The author describes how the production and reception of popular culture can be studied in secondary classrooms using Wendy Griswold's cultural diamond to better understand the homogenizing of content and the limiting of alternative viewpoints.

These three condensed design cases provide a glimpse of the decisions undertaken by novice designers in a graduate-level message design course. The course helps students examine the role of communication theory, cognitive psychology, cultural influence, and design skills within the context of instructional messages both in theory and through…

The purpose of the study was to investigate the level of digital skills within a group of university students in Papua New Guinea and their ability to meaningfully engage within the digital world. The study also aimed to explore whether the traditionally recognized digital divide continues between genders and place of origin, and between years of…

Science is full of amazing facts, but at times it may be difficult to fully appreciate their significance without an understanding of the scientific practices that gave them meaning. The teaching of evolution may be an example of this situation; there are many interesting facts to consider, but it is equally important for students to learn where…

Student reactions to grades can be unpredictable. Students may complain about grades, sometimes angrily, even when they receive a moderately high grade. This study looks at beliefs about the self as predictors of students' reactions to an average grade received on a hypothetical assignment. It examines the effect of a student's self-efficacy with…

Teacher educators' practices include providing written feedback to preservice teachers. Aims of written feedback include providing information to preservice teachers about their ideas and practices as well as sustaining ongoing relationships. In this article we argue that factors mediating written feedback practice support the informational…

This article outlines a semester-long advocacy project that walks students through the steps to develop a successful advocacy campaign, culminating in a trip to the state capitol to "lobby" legislators. The manuscript provides faculty with the basic structure for the project and suggests gradable assignments. The project builds on the…

The flipped classroom has the potential to improve student performance. Because flipping involves both preclass preparation and problem solving in the classroom, the means by which increased learning occurs and whether the method of delivering content matters is of interest. In a partially flipped cell biology course, students were assigned online…

Physiology students grapple with large amounts of subject content and hence memorize facts to pass examinations. In parallel, students display limited critical-thinking and creative skills, integration abilities, and/or a deeper engagement with subject content. This study aimed to assess the feasibility of introducing active learning methods…

This article describes how an international education component for an Advertising and Society course was developed and taught for undergraduate students through a virtual collaboration between American and Dutch universities. The creation and implementation of a Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) project for a major requirement…

Using data on students at a Canadian business school, this article studies the effect of homework assignments and in-class quizzes on exam performance. Based on a difference-in-difference approach, assignments had a statistically discernible positive impact on exam grades for the overall sample. When broken down by gender, assignments had a…

This study sought to better understand students' experiences with instructor feedback on writing assignments. Undergraduate students (n = 162) completed an online survey about the frequency, type, and nature of feedback they received from instructors, their feedback preferences, their satisfaction with feedback, and their use of feedback. Findings…

The present study investigates the usage of speech like expressions in written works of Turkish learners of English. It also aims to find out the differences between C1 and B1 level learners in terms of the frequency and types of speech like expressions. The participants in this study were 21 B1 and 33 C1 level students at a state university in…

This paper reports on the development and piloting of a new model of multiplechoice question (MCQ) assessment used in two undergraduate degree modules at a tertiary university. The new model was purposefully designed to promote deeper learning closely aligned with the SOLO taxonomy. Students were invited to participate in an exploratory…

This qualitative study explores networked collaborative learning in the context of an online undergraduate education course, analyzing the talk, thinking, and media that students jointly produced during a discussion hosted via video conference. Our work speaks to recent interest in online instruction, particularly in post-secondary institutions,…