Universities are recognizing the need to prepare graduates to think conceptually and have the ability to take on complex, real-world problems. Strategies to assess conceptual knowledge are limited and often require more time and effort to complete than is accessible for most undergraduate courses. Card sorting is a very broad technique for…

In this article we present our findings regarding the challenges of offering a massive university's free-of-charge online course. The online course "Introduction to data science (with R)" was offered by one professor at the Federal University of Sao Paulo, Osasco Campus, Brazil, from 11 to 28 of January of 2022, to 680 students from all…

In this article we describe our experiences building a large-scale data science program aimed at supporting diversity in online data science learning. This program was built to support a set of introductory skills-based, higher education courses. We are motivated by work done in project-based learning contexts and culturally responsive pedagogies…

The search for rigor in learning analytics applications has placed survey data in the suspect's corner, favoring more objective trace data. A potential lack of objectivity in survey data is the existence of response styles, the tendency of respondents to answer survey items in a particular biased manner, such as yeah saying or always disagreeing.…

Programming is an important skill for different areas of knowledge. While in the past, programming skills were much more related to fields of computer sciences and engineering, today, professionals from different areas benefit from the ability to write codes for different applications. Furthermore, programming stimulates logical thinking, which…

For several decades, scholars have studied the role of cooperation and its outcomes in educational contexts. Yet we lack a complete understanding of how different instructional strategies impact the relationship between cooperation and learning. In this paper we present results from a field experiment with 82 first-year students in an introductory…

In this paper, we provide insight into the PBL project called PoLiMINT (Problem-oriented Learning in MINT). The project is located at the Bremen University of Applied Sciences and aims to introduce and foster PBL in the introductory phase of a physics study program. Concerning our general conditions, we will present our incremental implementation…

Aim/Purpose: This study introduced a new teaching and learning approach based on an ADRI (Approach, Deployment, Result, Improvement) model in an introductory programming (IP) course. The effectiveness of the new teaching and learning process was determined by collecting feedback from the IP instructors and by analyzing the final exam grades of the…

Chemical processing industry is progressively focusing their research activities and product placements in the areas of Grand Challenges (or Global Megatrends) such as mobility, energy, communication, or health care and food. Innovation in all these fields requires solving high complex problems, rapid product development as well as dealing with…

The aim of this study was to investigate how first-year students view the purpose of tutorial groups in problem-based learning. In all, 147 students from 24 groups participated, providing 399 statements. Data were analysed using thematic analysis. The results showed a focus on both learning and social influence. Learning involved the tutorial as…

This article describes problem-based labs and analytical and computational project work we have been running at the University of St Andrews in an introductory physics course since 2008/2009. We have found the choice of topics, scaffolding of the process, timing in the year and facilitator guidance decisive for the success of these activities.…

Cognitive modelling is one of the representative research methods in cognitive science. It is believed that creating cognitive models promotes learners' meta-cognitive activities such as self-monitoring and reflecting on their own cognitive processing. Preceding studies have confirmed that such meta-cognitive activities actually promote learning…

In educational research, it is well-known that collaborative work on core conceptual issues in physics leads to significant improvements in students' conceptual understanding. In this paper, we explore collaborative learning in action, adding to previous research in engineering education with a specific focus on the students' use of free body…

There is a tendency for lecture-based instruction in large introductory science courses to strongly focus on the delivery of discipline-specific technical terminology and fundamental concepts, sometimes to the detriment of opportunities for application of learned knowledge in evidence-based critical-thinking activities. We sought to improve…

While pedagogical and technological affordances of three-dimensional (3D) multiuser virtual worlds in various educational disciplines are largely well-known, a study about their effect on high school students' engagement in introductory programming courses is still lacking. This case study presents students' opinions about their participation in a…