Calls for reforms in the ways we teach science at all levels, and in all disciplines, are wide spread. The effectiveness of the changes being called for, employment of student-centered, active learning pedagogy, is now well supported by evidence. The relevant data have come from a number of different disciplines that include the learning sciences,…

The Integrative Themes in Physiology (ITIP) project was a National Science Foundation-funded collaboration between the American Physiological Society (APS) and the Human Anatomy and Physiology Society (HAPS). The project goal was to create instructional resources that emphasized active learning in undergraduate anatomy and physiology classrooms.…

Active learning, which entails any class activity that "involves students doing things and thinking about the things that they are doing," stands as an important pedagogical practice. Discussion, the types of questions faculty ask students in class, role playing, cooperative learning, debates, and the types of questions faculty ask on examinations…

Even if the reader has little formal training or background knowledge in science, "Tools & Traits for Highly Effective Science Teaching, K-8" pulls together cognitive and educational research to present an indispensable framework for science in the elementary and middle grades. Readers will discover teaching that increases students' engagement and…

The primary purpose of this study was to determine the influence of the extent of agreement with the principles of Confucian philosophy on the learning preferences of students enrolled in a research extensive university in the southern region of the United States. This study also compared the extent of agreement with the Confucian philosophy and…

The National FFA Organization's Partners in Active Learning Support (PALS) is a program that utilizes high school members from FFA chapters as peer mentors. The purpose of this study was to examine needs of a sample of PALS advisors and mentors. An on-site pilot study was initially conducted, which included 3 individual interviews with program…

Challenged to re-consider his teaching practices, the author conducted a classroom research study designed to investigate and improve how he uses film to teach middle school students about history. He conducted this study in collaboration with his class of twenty-nine grade eight social studies students, who represented a range of ethnic…

Purpose: This paper aims to report empirical research investigating how school-based management (SBM) and paradigm shift (PS) in education are closely related to teachers' student-centered teaching and students' active learning in a sample of Hong Kong secondary schools. Design/methodology/approach: It is a cross-sectional survey research…

In this article we report assessment results from two studies in an ongoing design experiment intended to provide a single school system with a sequence of secondary school level (ages 14-18) computer technology courses. In our first study, we share data on students' learning as a function of the required introductory course and their pre-course…

This study examined critical thinking instruction in a required introductory communication course (N = 324). Experimental group participants received enhanced instruction using various active learning strategies, activities, and assignments. Results indicate significant improvement in their critical thinking skills. Implications for pedagogy and…

Collaborations between business and academia provide valuable opportunities for students to connect classroom learning with practical work experience. To effectively reach a significant number of students, one approach is to meld a real-world business project and classroom assignment into a realistic business scenario that can be addressed by…

Central to the argument about the influence of media on learning is how this influence is measured or ascertained. Conventional methods which comprise the use of true and quasi-experimental designs are inadequate. Several lessons can be learned from this observation on the media debate. The first is that, conventional methods of ascertaining the…

Included herein is the conference proceedings of the 27th Annual Conference on the Teaching of Psychology: Ideas and Innovations, sponsored by the Psychology Department of the State University of New York at Farmingdale. The conference theme for 2013 was: The Science of Learning. The Conference featured a keynote address by Victor Benassi, Ph.D.…

Student success was the motivation for evolving an individual project-based course into a project-centric curriculum. A one semester project was first extended across a sequence of three interrelated courses tied together through their focus on the success of small team projects that spanned those courses. This sequence was then targeted as the…

"Informal Forum," grounded in constructivism has been developed to foster active learning and deep understanding. Learning is an interdependent process, and is most effective when students construct their own meaning of knowledge. If one believes in the value of constructivist learning, it is important to teach how we preach in higher education.…