This article presents "Be a coach instead of a judge" pedagogy that has resulted in significant improvement in college student learning/performance, highly favorable student comments and better teaching evaluations. This pedagogy inspires students to learn by embracing empathy, enthusiasm, positivity and trust along with other learning…

In this paper, we introduce 'Concept Questions,' a weekly writing assignment that has been incorporated into multiple upper-level engineering courses at a single university with the intent of enhancing students' conceptual understanding of the course content. To explore the influence of this activity on students in these courses, we compared…

Situated in the second year of an engineering curriculum, undergraduate engineering mechanics courses represent a significant barrier to persistence in engineering. This study seeks to inform and improve these educational environments by examining academic performance paths over time in a course and explore how students in each path compare in the…

An undergraduate analytical chemistry course has been adapted to a flipped course format. Course content was provided by video clips, text, graphics, audio, and simple animations organized as concept maps using the cloud-based presentation platform, Prezi. The advantages of using Prezi to present course content in a flipped course format are…

The California Teach Program at the University of California, San Diego, recruits and prepares undergraduates interested in teaching science and mathematics. One of the products of the program is a set of courses taught by faculty in science disciplines that integrate subject matter with theories of learning and instruction, with the goal of…

Blended learning strategies can be employed in innovative ways to solve real-world academic problems across all academic disciplines. This article can provide administrators and faculty with specific examples to guide them when making decisions about academic planning or institutional strategies for any discipline at all levels of higher…

Recommends that teachers develop integrated curriculum units with their students. Describes a course for preservice teachers in which they become familiar with a problem-based interdisciplinary approach. (DDR)

Reports on a study of the views of teachers and staff on the introduction of individual investigative work into the precollege, advanced-level chemistry courses in Great Britain. Contains 21 references. (DDR)

Explains the context in which courses aimed at improving problem-solving skills are implemented. Describes the structure and content of courses and evaluates activities designed to develop problem-solving skills, including a discussion of factors affecting students in their ability to perform. (JM)

This study of physics problem-solving identifies reasoning mechanisms that enable the problem-solver to achieve the transformation to a physics structure of the problem situation. Elaboration is explored as a mechanism in fulfilling this transformation by providing beginning problem-solvers with elaborations that they failed to infer. A card…

Presents four primary objectives for written assignments. Describes the use of writing assignments in a college probability and statistics course. Maintains that this approach requires students to show statistical and writing skills rarely elicited elsewhere in their coursework. (CFR)

Examines the relationship between teaching content or knowledge, and teaching the skills of critical thinking and problem solving. Presents key strategies to help students understand and develop critical thinking skills. Recommends use of the developmental lesson and provides several model lessons. (LS)

Describes a short problem-based course for a class of 180 students facilitated by two tutors. The course aims to assist undergraduates who have completed two years of study in basic medical sciences to apply their learning to the diagnosis and management of asthma and respiratory infections. (DDR)

Describes the application of the problem method, or case study approach, to teach undergraduate research methods. Maintains that the approach is particularly applicable because research design is a classic ill-defined task. Reports that students find the method challenging and interesting. (CFR)

A law school course in advanced corporate legal practice is described. The course, a series of simulated lawyering tasks centered on a hypothetical leveraged buyout transaction, is designed to go beyond basic legal analysis to develop professional expertise in legal problem solving. The course description includes goals, syllabus design,…