Practical classes are an important and essential part of undergraduate programs in Chemical Engineering, as each experiment provides an opportunity to reinforce the theory of discrete unit operations that are taught elsewhere in the course. While an expensive pedagogical method, when practical sessions are delivered well, they can be one of the…

Learner-centered pedagogical methods that are based on clinical application of basic science concepts through active learning and problem solving are shown to be effective for improving knowledge retention. As the clinical relevance of biochemistry is not always apparent to health-profession students, effective teaching of medical biochemistry…

We present here an extension of Morrison's and Ruder's "Sequence-Response Questions" (SRQs) that allows for more nuance in the assessment of student responses to these questions. We have implemented grading software (which we call ANGST, "Automated Nuanced Grading & Statistics Tool") in a Microsoft Excel sheet that can take…

Plant identification is a critical skill for students in biological sciences, especially forestry. Many students begin with limited plant identification abilities and struggle to learn this skill. To support student learning of identification and ecological characteristics of important forest plants in an undergraduate forest ecology course at the…

Instruction plays a critical role in student success. However, most studies of teachers' effects on student learning focus on face-to-face settings. Some aspects of online courses, such as the choice of synchronous or asynchronous instruction and the course structure, might reduce teachers' influence on their students. For example, online courses…

In this paper we elaborate and extend the work of the EDUsummIT 2015 Thematic Working Group 7 (TWG7) by proposing a set of indicators on quality Technology-Enhanced Learning and Teaching (TEL&T). These indicators are intended as one component of a set of global indicators that could be used to monitor implementation of the Education 2030…

The "Framework" and NGSS bring to the forefront the role of language in doing science and in learning from doing science. Yet, most existing science assessments for elementary learners do not integrate or attend to aspects of scientific language and literacy that are essential components of science proficiency. Accordingly, there is a…

The Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) is one of the world's leading educational research centres. ACER's mission is to create and promote research-based knowledge, products and services that can be used to improve learning across the life span. This annual report describes ACER's milestones and accomplishments for the 2015-2016…

The Spring 2020 semester will be marked in our history as one of the most challenging semesters for higher education, although through the adversity, we were presented with opportunities for classroom innovation. A reflective account of the teaching insights gained from implementing a COVID-19 miniunit and utilizing remote oral examinations is…

As demand for Anatomy and Physiology education increases faster than construction projects and budgets, instructors are finding themselves in front of ever-growing classroom sizes. Teaching large classes presents a number of challenges, including planning the courses, navigating technical equipment, handling exams and student accommodations, or…

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) measures student science achievement nationally, state by state, and, most recently, across selected urban school districts. Periodically, the framework underlying the science assessment is revised or updated. This document, "Science Framework for the 2019 National Assessment of…

The Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) is one of the world's leading educational research centres. ACER's mission is to create and promote research-based knowledge, products and services that can be used to improve learning across the life span. This annual report describes ACER's milestones and accomplishments for the 2014-2015…

A ready-to-use package of active-learning materials for a semester-long chemical engineering thermodynamics course was prepared for instructors, and similar materials are being prepared for a material and energy balance course. The course package includes ConcepTests, explanations of the ConcepTests for instructors, links to screencasts, chapter…

This project introduces the idea of "flipped lecturing" to a group of second-year undergraduate students. The aim of flipped lecturing is to provide much of the "content delivery" of the lecture in advance, so that the lecture hour can be devoted to more in-depth discussion, problem solving, and so on. As well as development of…

In this article Jonny Sluman describes how he adapted an interactive DVD quiz game at a Christmas family get-together into an exciting, creative science activity to teach his students. The rounds included: a "quick fire" question round, a "what happened next" round, a music round, and a "spot the difference" round.…