We describe a novel, university-level, introductory biology course that uses evolution as a narrative framework. Our course conveys the content in an introductory biology course by telling the story of the evolution of life on Earth. We begin with early Earth environments in which biological molecules and processes evolved and led to the first…

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought the rapid transition to online quantitative education, leading to unique challenges and opportunities in assessments for both students and instructors. Focusing on undergraduate students and teaching staff at a Canadian university, this study investigates and compares their experiences and perspectives regarding…

The current study measures the extent to which students' self-regulated learning tactics and learning outcomes change as the result of a deliberate, data-driven improvement in the learning design of mastery-based online learning modules. In the original design, students were required to attempt the assessment once before being allowed to access…

I conducted a set of four studies to catalogue and examine course elements, including active learning strategies and evidence-based teaching practices, and their influence on student experiences and performance in college biology classes. In the first study, I defined the term "active learning" and catalogued the 300[plus] strategies…

A fixed learning path for all learners is a major drawback of virtual learning systems. An online learning path recommendation system has the advantage of offering flexibility to select appropriate learning content. Learning Analytics Intervention (LAI) provides several educational benefits, particularly for low-performing students. Researchers…

Due to several factors including advances in technology and the global pandemic, online and virtual professional development (OPD) opportunities have rapidly increased in demand and number. Uncertainty has surfaced as to whether the quality of the content of OPD is as high as the quality of content of in-person professional development in-person.…

The present study investigated the extent to which monitoring practice and timely monitoring feedback, contextualized in an online undergraduate biology course, improved students' metacognitive monitoring and learning outcomes. The intervention followed a true experimental design and randomly assigned 162 students into three conditions: a control…

Logistic regression (LoR) is a foundational supervised machine learning algorithm and yet, unlike linear regression, appears rarely taught early on, where analogy and proximity to linear regression would be an advantage. A random sample of 50 syllabi from undergraduate business statistics courses shows only two percent of the courses included LoR.…

Objective: Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) reduces anxiety among undergraduate students; however, there is limited evidence demonstrating mechanistic underpinnings. Theoretical models implicate cognitive self-regulation as a mechanism. This study explored whether an adapted MBSR embedded in a college course reduced anxiety and if…

Teaching English as an International Language (TEIL) refers to teaching English as a truly international medium via exposing learners to diversity, adopting a broad cultural view, fostering sensitivity and responsibility, being sensitive to the local culture of learning, and equipping learners with communication strategies. To put this lately…

This book investigates the content of the grammar syllabus typically employed in mainstream English Language Teaching. Using a mixed-methods approach, the author examines how the syllabuses used in coursebooks are actually constructed, how they evolved and how valid their contents are as a basis for teaching. The research reported consists of a…

It has been said that one of the greatest failures in the education system has been a longstanding problem of public and private school educators failing to recognize victims of child abuse and neglect in their classrooms (Jennings, 1989). The maltreatment of children is a prevalent problem as we know that the number of child maltreatment cases…

A substantial amount of media comparison research has been conducted in the last decade to investigate whether students learn Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) content better in immersive virtual reality (IVR) or more traditional learning environments. However, a thorough review of the design and implementation of…

This article explores the potential impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools on Instructional Design (ID) workflows and organizations from a systems thinking perspective (Meadows, 2008). We provide an in-depth analysis of how three AI tools, ChatGPT, Midjourney, and Descript, can enhance efficiency in instructional design content creation…

This article used a questionnaire survey for the college students on learning and teaching in epidemic situation. The result of the study shows that there were existing superficial understanding on Online learning, insufficient theoretical guidance for online teaching innovation and teaching support services still lag behind expectations. Based on…