This paper explores the effect of digital differentiation on student performance using a randomized experiment. The experiment is conducted in a second year biology class among 115 prevocational students in the Netherlands. Differentiation allowed students in the treatment group to work at three different levels. The results show that there is a…

This paper examines possibilities and challenges when implementing distance teaching of theoretical content in a regionalized medical program (RMP). It will be argued that Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) and the concepts of dominant and non-dominant activities, including conflicts and transitional actions, can lead to an understanding…

Context: Simulations and standardized patient (SP) encounters are used to provide clinical experiences for students. In athletic training, no research has examined the perceived educational benefits of these interventions. Objective: To explore athletic training students' perceptions regarding small group SP encounters and individual case-based…

Microblogs, with their interactive nature, can engage students in community building and sensemaking. Using Weick's model of organizing as a framework, we integrated the use of micromessaging to increase student engagement in the large-lecture classroom. Students asked significantly more questions and asked a greater diversity of questions…

Early Words Together is a National Literacy Trust programme that develops young children's communication, language and literacy through the support of families by peer volunteers. Over six weeks, the programme brings practitioners and volunteers together to enable target families to improve their home learning environment for children aged two to…

Completion rates for massive open online classes (MOOCs) are notoriously low, but learner intent is an important factor. By studying students who drop out despite their intent to complete the MOOC, it may be possible to develop interventions to improve retention and learning outcomes. Previous research into predicting MOOC completion has focused…

The authors, in a nonexperimental randomized study, used national data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Cohort (ECLS-K) to examine present instructional practices for Grade 5 mathematics classrooms and its impact on achievement for White non-Hispanic non-English language learners (ELLs), Hispanic non-ELLs, and Hispanic…

Massively open? College unbound? What are the roots of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), and how much of a trend is it? What promises and anxieties do MOOCs bring to higher education, academic leaders, and faculty? 2013 has witnessed one of the most rapid and enthusiastic adoptions of educational innovation in history, generating numerous…

We study user behavior in the courses offered by a major massive online open course (MOOC) provider during the summer of 2013. Since social learning is a key element of scalable education on MOOC and is done via online discussion forums, our main focus is on understanding forum activities. Two salient features of these activities drive our…

At the University of Maine, middle and high school science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) teachers observed 51 STEM courses across 13 different departments and collected information on the active-engagement nature of instruction. The results of these observations show that faculty members teaching STEM courses cannot simply be…

This article presents a method for utilizing technology to increase student engagement in large classroom formats. In their lives outside the classroom, students spend considerable time interfacing with media, and they are receptive to information conveyed in electronic formats. Research has shown that multimedia is an effective learning resource;…

Applied linguistics affords Linguists the opportunity of solving language related problems using various methods. In this paper, we x-ray the Nigerian University classroom situation in the teaching of the English language viz-a-viz the use of functional interactive method. Following Littlewood (1981) and Krashen (1982), we posit that the teaching…

This paper presents a case study in which multi-age students (aged 6-12, N?=?32) in small groups made autonomous inquiries about the phenomenon of winter fishing within the framework of design-oriented pedagogy. The research analyzed storytelling videos that the students produced as learning objects. These videos revealed a picture of the…

In 2014, Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are expected to witness a phenomenal growth in student registration compared to the previous years (Lee, Stewart, & Claugar-Pop, 2014). As MOOCs continue to grow in number, there has been an increasing focus on assessment and evaluation. Because of the huge enrollments in a MOOC, it is impossible…

Interactive-engagement (IE) techniques consistently enhance conceptual learning gains relative to traditional-lecture courses, but attitudinal gains typically emerge only in small, inquiry-based curricula. The current study evaluated whether a "scalable IE" curriculum--a curriculum used in a large course (~130 students per section) and…