Laboratories are recognised as central in science education, allowing students to consolidate knowledge and master practical skills, however, their effectiveness has been questioned. Whilst laboratory practicals are useful for students' learning of basic procedures, they have been shown to be less effective for developing conceptual understanding…

This paper describes a national statistics-oriented project-based learning activity, which has been delivered annually for five years in Australia and the outcomes of a particular collaboration of this initiative with the discipline of environmental sustainability. The national initiative engages primary- and secondary-school students from varied…

Purpose: This paper discusses an effective instructional method called "activity based learning" that can be used to develop the speaking skills of students in the elementary school level. The present study was conducted to determine the effect of activity based learning on the development of the speaking skills of low and high achievers…

While shown to be less effective than active learning strategies, traditional methods of content delivery in post-secondary classrooms are the most prominent. Flipped classrooms, an example of an active learning approach, have been shown to be effective in long-term student outcomes. Team-Based Learning (TBL), a specific application of the flipped…

Problem-based learning (PBL) is one among several approaches to active learning. Being a teacher in a PBL environment can, however, be a challenge because of the need to support students' learning within a broad "landscape of learning". In this article we will analyse the landscape of learning by use of the study activity model (SAM)…

Student evaluations of quantitative methods courses in political science often reveal they are characterised by aversion, alienation and anxiety. As a solution to this problem, this paper describes a pedagogic research project with the aim of embedding quantitative methods by stealth into the first-year undergraduate curriculum. This paper…

We describe how a practical instructional development process helped a first-year assistant professor rapidly develop, implement, and assess the impact on her Analytical Chemistry course caused by three changes: (a) moving the lab into the same semester as the lecture, (b) developing a more collaborative classroom environment, and (c) increasing…

The major purpose of this study is to develop an architectural design knowledge management learning system with corresponding learning activities to help the students have meaningful learning and improve their design capability in their learning process. Firstly, the system can help the students to obtain and share useful knowledge. Secondly,…

Research on the benefits of visual learning has relied primarily on lecture-based pedagogy, but the potential benefits of combining active learning strategies with visual and verbal materials on learning anatomy has not yet been explored. In this study, the differential effects of text-based and image-based active learning exercises on examination…

An interactive learning module was developed and implemented in a social psychology course to teach concepts of the "self" via self-exploration and game play using "The SIMS[superscript 3]." Students volunteered to play the computer video game throughout a 5-week summer session as a supplement to reading the chapter in the…

Research has consistently shown that inquiry-based learning can be more effective than other, more expository instructional approaches as long as students are supported adequately. But what type of guidance is adequate, and for whom? These questions are difficult to answer as most previous research has only focused on one type of guidance and one…

Active learning approaches have shown to improve student learning outcomes and improve the experience of students in the classroom. This article compares a Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning style approach to a more traditional teaching method in an undergraduate research methods course. Moving from a more traditional learning environment to…

With the literature calling for comparisons among technology-enhanced or active-learning pedagogies, a blended versus flipped instructional comparison was made for numerical methods coursework using three engineering schools with diverse student demographics. This study contributes to needed comparisons of enhanced instructional approaches in STEM…

In the face of mounting evidence revealing active learning approaches result in improved student learning outcomes compared to traditional passive lecturing, there is a growing need to change the way instructors teach large introductory science courses. However, a large proportion of STEM faculty continues to use traditional instructor-centered…

Open education has revolutionized the educational environment. Massive open online courses have become the main showcase for open educational resources, but the competition to establish a position in this movement has led to the rapid publication of many courses of arguable quality. This paper presents and analyzes the process of creating a small…