The term "histology" was coined a little over 200 years ago and the subject has always relied on microscopy as its defining technology. Microscopy was and still is an essential approach for the description of cellular components and their arrangements in living organisms. For more than a century and a half, histology or microanatomy has…

The educational benefit of the traditional didactic lecture to learners in Higher Education is hotly debated. Given increasing student numbers, existing technical set ups and many logistical concerns, lectures remain the norm in many Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). In this personal view piece, we discuss the benefits, opportunities, and…

The COVID-19 pandemic led to an abrupt suspension of face-to-face teaching activities in higher education institutions across the globe. The instructors and faculty at most institutions have had to adapt, invent, and implement adjustments quickly to adopt an online learning environment. This has been an extraordinarily challenging time for both…

Passive, lecture-based forms of instruction are often ineffective in helping students develop deep conceptual understanding of scientific concepts. Student-centered forms of instruction based in a constructivist framework, where students are guided toward actively constructing their understanding, have been met with greater success. However,…

Student-centered education is in the air. It is present in many reform agendas for higher education across every discipline and is shortlisted as an important goal for teaching and learning in many reports and recommendations of professional agencies and scientific societies. There is wide consensus that moving from teacher-centered to…

We implemented peer instruction in an introductory level conceptual physics course for nonscience majors on the basis of the success others reported with this method. We expected to see that learning from peer conversation, as evidenced by answering conceptual questions correctly following discussion, would correlate with course grade, but we did…

To address the need for greater flexibility in access to higher education, an online graduate course in physiology using case studies was developed and offered in summer 2012. Topics in both animal and human physiology were organized as modules that contained a case study with questions, a prerecorded online lecture, and three research journal…

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of peer instruction on college students' conceptual learning, motivation, and self-efficacy in an algebra-based introductory physics course for nonmajors. Variables were studied via a quasi-experiment, Solomon four-group design on 123 students. Treatment groups were taught by peer instruction.…

The use of lecture capture in higher education is becoming increasingly widespread, with many instructors now providing digital videos of lecture content that can be used by students as learning resources in a variety of ways, including to catch up on material after a class absence. Despite accumulating research regarding the relationship between…

OpenCourseWare (OCW) has received increasing attention over the past few years in higher education. These courses provide appealing opportunities to view classes taught in well-established universities worldwide. The current study aims to examine how OCW lectures can serve as authentic learning materials to facilitate vocabulary acquisition for…

The paper presents the results of research on the relationship between self-assessed comprehension of physics lectures and final grades of junior high school students (aged 13-15), high school students (aged 16-18) and physics students at the Pedagogical University of Cracow, Poland (aged 21). Students' declared level of comprehension was measured…

Dimensional analysis is traditionally one of the first topics covered in a general chemistry course. Chemists use dimensional analysis as a tool to keep track of units and guide them through calculations. Although unit conversions are taught in a variety of subjects over several grade levels, many students have not mastered this topic by the time…

The aim of the International Society for Technology, Education, and Science (iHSES) conference is to offer opportunities to share ideas, discuss theoretical and practical issues, and connect with the leaders in the fields of "humanities," "education" and "social sciences." It is organized for: (1) faculty members in…

The instructor of an integrated science course for nonscience majors embedded content-related video segments from YouTube and other similar internet sources into lecture. Through this study, the instructor wanted to know students' perceptions of how video use engaged them and increased their interest and understanding of science. Written survey…

Eight Earth science graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) participated in a semester-long seminar designed to facilitate change in their practice. The seminar used lesson-study methodology to facilitate discussion of GTAs' beliefs about teaching while planning a research lesson for implementation in their laboratory. This article reports the results…