The past few decades have witnessed an increasing separation of research and teaching, particularly in the area of undergraduate education. Supporters of such a separation have argued that involvement of undergraduates in research is incompatible with the idea of the research university. However, one of the founding principles of the research…

Fifty-five American preservice elementary teachers' personal science teaching efficacy (PSTE) beliefs, science anxiety (SANX) levels, and common science misconceptions were investigated during a science methods course. A significant increase in the PSTE scores and a slight--but statistically insignificant--decrease in the SANX scores were detected…

As the use of project-based learning becomes more frequent in the K-12 science classroom, and in chemistry classrooms in particular, teachers have begun to identify practical questions about implementation that should be addressed empirically. One such question concerns whether there is an ideal group size that fosters individual student…

Two significant problems faced by universities are to ensure sustainability and to produce quality graduates. Four aspects of these problems are to improve engagement, to foster interaction, develop required skills and to effectively gauge the level of attention and comprehension within lectures and large tutorials. Process-Oriented Guided Inquiry…

Recent conditions in America's economy have resulted in a period of paradox as high unemployment continues to trouble America at the same time as employers complain about millions of unfilled jobs due to a serious skills gap in the nation's workforce. The prevalence of this economic situation in Charlotte, North Carolina, has caused the Olympic…

Students must learn content knowledge and develop scientific literacy skills to evaluate and use scientific information in real-world situations. Recognizing the accessibility of scientific information to the average citizen, we developed an instructional approach to help students learn how to judge the quality of claims. We describe a…

When does a scientific mentality begin, and why? Vertebrate paleontologist Edward Drinker Cope (1840-1897), known for Cope's Rule--that organisms of a species tend to get larger over time--recorded observations of "Ichthyosaurus," an extinct marine reptile, at the tender age of 6. He was obviously an inquisitive child. What about students of…

This paper presents an analysis of introducing active methodologies in the Computer Architecture course taught in the second year of the Computer Engineering Bachelor's degree program at the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), Spain. The paper reports the experience from three academic years, 2011-2012, 2012-2013, and 2013-2014, in which…

Team-based learning (TBL) is a form of student-centered active learning in which students independently study new conceptual material before it is treated in the classroom, and then subsequently spend considerable classroom time working in groups on increasingly challenging problems and applications based on that new material. TBL provides…

Emotional labor refers to the process by which workers manage their emotions to align with organizational rules (Hochschild, 2012). In the classroom, the discussion of emotional labor was found to be a contentious issue, with students debating the validity of the concept and/or not understanding its relationship to status. The purpose of this…

Two critical problems facing the software (S/W) industry today are the lack of appreciation of the full benefits that can be derived from Software Verification and Validation (V&V) and an associated problem of shortage of adequately trained V&V practitioners. To address this situation, the software V&V course curriculum at the author's…

Work-integrated learning (WIL) is increasingly identified as essential to helping creative arts students' transition from university into the creative industries workplace. Off-campus activities, such as work placements, play a major role in educating work-ready graduates. At the same time, increasing enrolment numbers in creative arts education…

Active learning can engage high school students to learn science, yet there is limited understanding if active learning can help students learn challenging science concepts such as genetics and biotechnology. This quasi-experimental study explored the effects of active learning compared to passive learning regarding high school students'…

Recently there has been considerable interest in the role of first language use in second/foreign language learning, especially where students share a common first language. However, most research has focused on in-class interaction between teachers and learners. Much less attention has been given to students' out-of-class practices, for example,…

DSGN110 was a multidisciplinary course teaching first year students enrolled in in a variety of majors about design thinking. The course is offered for the majors of architecture, landscape architecture, interior design, community and regional planning, along with computer science and business students. By blending face-to-face and online…