This paper lends support to the argument that students require a variety of teaching strategies to help them improve their academic writing. The study described here took place in 2014 in the context of embedding the teaching of academic writing into anthropology modules. The strategies implemented were microthemes, peer feedback, annotated…

This study reports on an educational development initiative where peer instruction was used instead of traditional lectures in a calculus course for first-year engineering students. The aim of the study was to explore students' experiences of this method. Data were collected by means of an open-ended questionnaire on two occasions: early and late…

The disadvantage to students of beginning a module with no prior knowledge or inaccurate knowledge is well documented. For learners, the development of the necessary prior knowledge to facilitate their learning is essential. The use of screencasts, whether prior to or during class, is becoming more widespread. There is a need, however, to better…

Tutorials are a common complementary method of achieving student engagement with material covered in lectures, as students achieve deeper understanding by being involved in small group discussions. However, in an attempt to provide students with a taste of everything the industry has to offer, the Centre for Forensic Science at the University of…

Studies on the use of digital voting systems in large group teaching situations have often focused on the "non-anonymity" and control and testing functions that the technology provides. There has also been some interest in how students might use their votes tactically to gain "credits". By focusing on an empirical study of…

Computer-aided assessment (CAA) has been used at a university with one of the largest mathematics and engineering undergraduate cohorts in the UK for more than ten years. Lecturers teaching mathematics to first year students were asked about their current use of CAA in a questionnaire and in interviews. This article presents the issues that these…

Mathematics' skills and knowledge lay the basis for engineering studies. However, the resources targeted to mathematics' teaching are in many cases very limited. During the past years in our university the reduction of mathematics' contact hours has been significant while at the same time the study groups have grown. However, the mathematical…

Results of a successful pilot study are presented, in which quizzes are introduced in a second year bachelor course for mechanical engineering students. The pilot study course entailed the basic concepts of mechanical vibrations in complex, realistic structures. The quiz is held weekly using a SharePoint application. The purpose of the quizzes is…

Comprehension assessment is an essential tool in classroom learning. However, the judgment often relies on experience of an instructor who makes observation of students' behavior during the lessons. We argue that students should report their own comprehension explicitly in a classroom. With students' comprehension made available at the slide…

Objective: Because there have been no previously published national surveys on teaching psychiatry residents about how to teach, the authors surveyed United States psychiatry program directors on what and how residents are taught about teaching. Methods: All psychiatry training programs across the United States were mailed a semistructured…

English for Academic Purposes is a compulsory one-semester course offered to first-year students at the University of the West Indies in St. Augustine, Trinidad. Its primary objective is to assist students in developing competency in the targeted expository strategies that are deemed necessary to meet the writing requirements of the tertiary…

As a peer-assisted learning process, minilectures on physiology were conducted by students. During this process, students lecture to their colleagues in the presence of faculty staff members. These lectures were evaluated by faculty staff and students simultaneously. The aim of this study was to compare feedback from faculty members and students…

We describe an alternative educational approach for an inorganic chemistry laboratory module named "Experimentation in Chemistry", which is included in Industrial Engineering and Chemical Engineering courses. The main aims of the new approach were to reduce the high levels of failure and dropout on the module and to make the content match the…

Student evaluation questionnaires are used to measure academics' performance in most English universities. Academics are assumed to respond professionally to student feedback, making appropriate improvements to their teaching. This paper describes a small-scale study into lecturers' responses to student feedback. The evidence from semi-structured…

This article describes a qualitative study which was undertaken to improve the delivery methods and feedback opportunity in honours mathematics lectures which are delivered through Access Grid Rooms. Access Grid Rooms are facilities that provide two-way video and audio interactivity across multiple sites, with the inclusion of smart boards. The…