Leveraging the campus learning management system and rapid e-learning development software such as Articulate Storyline allows educators to develop and deploy interactive tutorials for performance assessment of students' knowledge. This quick hit chronicles the development, deployment, and assessment of a suite of tutorials for information…

This paper presents the Screencast-Based Assessment Technique (SBAT) for a mobile app development curriculum in the information systems discipline. SBAT was implemented as a midterm take-home exam in which students design and develop an app project based on their own interests, passions, or ambitions. In addition to coding, students must create…

This article addresses the issue of educating engineering students with the knowledge and skills of Computer-Aided Design and Manufacturing (CAD/CAM). In particular, three carefully designed tutorials--cutting tool offsetting, tool-path generation for freeform surfaces, and the integration of advanced machine tools (e.g., hexapod-based machine…

Advances in 3D printing technology over the past decade have led to its expansion into all subfields of science, including chemistry. This technology provides useful teaching tools that facilitate communication of difficult chemical concepts to students and researchers. Presented here is the use of 3D printing technology to create tangible models…

Increasing availability of digital devices in elementary school classrooms presents exciting new opportunities for teachers to support the teaching and learning of mathematics. Although many of the math applications available for these devices focus on drill and practice of mathematical procedures, screencasting apps can help support effective…

Khan Academy, the free Web-based tutorial program, landed on the education landscape in about 2011, when it was featured on the popular weekly news show "60 Minutes." The program is now used worldwide by more than 10 million learners each month and is used in more than 29,000 classrooms in 216 countries. Are classroom teachers using the…

This Teaching Note reports on an initiative designed to increase the number of students who undertake homework in the absence of formal rewards, such as additional marks. While the initiative was successful in increasing the number of students who attempted the homework each week, preliminary findings suggest it may have been accompanied by a fall…

Nearly all physics instructors recognize the instructional value of force diagrams, and this journal has published several collections of exercises to improve student skill in this area. Yet some instructors worry that too few students perceive the conceptual and problem-solving utility of force diagrams, and over recent years a rich variety of…

As anyone who has taught or taken a statistics course knows, statistical calculations can be tedious and error-prone, with the details of a calculation sometimes distracting students from understanding the larger concepts. Traditional statistics courses typically use scientific calculators, which can relieve some of the tedium and errors but…

A leaf is a fundamental unit in botany and understanding what constitutes a leaf is fundamental to many plant science activities. My observations and subsequent testing indicated that many students could not confidently and consistently recognise a leaf from a leaflet, or recognise basic leaf arrangements and the various types of compound or…

We have developed an easy-to-use online tutorial generator designed to allow instructors to make tutorials quickly and with a minimal learning curve. The motivation was to create a generator that would allow instructors to create tutorials as needed and possibly build up a bank of tutorials over a number of years. A key design feature of the…

Active participation in university tutorials seems to be commonly argued as one of the learning difficulties of non-English-speaking background (NESB) Asian students enrolled in Western English-speaking universities. These students are often portrayed as being passive in class and this is commonly attributed to their background culture. Using…

In the past two decades, tutoring services have become an integral part of nearly every program at California's community colleges. The purposes of tutoring services are to provide individual attention to students in academic difficulty, training and assistance in developing effective study skills, assistance and support to special groups of…

Discusses the role and activities of student tutors in an undergraduate organic chemistry course. Points out that such tutors must be used as a complement to the classroom lecturer, not as a substitute. (JN)

The purpose of a peer tutoring program is to assist those students who require ongoing and formal instruction in a subject area. If effectively run, it can have an impact on retention. There are five areas that need to be addressed when initiating a peer tutor program: (1) organization and funding; (2) supervision; (3) tutor training; (4) tutor…