At a comprehensive, public university in Western Canada, a fourth-year course in risk and safety management was recently made a requirement for all engineering students; depending on their program, students may take this course in their second, third, fourth, or fifth year of their program. As a result of increasing class sizes, this course was…

The use of flipped classrooms has been gaining popularity across various disciplines as student-centered active learning pedagogy. In this study, an introductory organic chemistry course was delivered through flipped classroom methodologies, incorporating blended learning to deliver content and group work in the classroom. The learning experiences…

The COVID-19 pandemic has been called an educational catastrophe. It caused massive disruptions in education, learning loss for students, and massive increases in teacher workloads, stress, and health-related issues. There were significant issues of student disengagement and rampant cheating on assessments. This paper looks not at the huge…

Evidence suggests that the use of educational technologies may promote positive learning environments and contribute to students' success. The following mixed methods study examined the impact of Top Hat in a blended learning environment on undergraduate students' sense of belongingness, engagement, and self-confidence in a Canadian post-secondary…

This instrumental case study explored some preliminary impacts of a 7-year blended learning initiative (BLI) at a medium sized Canadian university on student learning. Building on the Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework, two research questions directed the investigation: (1) What are the preliminary impacts of a BLI on student learning? (2) What…

Prelaboratory tasks are used to facilitate learning and introduce and provide context for laboratory work. The application of first-person perspective (FPP) technology may provide interesting new approaches to providing prelaboratory preparation. However, there is limited knowledge as to whether this perspective is useful or enjoyable for students…

Research has suggested that learning approaches such as blended learning can enhance both the quality of instruction and student learning outcomes in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, & Mathematics) education. However, little is known about how such instructional approaches affect learning outcomes in the context of "Collège…

Funded by a Scholarship of Teaching and Learning grant from a University in western Canada, this paper reports on findings from an educational design research study (McKenney & Reeves, 2012) investigating the ways, and the extent to which, particular technological supports and other interventions impacted the acquisition of academic writing…

Flipped classrooms are gaining popularity, especially in psychology statistics courses. However, not all courses lend themselves to a fully flipped design, and some instructors might not want to commit to flipping every class. We tested the effectiveness of flipping just one component (a module on junk science) of a large methods course. We…

This paper describes a pilot blended learning format for a first-year genre-based Canadian composition course. It measures responses to the online learning materials and hybrid class schedule by comparing student writing skill perception questionnaires, teaching evaluation questionnaires, and written assignments for control and experimental…

Renal clearance, the volume of blood cleared of a substance in a particular time period, is commonly recognized as one of the most difficult concepts in physiology. This difficulty may in part reflect the quantitative nature of renal clearance since many life sciences majors perceive that mathematics is irrelevant to their discipline. Students may…

In 2014, community colleges are overcrowded, underfunded, and serve a diverse population. Community colleges are looking for innovative ways to meet the growing demands of their nontraditional student body on a shrinking budget. Increasing their online offerings appeared to be a perfect solution. Unfortunately, research has shown that community…

The purpose of this ongoing, three-year action research study is to explore the digital challenges of student engagement in higher education within the experimental platform of blended learning. Research questions examine the role of digital innovation in supporting diverse learners, as well as building meaningful connections with technology for…

The flipped classroom instructional model has emerged as an alternative to the conventional lecture-based teaching that has dominated higher education for decades. In 2013, a cohort of graduate-level public health students participated in a flipped environmental and occupational health course. We present the design, implementation, and evaluation…

This article investigates the particular mechanisms through which a role-play simulation impacts student perceptions of knowledge acquisition. Longitudinal data were mobilized in the form of quantitative and qualitative surveys to examine whether the simulation succeeded in increasing knowledge around both content and skills. It then delves deeper…