This article shares pedagogical insights from a qualitative study examining the use of immersive social virtual worlds (SVWs) in language teaching and learning. Recognizing the language learning affordances of immersive virtual environments, this research examines the beliefs and practices of 'Karelia Kondor,' an avatar-learner and teacher of…

Living in a global world involves not only mastering languages, but also dealing with different habits and values. It becomes critical with students trained to deal with a multicultural public, such as the group of learners from tourism covered by our research. Our proposal aims to analyze whether the virtual world of Second Life (SL) facilitates…

The Bifocal Modelling Framework (BMF) is an approach for science learning which links students' physical experimentation with computer modelling in real time, focusing on the comparison of the two media. In this paper, we explore how a Bifocal Modelling implementation supported learning outcomes related to both content and metamodeling knowledge,…

Abstract electronics concepts are difficult to develop because the phenomena of interest cannot be readily observed. Visualisation skills support learning about electronics and can be applied at different levels of representation and understanding (observable, symbolic and abstract). Providing learners with opportunities to make transitions…

Individualized consultation is defined as one person (consultant) working with another person (consultee) to benefit a third (client). Learning how to be a consultant is a process with developmental stages ranging from novice to expert. The current study focuses on an integrated skills-based training experience for those in the novice stage. This…

Equipping students with graduate attributes that ensure they are ready to work in complex health environments is highly important. Recently there has been increased use of simulation in health education to assist in the acquisition of graduate attributes, and to provide meaningful and authentic learning opportunities. The Deakin University…

Learning and teaching algebra concepts are frequent problems for both students and teachers alike. Students struggle to learn algebra, and teachers struggle to identify the best way to teach algebra. It is recurrent that teachers use instructional methods that promote memorization, and, consequently, the learning process may prove unsatisfactory.…

Traditional teacher education programs focus on pedagogy and, to a lesser extent, assessments of knowledge (Siedlecki, 2012). Pedagogy and assessments should be fundamental components of any secondary teacher's curriculum planning (Knight, Shum, & Littleton, 2014). This study sought to consider the possible effects of three pedagogical…

Nurses need a solid understanding of anatomy knowledge to perform nursing skills, to understand how diseases affect the body, to understand treatment for the patient and help them for documentation. While past research has focused on using virtual learning environments to teach anatomical structures of the human body, there has been limited…

The purpose of this collaborative project is to incorporate Open Educational Resources (OER) and Virtual Reality (VR) into college courses to promote student engagement and flexible learning opportunities. This project will assist teachers in the K-12 and higher education environment to better identify lesson strategies for the implementation of…

This research explores the relevance of cooperation and students' environmental disciplinary concentration on decision-making with respect to environmental issues--specifically the use of water, a limited common-pool resource. For this purpose, 61 environmental sciences students and 46 educational sciences students played the role of farmers and…

Changes in medical school curricula often require educators to develop teaching strategies that decrease contact hours while maintaining effective pedagogical methods. When faced with this challenge, faculty at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine converted the majority of in-person histology laboratory sessions to self-study modules…

Based on virtual conversations drawn from two separate intensive ethnographic studies in Bangladesh and Mongolia, we show that popular cultural texts play a significant role in young adults' heteroglossic language practices. On the one hand, they borrow voices from cultural texts and cross the boundaries of language, i.e., codes, modes, and…

STEM instruction often uses visual representations. To benefit from these, students need to understand how representations show domain-relevant concepts. Yet, this is difficult for students. Prior research shows that physical representations (objects that students manipulate by hand) and virtual representations (objects on a computer screen that…

The use of distance learning methods by universities has experienced significant growth over the past two decades. While this growth has been witnessed nearly equally across the various academic disciplines, it represents unique opportunities in business education. In this article we will profile how technological innovations in distance learning…