This paper describes one instructor's experiences during a year of flipping four calculus classes. The first exploration attempts to understand student expectations of a math class and their preference towards a flipped classroom. The second examines success of students from a flipped classroom, and the last investigates relationships with student…

The flipped classroom approach was implemented across three semesters of a College Algebra course. This paper is part of a larger design and development research study and focuses on student perceptions of the flipped classroom teaching approach. Qualitative methodology was used to describe how students perceived the instruction of their College…

There is a tendency for lecture-based instruction in large introductory science courses to strongly focus on the delivery of discipline-specific technical terminology and fundamental concepts, sometimes to the detriment of opportunities for application of learned knowledge in evidence-based critical-thinking activities. We sought to improve…

Massification in higher education in Sub-Saharan Africa is an ongoing reality that poses particular challenges and opportunities for these nations (Mohamedbhai, 2008). Like Scott (1995), we use the term massification to refer to the rapid increase of students attending higher education institutions in the latter part of the 20th century and into…

A modified model of cooperative learning known as the GIG model (for group-individual-group) designed and implemented in a large enrollment freshman chemistry course. The goal of the model is to establish a cooperative environment while emphasizing greater individual accountability using both group and individual assignments. The assignments were…

Universities have experienced increases in technology ownership and usage amongst students entering undergraduate programs. Almost all students report owning a mobile phone and many students view laptops and tablets as educational tools, though they also report using them for nonacademic activities during lectures. We explored the relationship…

Mathematics' skills and knowledge lay the basis for engineering studies. However, the resources targeted to mathematics' teaching are in many cases very limited. During the past years in our university the reduction of mathematics' contact hours has been significant while at the same time the study groups have grown. However, the mathematical…

One of the difficulties in teaching global sustainability in the introductory political science classes is the different emphases placed on this concept and the absence of the consensus on where the overall balance between environmental protection, economic development, and social justice should reside. Like many fuzzy concepts with which students…

We report the student response to a two-year transformation of a one-semester organic chemistry course for nonchemistry majors. The transformed course adopted a peer led team learning approach and incorporated case studies. Student attitudes toward the course transformation were assessed throughout the semester, and adjustments to the methods were…

Three studies (N = 1119) were conducted to replicate and expand upon Kearney, Plax, Hays, and Ivey's seminal research on instructor misbehaviors. In study 1 (n = 233), a replication of Kearney et al.'s study revealed 43 categories of perceived instructor misbehaviors; 27 of the misbehaviors were originally identified by Kearney et al. and 16 new…

Academic listening skill is an indispensable necessity for English for academic purposes (EAP) students in English-medium universities and also critical for their future success in comprehending conference lectures. But due to the specific nature of such academic lectures, nonnative students all too often face challenges in getting a full command…

A flipped classroom approach promotes active learning and increases teacher-student interactions by maximizing face-to-face class time (Hamdan, McKnight, Mcknight, Arfstrom, & Arfstrom, 2013). In this study, "flipped classroom" is combined with the use of technology and is described as an instructional approach that provides lectures…

Mathematics is full of surprises and beauty. In this article, the author discusses three favourite topics that he finds both amazing and amusing: (1) the problem of the possibility of subdividing a rectangle into a number of different squares; (2) the arrangement formed when several soap bubbles meet; and (3) circles and spheres.

In my previous article on apparatus named after physicists and physics teachers, I discussed five relatively common pieces of apparatus from the 1875-1910 era. Now I will go back to the 18th and early-19th centuries to discuss eponymous apparatus that we are still using in lecture demonstrations. [For Part I, see EJ912907.]

Probation is little used as a frame of reference in academic development literature. Frequently, the focus is on evaluating teaching qualifications for new lecturers. Less often investigated is the issue of situating such a course within the overall experience of new academics, to consider the role that teaching qualifications have within wider…