Research shows that that children learn science and engineering subjects best by engaging from an early age in the kinds of practices used by real scientists and engineers. By doing science and engineering, children not only develop and refine their understanding of the core ideas and crosscutting concepts of these disciplines, but can also be…

A library instruction program has been instituted in civil engineering at the Queensland University of Technology (Australia) in an effort to improve the research skills of fourth year students working on research projects. Students with extended library instruction were found to have better information-seeking behavior than others. (Author/MSE)

An instructional approach used in a civil engineering curriculum at Queens University of Belfast (Northern Ireland) incorporates development of communication skills into active learning assignments. A "learning from disasters" exercise and two mock public inquiries illustrate the use and benefits of the technique. (Author/MSE)

In 1985-86, a study was conducted to assess the instruction-related development needs of the faculty of South Carolina's two-year technical colleges. The study involved a survey of a sample of master teachers (N=120) in nine major discipline clusters at each of the system's 16 colleges to determine their perceptions of the instruction-related…

The purpose of the research was to manipulate two aspects of genetics instruction in order to measure their effects on college, introductory biology students' achievement in genetics. One instructional sequence that was used dealt first with monohybrid autosomal inheritance patterns, then sex-linkage. The alternate sequence was the reverse.…

Employees with mental retardation can lose their jobs because their productivity is low due to an inability to perform their jobs quickly and with a minimum of extraneous movements. This guide presents procedures, borrowed from the business world, that can be used to assist people with mental retardation to improve their work quality and…

This paper focuses on the Purdue University (Indiana) Continuing Engineering Education (CEE) experience in producing distance education over the past 20 years. Discussion includes the role of several educational theories in the formalization of distributed learning; the importance of effective communication in delivery of distance education;…

If dynamics of gender and race in the science classroom are understood and used effectively, group work may enhance learning for all students, especially women and students of color; if ignored or misunderstood, group work may detract from or inhibit learning. Group size/selection, roles/leadership, assignments/grading, student resistance, and…

This book was written to support the excellence in teaching required to bring about learning of the highest quality. Chapters seek to offer the best practical advice in teaching, learning, and assessment, as well as references to research findings. An introductory section sets out the purpose of the book and examines the changing role and place of…