The effects of guided notes (GN) in the English-speaking population are well documented. Limited empirical research has examined the effectiveness of GN with other non-English-speaking students. Hence, the present study investigated the effects of a GN intervention program on the academic performance of five students with learning difficulties…

Along with a growing body of evidence of the challenges experienced by specialist and more-able mathematics students during their undergraduate studies, there now exists evidence that these students are increasingly accessing mathematics support centres as a means of enhancing their mathematical learning experience. Here, we report on a survey of…

Engaging students in class is paramount if they are to gain a deep understanding of class content. Student engagement is manifested by attention to the various components of instruction. However, there is little research at the tertiary level focusing on what aspects of instruction are related to changes in student attention during class. To…

While the traditional lecture remains a key feature in the teaching of mathematically intensive disciplines at a tertiary level, what students do outside class, the resources they use, and how they use them are critical factors in their success. This study reports on a survey of students studying a range of engineering subjects, giving their views…

Lecture videos are often praised as a great medium of instruction in online education. There is a lack of research, however, that tests whether videos are superior to other teaching tools in online classes. This article examines whether videos are better than lecture notes and still slides in an online introductory political science course. The…

Google Docs was used to create the rip-mix-learn (RML) classroom in two, first-year undergraduate introductory chemistry and biology courses, a second-semester introductory chemistry course, and an upper-level developmental biology course. This "transmedia" approach assigned students to create sets of collaborative lecture notes into…

In the context of a lecture, the capacity to readily recognize and synthesize key concepts is crucial for comprehension and overall educational performance. In this paper, we introduce a tool, the Collaborative Lecture Annotation System (CLAS), which has been developed to make the extraction of important information a more collaborative and…

Lecture is a much maligned classroom method of instruction. Like any other technique employed by educators, there are both effective and ineffective ways to deliver content through a lecture format. Respecting that the college learner has changed, active lecturing strategies maximize student learning of course content, engaging both modern…

High school biology classes traditionally follow a lecture format to disseminate content and new terminology. With the inclusive practices of No Child Left Behind, the Common Core State Standards, and end-of-course exam requirement for high school diplomas, classes include a large range of achievement levels and abilities. Teachers assume, often…

Two sections of an introductory microbiology course were taught by one instructor. One was taught through a hybrid format and the other through a traditional format. Students were randomly assigned to the two sections. Both sections were provided with identical lecture materials, in-class worksheets, in-class assessments, and extra credit…

The goal of this study was to determine if laptop use in lecture negatively impacts learning outcomes of surrounding students taking notes on paper. Two sections of a large introductory biology course (greater than 400 students/section) were zoned into a laptop-permitted and a laptop-free area. Two sections in which laptop users could sit anywhere…

The use of video lectures in distance learning involves the two major problems of searchability and active user participation. In this paper, we promote the implementation and usage of a collaborative educational video annotation functionality to overcome these two challenges. Different use cases and requirements, as well as details of the…

In a study of notetaking in university courses, we found that the large majority of students prefer paper to computer-based media like Tablet PCs for taking notes and making annotations. Based on this finding, we developed CoScribe, a concept and system which supports students in making collaborative handwritten annotations on printed lecture…

This paper reports on the piloting of podcasts created to support Anglophone French Immersion (FI) students in academic listening. The authors developed a series of seven English language podcasts grounded in metacognitive and L2 listening theory to provide FI students with strategies to enhance L2 listening ability and note-taking skills for…

In search of strategies for increasing their pre-service teachers' thoughtful engagement with content and in an effort to model connection between choice of technology and pedagogical goals, the authors utilized collaborative software during class time. Collaborative software allows all students to write simultaneously on a single collective…