While the "scientific" debate about school dropouts has ensued, some have taken matters into their own hands, creating successful non-school based programs on the arts for at-risk youth based. Their efforts demonstrate powerful results for learning and human development. We suggest that it is time to incorporate this knowledge base, and…

This paper reveals the extent to which undergraduate students demonstrate transformative learning whilst on international fieldwork in Barcelona, Spain. Groups of students create a series of discrete active learning situations that allow them and their peers to engage more fully with their locale and in turn experience a deeper understanding of…

We present an approach to Intelligent Tutoring Systems which adaptively personalizes sequences of learning activities to maximize skills acquired by students, taking into account the limited time and motivational resources. At a given point in time, the system proposes to the students the activity which makes them progress faster. We introduce two…

One econometric rule of thumb is that greater dispersion in observations of the independent variable improves estimates of regression coefficients and therefore produces better results, i.e., lower standard errors of the estimates. Nevertheless, students often seem to mistrust precisely the observations that contribute the most to this greater…

This essay adopts an interpretive methodology of relevant literature to explore the limitations of accounting education when it is taught purely as a technical practice. The essay proceeds from the assumption that conventional accounting education is captured by a positivistic neo-classical model of decision-making that draws on economic rationale…

The challenge of better reconciling individual and collective aspects of innovative problem-solving can be productively addressed to enhance the role of PBL as a key focus of the creative process in future higher education. This should involve "active learning" approaches supported by related processes of teaching, assessment and…

This paper sets out to describe and analyze issues relating to the role of new literacies and technologies in the teaching process. More specifically, the article deals with how the educational design process of Ancient Greek changes through the implementation of technology by using online discussion protocols. These were utilized as a tool for…

In comparison to attention given to research methods for education students at postgraduate level, the offering of research methods for education students at undergraduate level is less often considered. Yet, it is agreed that research methods for undergraduate level students is important for shaping student attitudes, learning and achievement in…

The AIDA Model (Attention-Interest-Desire-Action) is one of the classical promotional theories in marketing. Through active-learning techniques and peer critiques, we use infomercials as an innovative educational tool to instruct the four components of the AIDA model. Student evaluations regarding this active-learning assignment reveal that the…

In the subject Project I in the second year of the Degree in Industrial Technology Engineering taught at the School of Industrial Engineering of Barcelona (ETSEIB), subgroups of 3-4 students within groups of 20 students develop a project along a semester. Results of 2 projects are presented related to manufacturing, measurement of parts and the…

This study examined 6th graders' use of the VoiceThread app as part of a science inquiry project on photosynthesis and carbon dioxide emissions in terms of their ability to engage in causal reasoning and their use of the affordances of multimodality, collaboration, interactivity, and connectivity. Students employed multimodal production using…

Viruses are all around--and within. They replicate inside the cells of living organisms. An estimated 1.6 million to 40 million of them occupy each cubic meter of the air people breathe. The activity described in this article helps students understand how the structure of a virus allows it to infect a specific set of organisms and cell types.…

This study investigated the effects of a 1-year professional development (PD) based on a cognitive apprenticeship model of research experiences on inservice teacher self-efficacy of science teaching, motivation, knowledge calibration, and perceptions of inquiry of 19 secondary earth science and biology teachers. The PD facilitator, who serves a…

Detailed accounts of teaching can shed light on the nature and prevalence of active learning, yet common approaches reduce teaching to unidimensional descriptors or binary categorizations. In this paper, I use the instructional systems-of-practice framework and the Teaching Dimensions Observation Protocol (TDOP) to advance an approach to thinking…

This study investigates the unexpected emergence of a community of practice in a middle level mathematics and science methods course. The authors describe how preservice teacher participation in a collaborative, project-based service-learning experience resulted in the formation of a community of practice characterized by teamwork, meaningful…