We have designed, developed, and validated a 25-question Genetics Concept Assessment (GCA) to test achievement of nine broad learning goals in majors and nonmajors undergraduate genetics courses. Written in everyday language with minimal jargon, the GCA is intended for use as a pre- and posttest to measure student learning gains. The assessment…

Given the agreement of pedagogy experts about the importance of assessment in teaching and learning, this chapter focuses on the kinds of assessments used by student teachers as they planned lessons using five instructional models (IMs), for their models assessment project. In addition, the planned learning targets are examined by analyzing lesson…

This study presents the circuitous route taken in an attempt to identify an assessment mechanism for evaluating the impact of STS courses. After initially developing a survey that faculty felt only allowed for the measurement of student opinions about the impact of required STS general education courses, the faculty at Clemson University…

Statistical analyses of pre-test and post-test results, as well as qualitative insight obtained by essays, compared introductory physical geography college students who learned desert geomorphology only virtually, in the field and both ways. With the exception of establishing geographic context, the virtual field trip was statistically…

Background: Lack of physical activity has been noted in breast cancer survivors and been attributed to decreased physical function. Purpose: This study assessed the effects of a moderate-to-vigorous physical exercise program on body fat percentage, maximal oxygen consumption (VO[subscript 2] max), body mass index, and bone mineral density (BMD) of…

Forty medical residents from major teaching hospitals in Boston, Massachusetts, participated in small group teaching sessions about caregiver stress. A teaching tool was developed that included a teaching handout, interactive cases, standard instruments for assessing caregiver stress, peer-reviewed articles about caregiving, and a list of…

We present mathematical learning models--predictions of student's knowledge vs amount of instruction--that are based on assumptions motivated by various theories of learning: tabula rasa, constructivist, and tutoring. These models predict the improvement (on the post-test) as a function of the pretest score due to intervening instruction and also…

Researchers have examined inductive reasoning to identify different cognitive processes when participants deal with inductive problems. This article presents a prescriptive theory of inductive reasoning that identifies cognitive processing using a procedural strategy for making comparisons. It is hypothesized that training in the use of the…

Objective: In this exploratory study, the authors evaluated the impact of an elective college course on dieting levels, eating styles, and body image among college women. Participants: Participants were a convenience sample of 29 self-selected female students at a western university who were mostly white, normal-weight seniors with significant…

In an attempt to hone the role of learners as designers, this study investigates the effectiveness of an instructional software application resulting from a design process founded on the tenets of participatory design, informant design, and contextual inquiry, as well as a set of established design heuristics. Collaboration occurred among learning…

Relations between emotions (affect states) and learning have recently been explored in the context of AutoTutor. AutoTutor is a tutoring system on the Internet that helps learners construct answers to difficult questions by interacting with them in natural language. AutoTutor has an animated conversation agent and a dialog management facility that…

Language and education are interrelated because all teaching is given through the medium of language. Language is considered to be both a precondition for thought and a bearer of thought and therefore influences the extent to which a child's intelligence is actualised. In the South African context linguistic diversity is a complex issue. It has…

At the University of Vermont, an interdisciplinary faculty team developed an introductory watershed science field course. This course honed field skills and catalyzed communication across water-related disciplines without requiring specific prerequisites. Five faculty (geology, engineering, geography, natural resources) taught the four-credit…

This paper reports a quasi-experimental study that was carried out in listening classes to address the following questions: What control do students expect in the listening classroom? What are the effects of the "zero class hour" way of teaching listening when more control is given to the students? The study was conducted at Huaiyin…

The purpose of this study was to explore upper elementary reading classes in a low socio-economic area to determine the effects frequent praise, both academically and socially, have on the zone of proximal development in reading (ZPD[subscript RL], Renaissance Learning, 2006). A causal-comparative study was utilized by observing two groups of…