This study assesses an assignment for incorporating diversity into the principles of public relations course. The assignment is tailored to the challenges of using an active learning approach in a large lecture class. For the assignment, students write a goal, objectives, strategies, an identification of tactics, and evaluation plans for either…

Educational commentators have offered many pedagogical rationales for using Web 2.0 to support learning in higher education, and academics are being encouraged to find ways for their students to use social web technologies. Questions arise as to the value of these activities compared to more conventional assignments, and whether implementing such…

In recent years, educators and students are increasingly employing online collaboration applications such as Google Docs[TM] and PBWorks[TM] for group projects and assignments. Yet, the effectiveness of these emerging technologies has not been rigorously examined. Anchoring upon and informed by the existing literature, two design…

This paper presents a low-cost hands-on experiment for a classical undergraduate controls course for non-electrical engineering majors. The setup consists of a small dc electrical motor attached to one of the ends of a light rod. The motor drives a 2-in propeller and allows the rod to swing. Angular position is measured by a potentiometer attached…

This study investigated the effectiveness of portfolio-based writing assessment in EFL situations. Participants were 40 pre-intermediate young Iranian English learners. They were randomly divided into experimental and control groups of 20 each. The experimental group wrote on five pre-established topics from their coursebook. Their writings were…

This study brings together previous research on writing processes and Spanish heritage language (SHL) learners to obtain a clearer picture of these learners' writing behaviors in English and Spanish. Following a cognitive-oriented framework, the study explores planning time, execution time, monitoring time, accuracy, and fluency. Twelve SHL…

Googlitis, the overreliance on search engines for research and the resulting development of poor searching skills, is a recognized problem among today's students. Google is not an effective research tool because, in addition to encouraging keyword searching at the expense of more powerful subject searching, it only accesses the Surface Web and is…

Use of eportfolios for business communication students in an advanced two-quarter capstone brought an unexpected networking opportunity, in addition to their conventional use as a showcase for student writing and research. This article discusses how students developed their eportfolios. Then, through use of a course website providing an optional…

Technology-enhanced mathematics tasks were introduced to elementary pre-service candidates (n = 84) and in-service teachers (n = 38), who then, either in partners or small groups, created and taught inquiry-based lessons incorporating technology, with individual reflections. The lessons were coded using the following criteria: (a) The students…

This article argues that teacher-education programs often promote surface conceptions of inclusivity that limit preservice teachers' ability to understand and build upon the lived experiences of culturally and linguistically diverse youth. Conventional wisdom implies that teachers of color are native informants of these lived experiences; however,…

The Common Core State Standards produce a need to understand how digital tools can support literacy instruction. The purpose of this case study was to explore how a language arts teacher's integration of computers and iPads empowered and constrained her and the resulting classroom instruction. Constraining factors included (a) inadequate…

More than two decades of debate since the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) adopted the term information literacy have been marked by ongoing criticism of its associated definitions and standards. Some scholars and practitioners have argued for a critical information literacy, which applies the precepts of critical pedagogy to…

This assessment is used in a class titled Ethical Leadership as part of a graduate level principal preparation program. The assessment has been approved by NCATE as meeting all of the stipulated ELCC standards for which it is designed (ELCC 5.1, 5.1. & 5.3). The assignment has two sections. In the first section candidates are asked to…

This paper considers the factors that impact on student success in first year science mathematics courses at the National University of Ireland Maynooth (NUI Maynooth). These factors include previous performance in the subject, attendance at lectures and tutorials, the number of assignments submitted, and attendance at the Mathematics Support…

It is widely recognised that rapidly received feedback on assessment tasks has an important role to play in underpinning student learning and encouraging engagement. Within the Open University (OU), increasing use is being made of interactive computer-marked assignments (iCMAs), alongside more conventional tutor-marked assignments (TMAs). OU…