First-year students often feel discouraged, especially with courses that require complex thinking and involve establishing relations between different subjects such as biochemistry. It has been proposed that student-centred pedagogy can achieve motivation and improve learning. In this context, this case study reports the use of art as a strategy…

Learning styles represent an integral component of the learning environment, which has been shown to differ across institutions and disciplines. To identify learner preferences within a discipline would aid in evaluating instructional resources geared toward active learning. The learning profiles of second-year soil science students (n = 62) were…

Previous research suggests that elementary teachers vary in their enactment of science curriculum materials and may not always engage students in substantive sense making. This mixed-methods study investigates elementary teachers' use of science curriculum materials to engage students in the scientific practice of comparing and evaluating…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide assessment guidelines which help to implement research-based education in science and technology areas, which would benefit from the quality of this type of education within this subject area. Design/methodology/approach: This paper is a reflection on, and analysis of, different aspects of…

Education in the twenty-first century is underpinned by theories of inclusion and practices of open and distance learning (Aldrich, 2003; Richards, 2004). New concerns are replacing the traditional views on the impossibility of integrating pedagogy and technology (Barab et al, 2004; Roblyer et al, 2000). Supporting learning in the digital age…

Purpose: The study's purpose was to determine the degree to which connoisseurship and educational criticism exists in student work evaluation; to identify master teachers' methods utilizing verbal feedback; and to determine the degree that project-based learning (PBL) principles serve as a "model of practice" for selected PBL technology…

In 2005, Lumina Foundation for Education supported five colleges in the Northwest--Evergreen State College (TESC), Grays Harbor College (GHC), Northwest Indian College (NWIC), Salish Kootenai College (SKC), and Bainbridge Graduate Institute--to work together to develop Native teaching cases as a culturally relevant and engaging resource for Native…

In the past two years, three graduate students and a senior faculty member have co-taught a participatory action research (PAR) course to undergraduate and graduate students. In this article the co-teachers advocate a set of pedagogical principles and practices in a PAR-oriented classroom that establishes congruency with community PAR projects in…