Finding better ways to implement effective teaching and learning strategies in higher education is urgently needed to help address student outcomes such as retention rates, graduation rates, and learning. Psychologists contribute to the science and art of teaching and learning in higher education under many flags, including cognitive psychology,…

Accurate self-monitoring of one's mastery of material is a necessary skill for student success. Without this skill students lack the awareness of when to prolong or terminate their studying for an exam, or when to modify their study strategies. Inaccurate self-monitoring can lead to false assessment of mastery, premature termination of study,…

The Undergraduate Medical Program (Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery) at University College of Medical Sciences (Delhi, India) is a 4.5-yr, intense academic program where physiology is taught in the first year. To make the learning experience enriching, the Department of Physiology organizes four student seminars (two seminars/semester)…

The use of lecture capture in higher education is becoming increasingly widespread, with many instructors now providing digital videos of lecture content that can be used by students as learning resources in a variety of ways, including to catch up on material after a class absence. Despite accumulating research regarding the relationship between…

Science Without Borders is a unique interdisciplinary science course that uses group and active-learning strategies and is in high demand among nonscience majors at a masters-level university. Registrar data showed that nonscience majors were far more likely to choose this course compared with other, discipline-based science courses. In an…

In order to be effective competitors in the marketplace, students must be able to think critically, communicate complex ideas through writing, collaborate with peers, and apply their knowledge of biological science to generate solutions for issues facing society. In this paper we examine the nature of the instructional tools, strategies, and…

We surveyed first year students at the start and at the end of their first semester of university biology (n = 285) as to their approaches to study ("surface", "deep") and their conceptions of biology ("fragmented", "cohesive"). Hierarchical cluster analysis was used to group students who responded similarly…

Reports on research into whether mutual alignment of partially known situations can be an effective strategy when compared to the common procedure of drawing analogies from a well understood situation to one that is poorly understood. Results suggest that such mutual alignment is an effective means of promoting insight. (MM)

Individual teachers of college level physics sometimes develop deep insights into how their students learn and what elements of classroom instruction are valuable in facilitating the learning process. Yet, these insights rarely persist beyond the individual instructor. Educational methods seem to cycle from one fad to another, rarely cumulating…

Used an open-ended response survey to elicit first-year physics student's ideas on the nature of physics and how to study it. Describes the categories that were identified by a phenomenographic methodology and discusses the distribution of responses across the categories. Discusses issues that emerged and implications for the practice of teaching…

Argues that using in-class worksheets are versatile and can be tailored to meet specific goals. Finds that worksheets are effective for confronting preconceptions, ensuring class participation, and increasing student/teacher interactions. (CCM)

Summarizes the mechanics of a course designed to give students a structured, guided approach that simulates more closely the way that many students approach learning new material. (CCM)

Simulations make it possible to explore physical and biological phenomena, where conducting the real experiment is impracticable or difficult. The implementation of a software program describing and simulating a given physical situation encourages the understanding of a phenomenon itself. Fifty-nine students, enrolled at the Mathematical Methods…

Discusses several aspects of the relationship between teaching and learning in a way that may possibly stimulate thinking in the same manner as learning hierarchies, stage theory, and the abundant use of metaphor. (Author/JN)

Presents a hands-on activity on the phenomenon of genetic drift in populations that reinforces the random nature of drift and demonstrates the effect of the population size on the mean frequency of an allele over a few generations. Includes materials for the demonstration, procedures, and discussion topics. (KHR)