Describes a botany course using active learning and the scientific method in which students learn how to use classification keys and study angiosperm taxonomy. (Contains 14 references.) (YDS)

Describes how "speedwriting" requires that all learners become actively engaged in their own learning because, rather than generating ideas orally, students are instructed to write down all their ideas as quickly as they can. Considers how the social engagement of discussion and the sharing of ideas during the writing phase drew even the…

Addresses the problem of the effectiveness of teaching methodologies on fundamental engineering courses such as transport phenomena. Recommends the colloquial approach, an active learning strategy, to increase student involvement in the learning process. (ZWH)

Generic teleological mechanisms (GTMs) are a class of strategic concepts especially useful in adaptive design. GTMs are abstract functional and causal patterns that lead to adaptation strategies for innovative design. Adopts a task-directed approach to learning, and describes a model-based method for learning GTMs from design methods. (Author/DKM)

Explores the debate between academic, skills-oriented mathematics instruction and more discussion- and context-centered approaches and offers strategies to move beyond the debate and improve mathematics education. (EV)

Reports on a survey of faculty members (n=29) asking them to define active learning, to rate how effectively different teaching techniques contribute to active learning, and to list the three teaching techniques they use most frequently. Concludes that active learning requires establishing an environment rather than employing a specific teaching…

Teachers in constructivist mathematics classrooms actively engage students in the learning process. Although constructivist teachers use different methods, most employ five contextual teaching strategies: relating, experiencing, applying, cooperating, and transferring. Students learn that even in mathematics, the "right" answer can be a matter of…

Points out the low student achievement in microbiology courses and presents an active learning method applied in an introductory microbiology course which features daily quizzes, cooperative learning activities, and group projects. (Contains 30 references.) (YDS)

Instructional design is an integral part of a balanced approach to teaching vocabulary instruction. The goal of this paper is to reflect on several lessons using research-based vocabulary strategies, and to present think-alouds that detail the steps in matching instructional design with those strategies in order to reach the learning outcome.…

As students are first learning to construct mathematical proofs, it is often helpful for them to have the opportunity to see and evaluate proofs that others have written. In fact, several textbooks designed for use in a transition or bridge course include a few exercises in which students are given a proposed proof and asked to determine if it…

The Spanish educational system will require certain changes in order to achieve the Bologna objectives for the European Higher Education Area, including a more professional profile, with new activities and roles for both students and teachers, who must assume new skills that will affect concepts and attitudes related to the teaching and learning…

Secondary vocational-technical education programs in Mississippi are faced with many challenges resulting from sweeping educational reforms at the national and state levels. Schools and teachers are increasingly being held accountable for providing true learning activities to every student in the classroom. This accountability is measured through…

The third annual conference of the National Academy for Integration of Research, Teaching and Learning (NAIRTL) was held at Trinity College Dublin on 11-12 November 2009, and was attended by over 300 delegates. The theme--"Research-Teaching Linkages: Practice and Policy"--was timely and generated some fascinating papers, workshops and…

There is evidence that student beliefs about science and classroom instructional strategies are related to achievement outcomes. This study was designed to examine relationships between student beliefs about science, instructional activities, and science achievement of elementary-school students in Japan. Students included in this analysis were…

While some geographers have embraced active learning as a means to engage students in a course, many others stick to conventional teaching methods. They are often deterred by suggestions that it can be difficult to implement active learning where students have no prior knowledge of a subject, that active learning requires too much work of…