This book explores a variety of facets of online learning environments to understand how learning occurs and succeeds in digital contexts and what teaching strategies and technologies are most suited to this format. Business, health, government and education are some of the core sectors of society which have been experiencing deep transformations…

Introduction: Here we report the results obtained in an innovative teaching experience that encourages the development of Critical Thinking skills through motivational intervention. Understanding Critical Thinking as a theory of action, "we think to solve problems", and accompanying this concept with a program aimed at teaching/learning…

"Pin-the-Tail-on-the-Constitution" is an engaged-learning activity that has been conducted in 26 classes over the past four years. The activity teaches multiple themes commonly included in a variety of courses on American politics such as federalism, congressional powers, the role of the federal courts, and the relevance of the commerce…

This paper addresses the relationship between teaching and research in a fieldwork context by seeking student views over 3 years across two institutions to assess the perceived value of blending staff research activity with student fieldwork. Student views were solicited using questionnaires. Despite the contrasting environments, locations and…

We used Problem-Based Learning (PBL) as a new pedagogy in an intermediate composition course. Our course design was based in constructivist pedagogical practices, which suggest that knowledge is co-created through social interactions. Although professors have much to offer students, students can also learn important lessons through interactions…

If college science instructors are to use inquiry practices more in the classroom, they need both professional support to foster comfort with the pedagogy and practical ways to engage students in inquiry. Over a semester, we studied 13 community college biology instructors as they adopted bioinformatics problem-based learning (PBL) modules in…

The authors address three questions: (1) What are the foundational practices of team-based learning (TBL)? (2) What are the fundamental principles underlying TBL's foundational practices? and (3) In what ways are TBL's foundational practices similar to and/or different from the practices employed by problem-based learning (PBL) and…

Problem based learning (PBL) is often introduced in curricula in form of short segments. In the literature the value of these PBL-islands is doubted. In order to gain more insight in this curricular approach, we compared student generated learning issues, from a 7-week PBL-island introduced in a traditional curriculum (PBL-I), with the gold…

In this paper, a course on applied superconductivity is described. The course structure is outlined and the learning objectives and the learning activities are described. The teaching was multidisciplinary given by four departments each contributing with their expertise. Being applied superconductivity, the focus was on an application, which could…

Students acquire skills in problem solving and critical thinking through the process as well as team work on problem-based learning courses. Many courses have started to involve the online learning environment and integrate these courses with electronic resources. Teachers use electronic resources in their classes. To overcome the problem of the…

This article explores a project at the Koori Centre, University of Sydney, funded by the Australian Learning and Teaching Council (ALTC) in 2011, titled "Indigenous On-Line Cultural Teaching and Sharing". One of the team members (Kutay) was also a project team member on the ALTC-funded project "Exploring PBL in Indigenous Australian…

Background: Changes in lab style can lead to differences in learning. Two inquiry-oriented lab styles are guided inquiry (GI) and problem-based (PB). Students' attitudes towards lab are important to consider when choosing between GI and PB styles during curriculum design. Purpose: We examined the degree to which lab experiences are explained by a…

In recent years, researchers have conducted various studies on applying wireless networking technology and mobile devices in education settings. However, research on behavioral patterns in learners' online asynchronous discussions with mobile devices is limited. The purposes of this study are to develop a mobile learning system, mobile interactive…

The "Global Village Playground" ("GVP") was a capstone learning experience designed to address institutional assessment needs while providing an integrated and authentic learning experience for students aimed at fostering critical and creative thinking. In the "GVP", students work on simulated and real-world problems as a design team tasked with…

We are delighted to welcome you to the International Psychological Applications Conference and Trends (InPACT) 2015, taking place in Ljubljana, Slovenia, from 2 to 4 of May. Psychology, nowadays, offers a large range of scientific fields where it can be applied. The goal of understanding individuals and groups (mental functions and behavioral…