In experimental disciplinary fields such as medicine, the writing up of a research paper in English may represent a major hurdle, especially for inexperienced writers and users of EAL (English as an Additional Language), mainly due to a lack of familiarity with international discourse conventions. Despite the efforts of many EAP (English for…

Audience response systems, also known as clickers, hold much promise for use in the communication classroom. Yet potential benefits notwithstanding, implementing new technology in the classroom also offers challenges for faculty who must master it themselves while managing students' learning. Successful clicker implementation, like the…

Literacy assessment scores in an urban 5th grade classroom left much to be desired. In this diverse classroom population, typical urban distractions such as poverty, crime, English as a second language, and lack of parental support contribute to extremely low literacy scores. This classroom study examined the effects of implementing clickers, a…

Despite extensive evidence in favor of student-centered teaching practices over traditional lecturing, most science faculty do not embrace these modes of instruction. Professional development efforts are plentiful, but they can lack in impact or scalability, or both. The factors that determine professional development quality within a research…

This study examines how incorporating different electronic feedback devices (i.e., clickers versus web-based polling) may affect specific types of student engagement (i.e., behavioral, emotional, and cognitive engagement), whether students' self-efficacy for learning and performance may differ between courses that have integrated clickers and…

In 2011, the International Association for K-12 Online Learning released the second iteration of the "National Standards for Quality Online Courses." These standards have been used by numerous institutions and states around the country to help design and create K-12 online courses. However, there has been no reported research on the…

In this article we share how a district-level technology integration specialist used literature on implementing student response systems (SRS) for formative assessment, based on Desimone's (2009) core features of professional development design, Guskey's Levels of Professional Development Evaluation (1998, 2000, 2002), and Danielson's Observation…

Audience response devices (ARDs), or "clickers," have traditionally been used in the classroom to take attendance, provide testing of current knowledge and knowledge gain, and assist with review of course topics. The ARDs were used at a recent Extension conference, which provided an opportunity to test how well this tool worked. Though…

The instant availability of information has changed the paradigm of teaching. Whereas at one time teaching and learning was information being passed, memorized, and repeated, students can now find their own knowledge. Learning now consists of using information in creative ways and requires a shift in how students are taught. This is quite similar…

Research indicates that student engagement with lectures, and participation in discussion and debate, greatly improve their learning and experience of University. The nature of some lectures means they can lack opportunities for interaction and active learning. For this reason it can be difficult for some students, especially students new to…

Extension agents' use of demonstration gardens was studied to determine how gardens are employed in horticultural programming, perceived benefits and challenges of using gardens for Extension programming, and desired competencies. Gardens are primarily used to enhance educational efforts by providing hands-on learning experiences. Greatest…

Flipped classrooms are a relatively new teaching strategy where the typical lecture and homework elements of a course are reversed. Although flipped classrooms are gaining popularity, evaluations of this type of pedagogical model are limited. The purpose of this study was to investigate student views related to the effectiveness of a flipped…

This text examines educational criticism and assessment with an emphasis on the new media arts. The article shares with readers the versatile, abridged to four points criteria, based on a research on assessment made by students, faculty, and non-art-related professionals, thus providing a preliminary tool for the use in the classroom environment.…

Computer Science 1 (CS1), the first course taken by college-level computer science (CS) majors, has traditionally suffered from high failure rates. Efforts to understand this phenomenon have considered a wide range of predictors of CS success, such as prior programming experience, math ability, learning style, and gender, with findings that are…

In "Cinema Paradiso" (Tomatore, 1988), Salvatore's love of movies came from spending his earlier, young life inside a cinema with the fatherly projectionist Alfredo, now blind and bitter. Alfredo is right. Life is much harder, yes, yet still very much "like in the movies" filled with frustrated actions, performed inside blind…