Quantitative reasoning, although included in most science courses, can be challenging to teach. In this article, we explore whether cooperative learning may help instructors teach quantitative reasoning and enhance students' understanding and learning experience. Our lesson was taught in a large introductory geoscience course. The lesson required…

This paper describes the design and outcomes of an educational intervention undertaken to improve the quality of delivery of a fourth-year engineering elective course--Industrial Wastewater and Solid Waste Management at the University of Queensland. The objective was to increase the level of active participation of students in planned…

The emergence of massive open online courses not only changes the ecology of higher education, but also facilitates a blending learning paradigm, also known as small private online courses (SPOCs). In order to understand how college students interact with an SPOC platform, this study collects their online behaviors for a semester and adopts a lag…

We compare student learning and perception data from astronomy, physics, and geology courses taught in a traditional classroom with individual desks to the same classes taught in a large auditorium. In a large student sample (1,593 students), there is no clear difference between rooms in measures of failure rates or average final grades. However,…

Having a growth mindset has been shown to predict better academic performance in a variety of educational settings. Efforts to instill a growth mindset through educational interventions have demonstrated positive effects on academic success. However, many of the interventions previously tested are relatively time intensive and costly for some…

A flexible approach to assessment may promote students' engagement and academic achievement by allowing them to personalise their learning experience, even in the context of large undergraduate classes. However, studies reporting flexible assessment strategies and their impact are limited. In this paper, I present a feasible and effective approach…

Given the pressures on colleges and universities to use large classes as a means to leverage resources while maintaining or even improving student and graduation rates, the present study seeks to identify several key factors that influence student perceptions of course effectiveness in large classes. Students from large sections of a Principles of…

With increasing class sizes of diverse students, instructional options for those who teach large classes in higher education are limited. While whole-class instruction is an integral part of many classrooms and often the instructional practice of choice, this teacher-centered strategy is less effective in promoting a greater level of growth and…

The capacity to foster interpersonal interactions in massive open online courses (MOOCs) has frequently been contested, particularly when learner interactions are limited to MOOC forums. The establishment of social presence--a perceived sense of somebody being present and "real"--is among the strategies to tackle the challenges of online…

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are widespread and still growing due to their modernity and proliferation. However, one of the concerns of MOOCs is the high dropout rate of enrollees. Focusing on this issue, especially in Saudi Arabia where there is a lack of literature and special characteristics such as adopting single-sex education system,…

This study reports the results of a meta-analysis synthesizing the available literature on the effectiveness of various forms of small-group learning methods on the academic achievement of college students in undergraduate engineering and technology classrooms. The meta-analytic results showed that cooperative learning, collaborative learning,…

The authors developed a classroom observation protocol for quantitatively measuring student engagement in large university classes. The Behavioral Engagement Related to instruction (BERI) protocol can be used to provide timely feedback to instructors as to how they can improve student engagement in their classrooms.

In recent years there has been considerable interest in how many learners complete MOOCs, and what factors during usage can predict completion. Others, however, have argued that many learners never intend to complete MOOCs, and take MOOCs for other reasons. There has been qualitative research into why learners take MOOCs, but the link between…

The objective of this research is to design an integrated system of evaluation of the quality of the Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) taking into account the features of this type of courses. The criteria included in the evaluation of the quality of e-learning training in a broad sense are considered, and specifically those developed for the…

Clickers are often used as an active learning tool in face-to-face classes to enhance student engagement and assess student learning. In this article we share the variety of ways that we use clicker questions to promote deliberate practice in large science courses. Deliberate practice is the use of specifically structured exercises that develop…