This article presents the findings of a study of the interrelationships between students' individual characteristics, self-efficacy beliefs, parental involvement, university and classroom learning environments; teachers' individual characteristics, teaching efficacies, university and classroom learning environments, teacher outcomes and approaches…

This paper presents the structure of an undergraduate course entitled "programming techniques and the use of specialised software in structural engineering" which is offered to the fifth (final) year students of the Civil Engineering Department of Aristotle University Thessaloniki in Greece. The aim of this course is to demonstrate the…

In this study the discipline of collaborative inquiry is employed to prepare aspiring administrators to lead for equity. Educational leadership students are required to conduct a site-based collaborative inquiry resulting in an Equity Plan signature assignment. As they develop their Equity Plans, emerging leaders also participate in a…

Inter-group peer evaluation through wikis was implemented as a method for senior capstone design teams to improve writing and the critical evaluation of data. Each group was evaluated by peers using a qualitative discussion and evaluated quantitatively by instructors. Students had an increased interest in contributing to online knowledge centers,…

The objectives of this project were to: i) describe the experience of implementing Problem-Based Learning in an online course over three consecutive academic years, ii) analyse the learning environment generated, iii) discuss impacts on students' active participation, based on the analysis of their interactions. The participants were 30 students,…

Many teachers see major difficulties in maintaining academic standards in today's larger and more diversified classes. The problem becomes more tractable if learning outcomes are seen as more a function of students' activities than of their fixed characteristics. The teacher's job is then to organise the teaching/learning context so that all…

Since the inception of the No Child Left Behind Act, school accountability has increased dramatically. The federal government has taken a much more active role in public education than it did prior to NCLB becoming law. Schools across the United States are working diligently to meet increased accountability standards. As schools and districts meet…

As battery producers and vendors, legislators, and the consumer population become aware of the consequences of inappropriate disposal of batteries to landfill sites instead of responsible chemical neutralization and reuse, the topic of battery recycling has begun to appear on the environmental agenda. In the United Kingdom, estimates of annual…

The study presents an analysis of student papers at the end of a problem-based course designed to create an active learning environment and encourage a deep approach to learning. It explores the achievement and participation characteristics of students claiming to have "learned nothing" and suggests the impact of student resistance. (Contains 3…

Researchers are skeptical about the role of authoritative sources of information in a constructivist learning environment for fear of usurping students' critical thinking. Taking a social semiotics perspective in this study, authoritative sources are regarded as inscriptions of cultural artifacts, and science learning involves meaning-making of…

The Cornell Critical Thinking Test (CCTT) is one of the many multiple-choice tests with validated questions that have been reported to measure general critical thinking (CT) ability. One of the IFT Education Standards for undergraduate degrees in Food Science is the emphasis on the development of critical thinking. While this skill is easy to list…

Project-based learning and academic integration are integral parts of the automotive technology program at Greenville High School. This Ohio comprehensive school has used both of these strategies for the past 15 years and their success is reflected in nine state SkillsUSA gold medals and one bronze, in addition to eight gold medals earned at the…

Constructivist learning theories promote students' engagement as one of the key factors in successful learning and knowledge building. Research indicates that the short attention span of adult learners, their need to "learn-by-doing," interact and multitask in the learning process can be accommodated with a positive outcome by…

Evidence supporting Problem-based learning (PBL) fostering students' self-directed learning (SDL) in hybrid PBL curricula is inconsistent. To explore the influence of PBL in a hybrid curriculum on students' SDL, the authors investigated the following: (1) students' self-assessed SDL ability, (2) students' perceptions of the influence of curricular…

This paper focuses on theory and research issues associated with the use of hypermedia technologies in education. It is proposed that viewing hypermedia technologies as an enabling infrastructure for tools to support learning--in particular learning in problem-based pedagogical environments involving cases--has particular promise. After…