Two sections of an introductory microbiology course were taught by one instructor. One was taught through a hybrid format and the other through a traditional format. Students were randomly assigned to the two sections. Both sections were provided with identical lecture materials, in-class worksheets, in-class assessments, and extra credit…

The internationalisation of universities often means that the language of learning and teaching needs to be changed -- at present most commonly to English. Apart from English-speaking countries, then, most European universities offer their degree programmes in a language that is not the first language of either the students or the teachers. This…

Nursing students are expected to apply knowledge from lectures and laboratories to the clinical setting. One major challenge of nursing educators is facilitating the transfer of knowledge to the clinical-practice setting. Simulation-based education provides students with an experiential-learning activity within the context of a simulated clinical…

Technology facilitated teaching and learning can now influence the way both lecturers and students collaborate. The problem is that many of these interventions are conducted in a non-systematic ad-hoc way. There are concerns that merely adopting a traditional lecturing approach to a technology based environment provides little if any advantage to…

Chickering and Gamson's notable summary of the best practices of undergraduate teaching include promoting active learning, cooperation, and student-faculty contact. The present study hypothesized that online delivery of lecture prior to course meetings allows more in-class time to achieve these goals. Students in a control group received a…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the efficacy of providing students with access to formatted copies of lecture notes based on the PowerPoint slides used by the instructor. The research question was as follows: "Can first-year students taking the ARTS 1110 Introduction to University course be taught how to make better use of online…

This descriptive survey research studied innovation for transformation in Nigeria university education: implications for the production of critical and creative thinkers. Thus, students' perception of knowledge generation and dissemination by university lecturers were elicited. From a population of registered students in a Nigerian university, 200…

Numerous models have been constructed to aid teaching respiratory mechanics. A simple model using a syringe and a water-filled bottle has been described by Thomas Sherman to explain inspiration and expiration. The elastic recoil of the chest wall and lungs has been described using a coat hanger or by using rods and rubber bands. A more complex…

The discovery of a Victorian-era microscope slide titled "Grouped Flower Seeds" began an investigation into the scientific and historical background of the antique slide to develop its usefulness as a multidisciplinary tool for PowerPoint presentations usable in contemporary biology classrooms, particularly large-enrollment sections. The resultant…

We investigated the influence of music during learning on the academic performance of undergraduate students, and more particularly the influence of affects induced by music. Altogether 249 students were involved in the study, divided into a control group and an experimental group. Both groups attended the same videotaped lecture, with the…

First-year engineering students often complain about their mathematics courses as the significance of the difficult and abstract calculus to their field of study remains unclear. We report on the project "MathePraxis", a feasibility study which was designed as a means to give first-year students some impression about the use of…

It is now widely acknowledged that water management discipline is transforming, from being a public health and flood prevention challenge of the nineteenth century to a multi-dimensional challenge of water security for the twenty-first century. In order to train water engineers to be capable of working with this holistic multi-dimensional…

The application of podcasting for educational purposes is growing fast in universities. There are several benefits of this asynchronous, direct communication and interaction between teacher and student. Nonetheless, the benefits, the pedagogical value of podcasting the traditional lecture format, have come into question. Furthermore, issues have…

"Facebook" is a popular platform that may facilitate learning activities at university. In this study, students' perceptions of using ""Facebook" pages" within individual university subject offerings were evaluated. Individual ""Facebook" pages" were developed for four university courses and used…

The learning of solving multi-step problems is a relevant aim in chemical education for engineering students. In these questions, after analyzing initial data, a complex reasoning and an elaborated mathematical procedure is needed to achieve the correct numerical answer. However, many students are able to effectively use algorithms even with a…