In a traditional lecturing environment, students possess limited agency in accepting or rejecting information provided by teachers. A higher level of student agency involves opportunities and actively identifying uncertainties and collaborating with peers to deepen understanding within the classroom community. Teachers play a crucial role in…

This study used systematic observation to test the direct and moderating effects of class size on children's momentary behavioural engagement in learning. Data were collected with 632 children (50.6% girls) in 121 classrooms in 92 schools recruited into the Children's School Lives national cohort study of Irish primary schooling. The Observational…

Undergraduate general chemistry courses are often perceived in a negative light by students. Student attitudes towards chemistry play a significant role in their success in chemistry and retention in STEM altogether. Research has shown in K-12 classrooms that care-based instruction strategies can help to improve student attitudes towards…

Many large introductory classes are taught in stadium-style classrooms, which makes group work more difficult due to the room layout and immobile seating. These classrooms may create challenges for an instructor who wants to monitor student engagement because the layouts make it difficult to interact with the students as they work. Student…

This study explores the relationship between the self-confidence and content knowledge of undergraduate students in a large enrollment geoscience course following an active-learning think-pair-share (TPS) activity, and whether high confidence necessarily leads to overconfidence. We used a pre-experimental, one group pre-test -- post-test design,…

This article examines the risk of crossover contamination in individual-level randomization, a common concern in experimental research, in the context of a large-enrollment college course. While individual-level randomization is more efficient for assessing program effectiveness, it also increases the potential for control group students to cross…

The educational benefit of the traditional didactic lecture to learners in Higher Education is hotly debated. Given increasing student numbers, existing technical set ups and many logistical concerns, lectures remain the norm in many Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). In this personal view piece, we discuss the benefits, opportunities, and…

When instructing very large groups of students in science, it can be difficult to engage all students in the content and measure their understanding. A major unaddressed challenge in science instruction is how specifically to design and implement strategies that engender active learning particularly in high-enrollment undergraduate courses. Active…

While the number of students with disabilities in postsecondary programs has increased over the past few decades, they earn lower grades and are less likely to graduate. Academic outcomes are also worse for those with invisible disabilities such as ADHD and learning disabilities, especially as younger college students. Large, intro level courses…

Active learning has often been reported to improve student outcomes in STEM courses. However, there are barriers to its implementation, and it is challenging to include this approach in large classrooms with fixed seating. This investigation explores the development of a novel approach in which the class contact time was reallocated for a general…

Introductory science courses can be a struggle for instructors and students not only because of the challenging nature of the material, but also due to differences in the background knowledge of students. Provision of pre-lecture resources reviewing or introducing key concepts is recommended to support diverse students. In this paper, we describe…

Barriers to well-being detract from teachers' effectiveness, however there is limited understanding of exactly how this occurs. We explored whether fourth grade teachers' (N=65) burnout symptoms related to their lesson length in mathematics, science, and English Language Arts, and to time in each of three classroom groupings. Multiple regression…

The rise of technology and online approaches has challenged the traditional learning and teaching model for first year chemistry of formal face-to-face lectures and in-person laboratory sessions. The COVID-19 pandemic since 2020 has created a rapidly changing environment in assessment and learning experiences for students and led to rapid adoption…

In a technology-enhanced learning environment and underpinned by a unique hybrid pedagogic model that borrows from gamification, constructivism, and experiential learning approaches, badges were purposefully used to foster engagement. This approach promoted the development of a mindset that identifies and appreciates the worth of a portfolio of…