The CEFR encourages teachers to resort to task-based activities in the language classroom. However, some resistance has been offered to this approach, due to lack of appropriate training and difficulty in meeting some basic practical conditions, as well as in finding resources and examples of good practices, as shown in a survey conducted within…

This paper presents how virtual containers enhance the implementation of STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and math) subjects as Open Educational Resources (OER). The publication initially summarizes the limitations of delivering open rich learning contents and corresponding assignments to students in college level STEAM areas. The…

We explain how collaboratively assessing a writing-intensive general education capstone seminar constituted a high-impact practice for faculty development. Students at the University of Denver complete an Advanced Seminar taught by faculty across the curriculum. Topics and themes vary widely, as do types of assigned writing, making assessment an…

The transformation of higher education has been a pressing concern for policy makers and practitioners. This article provides examples of the transformative potential of assessments designed within the framework of a multi-literacies and heteroglossic pedagogy in an Applied English Language course at a South African university. These assessments,…

Understanding the effects of a service-learning component on the classroom culture, socially and academically, brings a novel perspective to designing, executing, and assessing these types of active-learning projects. This paper evaluates the success of a service-learning project from a perspective of social networks by investigating the question:…

This essay examines the collateral benefits to faculty from a guided learning literature review project for students. We describe a 3-year continuum of project creation and refinement designed to foster critical thinking and writing for second year dental students at the University of the Pacific Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry. We discuss…

This article presents an investigation into the usage of shareable feedback tags as a way of delivering feedback to three different cohorts of programming students. A series of research questions are examined; these include investigating any perceived benefit from students using feedback tags and exploring how students interact with their…

Feedback is central to pedagogic theory, and if feedback is to be effective, students need to engage with it and apply it at some point in the future. However, student dissatisfaction with feedback--as evidenced in the National Student Survey--suggests that there are problems which limit student engagement with feedback, such as their perception…

Teaching computing students about the importance of evidence and about the use of empirical methods for evaluating computing technologies can be difficult, especially within dual honors undergraduate degree programs. The aims of this study were to explore the effectiveness of second-year undergraduate computing students in carrying out a…

This paper examines prospective history teachers' thinking about ethnic and cultural diversity and their experiences of learning to teach about history in multicultural classrooms. The paper reviews the findings of a follow-up study of 22 Finnish student teachers during their nine-month teacher education programme. The data consist of…

This study aims to create a blended learning environment, based on the concept of competency-based training, in a Chinese as a Foreign Language (CFL) classroom at an American university. Drupal platform and web 2.0 tools were used as supplements to traditional face-to-face classroom instruction. Students completed various selective tasks and…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the implications of usability and learnability in learning management systems (LMS) by considering the experiences of information and communications technology (ICT) experts and non-experts in using the LMS of an open-distance university. Design/methodology/approach: The paper uses task-based…

Learning to perform academic writing in university content classrooms is a major challenge facing nonnative-English-speaker (NNS) students. Computer-mediated communication (CMC) offers new possibilities for bidirectional peer-to-peer scaffolding in which students interact and negotiate meaning concerning academic writing and thus represents a new…

It is widely suggested that feedback on assignments is useful to students' learning, however, little research has examined how this feedback may be provided in large classes or the actual effects of such a scheme. We designed and implemented a voluntary "earlybird scheme" that provided detailed feedback to undergraduate Business students on a…

This article explores the effectiveness of writing to help nurse-learners develop critical thinking in an asynchronous, online learning environment. The formal written assignments of students in an online nursing health assessment program were analyzed for evidence of critical thinking according to Johns' Model of Structured Reflection (Johns,…