Light and spectroscopy are among the most important and frequently taught topics in introductory college-level general education astronomy courses (hereafter Astro 101). This is due to the fact that the vast majority of observational data studied by astronomers arrives at Earth in the form of light. While there are many processes by which matter…

In the history of public education in America, standard lecture format has dominated classroom pedagogy, casting students in the role of passive absorbers of information, while teachers have been viewed as the undisputed locus of all knowledge and authority in the classroom (Burgan, 2006; Kruidenier & Morrison, 2013; Liu, Lin, Jian, &…

Mobile devices like smartphones and tablet PCs are widely used among university students and can be used for audience response systems (clicker systems) to improve teaching. Modern implementations of these systems are no longer limited to plain multiple-choice questions, but enable the lecturers to perform a variety of teaching scenarios. We…

Personal response systems, such as clickers, have been widely used to improve the effectiveness of teaching in various classroom settings. Although hand-held clicker response systems have been the subject of multiple prior studies, few studies have focused on the use of cell phone-based personal response system (CPPRS) specifically. This study…

Previous research suggests that undergraduate research methods students doubt the utility of course content and experience math and research anxiety. Research also suggests involving students in hands-on, applied research activities, although empirical data on the scope and nature of these activities are lacking. This study compared academic…

There is much in the literature about the perks and pitfalls of introducing lecture capture technology (LCT) into the classroom, with recommendations and guidelines as well as mixed reports outlining the ensuing expected and unexpected, in terms of positive and negative outcomes. With the goal of providing another student study resource, LCT was…

Lecturers in higher education in Norway are encouraged to take a researcher's attitude to their own teaching methods to determine what works best. This study looked at what environmental factors are successful criteria for further education courses. The research was based on information from three pedagogic entrepreneurship courses for Norwegian…

To optimize learning in lectures, students need to maintain a sustained level of attention to the lecture material. Previous research has suggested, however, that student attention declines over the course of the lecture. One strategy suggested to improve sustained attention of students during the lecture is to encourage note-taking by students.…

The use of videotaped microlectures as a new medium of teaching has been receiving increased attention in China's educational reform agenda. Since 2012, microlecture competitions targeting various levels of education have been held nationwide. However, a top-down contest-based approach, while efficiently popularizing the concept of microlectures,…

After spending several years investigating the needs of non-native English speakers in undergraduate courses at a large public university, it became apparent to Jenifer Rice that one of the main challenges facing these students is speaking up during large lecture classes. In such classes, two specific speaking skills students need are (1) asking…

This paper summarizes my experience with teaching a first-year, General Chemistry course to a visually impaired student. This includes accommodations and modifications for both the lecture material and the laboratory. Included are also examples of formats and syntax for txt-based quizzes, tests, and laboratory reports, as well as other general…

The design of balanced assembly lines, especially when considering workforce, material, and cycle time factors, is an important managerial decision-making activity in manufacturing firms. Numerous active learning activities are available to assist instructors in teaching assembly line balancing to students. While effective in improving student…

An interactive chart of energy metabolism with didactic function, complementary to the already existing metabolic maps, located at the URL www.metpath.teithe.gr is being presented. The chart illustrates the major catabolic and biosynthetic pathways of glucose, fatty acids, and aminoacids, individually as well as in an integrated view. For every…

Small group learning activities have been shown to improve student academic performance and educational outcomes. Yet, we have an imperfect understanding of the mechanisms by which this occurs. Group learning may mediate student stress by placing learning in a context where students have both social support and greater control over their learning.…

This paper explores the impact of lecturers' individual current doctoral study on their own and collective constructions of self in a changing Higher Education (HE) policy context. It focuses on how lecturers, drawn from a professional knowledge background, make sense of new institutional requirements for new lectures to have doctorates. The…