Syllabi are usually required by institutions of higher education and often are the first exposure that students have to a particular course. Instructors can use syllabi as a mechanism to convey important information to students. Moreover, a syllabus can be considered a tool to create inclusive biology courses by transmitting information to all…

There has been ample research establishing the effectiveness of the task-based language teaching approach on improving learners' language skills. Some studies have also taken account of teachers' experience and their views of working in task-based classrooms, as experimentation with an approach is different from implementing it in real classroom…

Since pre-internship medical students appeared inefficient in acquiring fundamental knowledge in large classes, a hybrid instructional method of problem-and-lecture-based learning (PLBL) was designed to leverage the complementary strengths of PBL in reasoning under minimal guidance and LBL in immediate knowledge retention. We improved PBL (IPBL)…

In recent years there has been a significant growth in the number of online courses known as MOOCs available via online providers such as edX and Coursera. The result has been a marked reduction in the clarity around the different course offerings and this has created a need to reconsider the classification schemes for MOOCs to help inform…

How to provide effective attitudinal learning in large-enrollment classrooms is a continuing question in higher education. This qualitative single case study investigated instructional design strategies and activities that could effectively be applied to attitude change in large-enrollment learning contexts. By evaluating an undergraduate…

This article details a role-playing "citizenship simulation" used in a large graduate seminar offered by the Masters of International Relations (IR) faculty at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. While recognizing the need for a more systematic analysis of the relationship between class size and active learning strategies, this…

Written communication is essential to student success. Mindfulness exercises may improve thoughts and feelings that support written communication. These exercises are typically delivered to students in small groups such as tutorials. However, first year courses that develop written communication skills are often delivered in large classroom…

This study reflects on the development and implementation of mid-term oral examinations in large-scale lecture courses at a large, public research university; specifically, this work examines the implications of oral exams for fostering student engagement and concept-based comprehension in addition to institutional and course commitments to…

Many students associate grades with the completion of course work rather than learning the course content. While research has heavily focused on teaching strategies and instructional tools to improve students' learning in general chemistry, less focus has been given to assessments as a learning tool to improve students learning. Standards-based…

Due to the large number of students, instructors teaching high enrollment courses often rely on traditional assignments such as scantron exams and research papers. While these types of assignments are functional and satisfy a purpose, they are typically not meaningful or pleasurable for students. In an introductory information technology course,…

Tertiary education institutions grapple with how to better engage students in their learning in high-enrolment, introductory courses. This paper presents a case study that examines a large-scale, faculty-level course redesign project in which this challenge was addressed through the use of blended learning models. The main research question was:…

A collaboration between geoscience professors and pedagogic and technical support experts at Universidad de los Andes led to a teaching innovation, as part of a project entitled GEOC-SENSE. GEOC-SENSE was based on the use of active pedagogy techniques aided by information and communication technologies (ICT) to improve motivation and acquisition…

With the accelerating development of open education, low-cost online learning resources, such as Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), are reaching a wide audience around the world. However, when faced with these appealing but overwhelming learning resources, learners are prone making rash learning decisions, which may be either excessive or…

This paper will share Discover Palestine, an interdisciplinary Massive Online Open Course (MOOC) and the first MOOC to be created in Palestine, by the E-Learning Centre, Faculty from the Department of Geography, and Department of Tourism and Archaeology from An-Najah National University in Palestine. The paper traces the process of development of…

Successful science and engineering programs require proficiency and dynamics in mathematics classes to enhance the learning of complex subject matter with a sufficient amount of practical problem solving. Improving student performance and retention in mathematics classes requires inventive approaches. At the University of Central Florida (UCF) the…