Contribution: This study identifies the types of interaction that contribute to student learning with student-led tutorials (SLTs). The quality of these interactions include peer discussion, student tutor presentation, joint reasoning, and constructive feedback. Background: The introduction of SLTs in an advanced electromagnetics bachelor course…

Supporting students in building well-grounded explanations plays a crucial role in scientific practice. Research in organic chemistry education on students' mechanistic explanations, however, has revealed various challenges. When solving mechanistic tasks, students experience difficulties when (I) deriving implicit properties from structural…

EvoluZion is a forward-in-time genetic simulator developed in Java and designed to perform real time simulations on the evolutionary history of virtual organisms. These model organisms harbour a set of 13 genes that codify an equal number of phenotypic features. These genes change randomly during replication, and mutant genes can have null,…

Federal legislation specifies equitable access to education for all students at all levels of education, including postsecondary. To explore how well the physics education research (PER) community is currently serving students who inherently vary in needs, abilities, and interests, four research-based curricula (Tutorials in Introductory Physics,…

Research on the learning and teaching of science is an important field for scholarly inquiry by faculty in science departments. Such research has proved to be an efficient means for improving the effectiveness of instruction in physics. A basic topic in introductory physics is used to illustrate how discipline-based education research has helped…

We present results from a comparative study of student understanding for students who attended recitation classes that used different teaching methods. Student volunteers from our introductory calculus-based physics course attended a special recitation class that was taught using one of four different teaching methods. A total of 272 students were…

Summarizes some elements which contribute to the quality of a tutorial system in engineering education. Uses a case study of the civil engineering program at the University of Waterloo (Great Britain) to examine the relationships between various aspects of this type of program. (TW)

Between 40% and 50% of Chemistry 103 registrants at the University of Maryland at College Park earn D, F, or W grades. Registrants for Chemistry 103 were randomly selected to participate in a pre-course refresher consisting of listening to as many as seven audio-tutorial tapes on the basic concepts and calculations of chemistry. Records were kept…

Presents the results of introducing cooperative learning tutorials into large first-year physics classes at the University of Sydney. Finds that students attending more than half the total number of tutorials scored significantly better than those attending less than half. Student reaction to the tutorials was generally positive. Contains 31…

Describes a volunteer tutoring program coordinated by associates of the Exxon Corporation to help middle and high school students with math and science homework. Enumerates the successes of the tutoring program and highlights other outreach activities of the company in Baton Rouge. Stresses that the future of high-technology companies depends on…

Describes the audiotutorial program in earth science at St. Petersburg Junior College's Clearwater Campus started ten years ago. Although initial expenses were considered high, they are now equivalent to those of traditional delivery systems, and students come away with better grades and more positive attitudes. (Author/JN)

Courseware was developed to facilitate knowledge transfer between lecture and laboratory for general chemistry at the University of Notre Dame (Indiana). One project uses a tutorial strategy. Another uses tool-based courseware for modeling and manipulation of simulated representations of chemical systems; worksheets guide student use of courseware…

Reviews three chemistry software programs at the high school and college general chemistry level for the Apple II family. Includes "Chemical Nomenclature and Balancing Equations,""Principles of Stoichiometry," and "Solubility." (MVL)

Three computer programs for the Apple II family are reviewed: (1) "Super Vocab Machine"--vocabulary self-tutorial; (2) "Elements, Compounds, and Mixtures: A Matter of Mystery"--database for the elements; and (3) "That's Life: Human Body Exploration"--information about the human body. (MVL)

Reviews three software packages: (1) "Physics," tutorial, grades 11-12, Macintosh; (2) "Hands On Math: Volume I," interactive math exploration/simulation of manipulatives use, grades K-7, Apple II; and (3) "A.I.: An Experience with Artificial Intelligence," simulation, grades 5-12, Apple II. (MVL)