Although core in the teaching of academic language skills, little research to date has investigated what makes video-recorded lectures difficult for language learners. As part of a larger program to develop automated videotext complexity measures, this study reports on selected dimensions of linguistic complexity to understand how they contribute…

In traditional advanced mathematics lectures the instructor usually provides definitions, theorems, and proofs on the board rather quickly. The students often cannot make sense of these during the lecture as they are busy writing. In order to gain an understanding of the content, an intensive post-class processing on the basis of their notes would…

Student and teacher perceptions of course content are critical components of the teaching and learning process. Studies that have investigated such perceptions offer conflicting evidence of both convergence and divergence between the perceptions of students and teacher. These studies used data modalities such as interviews and surveys, which have…

This study tested the hypothesis that exploratory learning, with and without analogous problems, would improve students' ability to make connections between conceptually-related topics. In this randomized experiment, undergraduates in introductory physics (N = 171) studied a new topic under three different instructional conditions. Order and type…

Many universities have instituted intensive English for Academic Purposes (EAP) programs to support international students. This qualitative study used interviews to gain insights into the experiences of 8 non-native English speaking (NNES) students who completed an EAP program before they enrolled in disciplinary courses at a Canadian university.…