Large classes taught with didactic lectures and assessed with multiple-choice tests are commonly reported to promote lower order (LO) thinking and a surface approach (SA) to learning. Using a case study design, we hypothesized that incorporating instructional scaffolding of core physiology principles and assessing students exclusively with…

Background: The global introduction of complex measures directed at the containment of the COVID-19 spread has spurred a massive shift to distance learning among educational institutions. As far as such a learning mode is rather forced and, probably, only a few establishments faced no difficulties with it, the matter of assuring teaching…

Hydrology teaching deals with processes happening outside the classroom, which calls for active-learning methods to complement lectures. In a geography undergraduate course, new teaching methods and assessment were designed, in which students investigated a river of their choice by completing homework tasks and presenting their results on a…

The evaluation process is complex and extremely important in the teaching/learning process. Evaluations are constantly employed in the classroom to assist students in the learning process and to help teachers improve the teaching process. The use of active methodologies encourages students to participate in the learning process, encourages…

The current study sought to determine the effectiveness of video-on-demand podcasts (vodcasts) as a tool for facilitating the understanding of Physiology by first year undergraduate Graduate Entry to Medicine (GEM 1) students. Seventy-three GEM 1 students were provided with full length vodcasts of lecture material in advance of each of nine…

Many higher education institutions use student evaluation systems as a way of highlighting course and lecturer strengths and areas for improvement. Globally, the student voice has been increasing in volume, and capitalising on student feedback has been proposed as a means to benefit teacher professional development. This paper examines the student…

In general, people associate college and university teaching with lecture-based methods, in which an expert (the teacher) delivers information to a group of nonexperts (the students), who subsequently show their newfound "knowledge" by answering examination questions. Because of the common notion that knowledge and intelligence are…

The haptic paddle is a force-feedback joystick used at several universities in teaching System Dynamics, a core mechanical engineering undergraduate course where students learn to model dynamic systems in several domains. A second goal of the haptic paddle is to increase the accessibility of robotics and haptics by providing a low-cost device for…

In engaging lectures, also referred to as broken or interactive lectures, students are given short periods of lecture followed by "breaks" that can consist of 1-min papers, problem sets, brainstorming sessions, or open discussion. While many studies have shown positive effects when engaging lectures are used in undergraduate settings,…

As biochemists, one of our most captivating teaching tools is the use of molecular visualization. It is a compelling medium that can be used to communicate structural information much more effectively with interactive animations than with static figures. We have conducted a survey to begin a systematic evaluation of the current classroom usage of…

Problem-based learning (PBL) has been introduced to medical schools around the world and has increasingly become a popular pedagogical technique in Asian countries since 1990. Gross anatomy is a fundamental basic science course in virtually all medical training programs, and the methods used to teach it are under frequent scrutiny and revision.…

The use of classroom capture systems (systems that capture audio and video footage of a lecture and attempt to replicate a classroom experience) is becoming increasingly popular at the university level. However, research on the effectiveness of classroom capture systems in the university classroom has been limited due to the recent development and…

This study assesses an assignment for incorporating diversity into the principles of public relations course. The assignment is tailored to the challenges of using an active learning approach in a large lecture class. For the assignment, students write a goal, objectives, strategies, an identification of tactics, and evaluation plans for either…

The use of lectures is ubiquitous in higher-education institutions, but also heavily criticized from an andragogical viewpoint. A current challenge for lecturers is to provide opportunities for active learning during these sessions and to evaluate their impact on student experience. Three one-minute interventions based on the lecture materials…

This study investigated the effects of two contrasting learning environments on students' course experiences: a lecture-based setting to a student-activating teaching environment. In addition, the evaluative treatment involved five research conditions that went together with one of four assessment modes, namely, portfolio, case-based, peer…