How do learners make sense of what they are learning? In this article, I present a new framework of sense-making based on research investigating the benefits and boundaries of generative learning activities (GLAs). The generative sense-making framework distinguishes among three primary sense-making modes--explaining, visualizing, and…

the learning environment has become a focus of research and evolved the sectors of academics inquiry within elementary, secondary and postsecondary research (Barry J. Zimmerman, 2013). The relationship between the environment and learning reflects the combination of system of education, environmental psychology, campus ecology cycle, and…

Learner agency is necessary for students to consolidate new learning. In environments where teachers and students prioritize learner agency, students actively engage in and take ownership of their learning. Students with agency seek relevant learning experiences, connecting new ideas, academic knowledge, and personal experiences. Integrating the…

Formative assessment is considered to be helpful in students' learning support and teaching design. Following Aufschnaiter's and Alonzo's framework, formative assessment practices of teachers can be subdivided into three practices: eliciting evidence, interpreting evidence and responding. Since students' conceptions are judged to be important for…

Students often have misconceptions about learning gleaned from their experiences, the media, or even their parents and teachers. Unfortunately, students' misconceptions about learning are reinforced by traditional classroom instruction. Sometimes when students encounter more robust learning experiences in research-based classrooms, their…

Innovative learning environments (ILE) with open flexible classroom spaces are designed to support collaboration and emphasise responsibility for self-regulated student learning as a partnership between students and teachers. Recent studies of ILE focus more on teachers than students' experiences, and there is a gap in the theorising of student…

The authors of this article make a case for using Fink's (2013) taxonomy of significant learning in the economics classroom to improve standard-based economics education and to continue transforming the discipline to reduce social inequality along multiple dimensions, including gender, race, and class. Fink's framework is defined by student…

Spaced practice is a recognized effective study approach that fosters mastery of learning and retention of information. In this paper, we share one instructor's experience in introducing a spaced practice intervention in a large general chemistry course and in encouraging students to continue the strategy in the next semester organic chemistry…

In this paper, we propose a teaching approach centered on community and care, aimed at fostering a democratic classroom environment. We highlight the communal co-creation of the Rights of the Learner (RoTL) as the foundation for establishing a shared responsibility atmosphere. Our interpretation of the RoTL challenges traditional power dynamics,…

While looking to revamp his department's Year 7 enquiry on the Tudors, Jack Mills turned to historiographical debates regarding the 'mid-Tudor crisis' to inform his curricular decision making. In doing so, Mills noted that the debate hinged on interpretations of substantive concepts such as 'crisis'. He therefore also drew on previous…

Aldol chemistry is highlighted in many introductory organic chemistry laboratory experiments because it provides synthesis, mechanism, and experimental challenges for students. In the experiment described here, students synthesize dibenzalacetone derivatives by crossed aldol condensation, observe reaction rates using a semiquantitative rubric, and…

This manuscript describes how one entry-level occupational therapy doctoral (OTD) program used an innovative approach to scaffolding assignments through a cognitive apprenticeship (CA) framework. Cognitive apprenticeship strategies include learning in the context or culture of the profession. This is achieved through observation, coaching,…

Many K-16 educators agree that active learning is a key component for student success in life sciences. At the same time, some instructors are frustrated by inconsistent student participation in these activities and may revert to traditional teaching strategies. Horse caregivers face a similar frustration when they lead a horse to water and it…

This paper discusses a doctoral level epistemology course in social work, the course design and the arts-based methods used to help students conceptualize and transform their ideas around epistemology, research, and practice. The paper also includes students' first hand accounts of their art-making experiences in the class, their learning process…

This paper focuses on the epistemic inequality of international students as a "new" inequality that is under-represented in the current debates about decolonisation (albeit shaped by colonial discourses depicting international students as in deficit and incapable of meeting the standards of (colonial) universities). In this theoretical…