The American K-12 system had serious problems even before the pandemic. Teachers were frustrated, and students suffered growing levels of anxiety and depression, not to mention the downward academic achievement trends of the past decade. A set of promising new schooling techniques has gained traction during the pandemic, which could bring joy back…

Project-based learning (PBL) and Blended Learning (BL) have been widely used in universities. There are some empirical teaching researches on PBL in the BL environment for some specific courses, but for the combination of PBL and BL, there is as yet no universal teaching model. This article puts forward a new universal teaching mode: Project-Based…

As the marketplace becomes more competitive, there is a growing demand for business educators to prepare graduates to adapt to the challenges of the marketplace. However, concerns regarding the pedagogical challenges of balancing conceptual knowledge and practical skills are accumulating in the academic literature. In this article, we make the…

In this paper the authors draw on three sequential keynote addresses that they gave at Active Learning in Engineering Education (ALE) workshops in Copenhagen (2012), Caxias do Sol (2014) and San Sebastian (2015). Active Learning in Engineering Education is an informal international network of engineering educators dedicated to improving…

Disciplinary literacy is gaining momentum as an approach to adolescent literacy. Believing that a key aspect of disciplinary literacy is knowledge construction, the authors introduce a model for relating disciplinary literacy with project-based inquiry. Rather than merely exploring topics during inquiry, students use practices of a discipline to…

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)…

One issue of concern to teachers is the effect of teaching strategies and students' cognitive style on knowledge construction via online discussions in social networks. This study aimed to explore which teaching strategies lead to better learning performance and which cognitive styles affect learning from teaching strategies based on online…

In the engineering field, problem- and project-based learning, both of which are often referred to as PBL, are the dominant instructional models called for by accreditation agencies. The aim of this qualitative case study is to analyze and capture a holistic perspective of PBL course design and its implementation in two communication-intensive…

"Thriving in Our Digital World" is a technology-enhanced dual enrollment course introducing high school students to computer science through project- and problem-based learning. This article describes the evolution of the course and five lessons learned during the design, development, implementation, and iteration of the course from its…

This paper presents a model of numeracy that integrates the use of digital technologies among other elements of teaching and learning mathematics. Drawing on data from a school-based project, which includes records of classroom observations, semi-structured teacher interviews and artefacts such as student work samples, a classroom-based vignette…

The Model My Watershed (MMW) application, and associated curricula, provides students with meaningful opportunities to connect conceptual understanding of watersheds to real-world decision making. The application uses an authentic hydrologic model, TR-55 (developed by the U.S. Natural Resources Conservation Service), and real data applied in…

In the fall of 2007, the Buck Institute for Education (BIE) conducted a national survey of high school reform and project based learning (PBL). The study included teachers from several major high school reform networks that emphasize PBL as an instructional approach: New Tech High, High Tech High, Edvision Schools, and Envision Schools. It also…

Social scientists, particularly sociologists, seem to place great value in small classes and group projects, especially in teaching research methods. However, in the authors' department, the sophomore-level research methods class ranges from 70 to 105 students, which would result in 14 to 21 small groups for one instructor to supervise without a…