Undergraduate students are increasingly working with academic staff to evaluate and design teaching materials in Higher Education, thereby moving from being passive consumers of knowledge to genuine partners in their education. Here we describe a student partnership project run at the University of Cambridge, which aimed to improve undergraduate…

This study attempted to determine the influence of prior knowledge in mathematics of students on learner-interface interactions in a learning-by-teaching intelligent tutoring system. One hundred thirty-nine high school students answered a pretest (i.e., the prior knowledge in mathematics) and a posttest. In between the pretest and posttest, they…

Traditional teaching styles practiced at universities do not generally suit all students' learning styles. For a variety of reasons, students do not always engage in learning in the courses in which they are enrolled. New methods to create and deliver educational material are available, but these do not always improve learning outcomes.…

Everyman's University (EU) in Israel acts as a social safety valve by providing an avenue for education to students who are unable to attend conventional universities; however, the heterogeneity of EU's student population creates many problems for course developers and coordinators. Differing from other Israeli universities, EU operates by…

A University of Limburg (Denmark) study investigated the effects of tutor expertise on medical student performance using curricular materials that have high or low levels of structure and that are poorly or well matched to students' levels of prior knowledge. The study found neither expert nor nonexpert tutors compensated for lack of curricular…

A new member of the mega-Universities, Bangladesh Open University (BOU) introduced a course team approach for developing effective course materials for distance students. BOU teaching media includes printed course books, study guides, radio and television broadcasts, audiocassettes and occasional face-to-face tutorials. Each course team…

A report is given of the development in Australia of telephone tutorials for small group instruction of isolated students with and without the assistance of loudspeaking telephones. The following topics are covered: (1) why use telephone tutorials; (2) location of telephone tutorial centers; (3) equipment; (4) unit and staff selection; (5) pilot…

A study investigated the ways in which the provision for adult literacy in Northern Ireland has developed since 1975. Questionnaires were circulated to program organizers, tutors, and other personnel to determine (1) enrollment patterns, (2) program organization and the evolution toward "adult basic education," (3) personnel resources…

The University of the Orange Free State (South Africa) is testing effectiveness of group work with tutors as part of independent study modules. The method is based on an experiential learning cycle including pre- and post-testing, self-evaluation, reflective observation, active experimentation. Early indications are that most deficiencies of…