiential ethic norms for responsible behavior more than prescribed administrative rules of online collective action. (shrink)