Although teachers today use a variety of teaching methods in content-area classrooms, lecture learning and note-taking still comprise a considerable portion of time in these classes. Unfortunately, most students are poor note-takers, typically recording only about one quarter of lecture notes. Strategic note-taking was developed to assist students…

With the advent of technologies that allow lecturers to develop presentations using software such as Microsoft PowerPoint, Apple Keynote, and OpenOffice Impress (referred to generically here as "slideware"), lectures and meetings are beginning to resemble cinematic experiences rather than the text filled transactions that have been the norm for…

It is widely acknowledged that traditional teaching methods such as lectures, textbooks and case study techniques on their own are not adequate to improving the most in-demand employability skills for graduates. The aim of this article is to explore the potential impact that novel learning and teaching methods can have on improving the…

Over the past eight years we have undertaken iterative cycles of course reform in two introductory biology courses: Biology 111 and Biology 211. Our revisions of these formerly "traditional" lecture courses have included in-class case studies with and without peer facilitators and peer-facilitated small-group workshops. Based on analyses…

Inverted teaching, not to be confused with hybrid learning, is a relatively new pedagogy in which lecture is shifted outside of class and traditional homework is done in class. Though some inverted teaching (IT) designs have been published in different fields, peer-reviewed reports in university chemistry remain quite rare. To that end, herein is…

This article considers the effects on universities of Gutenberg's invention of printing. It considers four major effects: the gradual displacement of Latin as the language of scholarship with vernacular languages, the expansion and eventual opening of libraries, major changes to curriculum, and major changes to pedagogy including lectures.…

The current discourse surrounding Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) is powerful. Despite their rapid and widespread deployment, research has yet to confirm or refute some of the bold claims rationalizing the popularity and efficacy of these large-scale virtual learning environments. Also, MOOCs' reputed disruptive, game-changing potential…

We report conceptual inventory results of a large-scale assessment project at a large university. We studied the introduction of materials and instructional methods informed by physics education research (PER) (physics education research-informed materials) into a department where most instruction has previously been traditional and a significant…

High school students have had some difficulties in understanding chemistry due to traditional ways of teaching this specific science. It is important to improve teaching methods that increase student motivation, not only to enhance their capacity for understanding, but also to generate a greater level of interest in the study of chemistry for…

We describe a third-year undergraduate course that focuses on multiscale modeling and protein folding and has as its primary goal the encouragement of students to integrate thinking across and beyond disciplinary boundaries. The ability to perform innovative and successful research work in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics)…

For many years, surveys have shown that lecture is the dominant method for teaching principles of economics (Watts and Schaur 2011; Watts and Becker 2008; Becker and Watts 1996, 2001a, b). The authors confirm this and augment it by asking why principles instructors teach the way they do. The respondents, 340 principles instructors at the 2012…

This dissertation shows the evolution of five undergraduate students' ideas of natural and anthropogenic climate change throughout a lecture hall course on climate change. This research was informed by conceptual change theory and students' inaccurate ideas of climate change. Subjects represented different levels of climate change understanding at…

The relation between lecture attendance and learning is surprisingly weak, and the role of learning styles in this is poorly understood. We hypothesized that 1) academic performance is related to lecture attendance and 2) learning style influences lecture attendance and, consequently, affects performance. We also speculated that the availability…

The participation of Spain in the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) involves a number of important challenges for academics. Adapting to an educational model that is characterised by competence-based teaching is a difficult task, yet it is of paramount importance in the context of current reforms. In an educational system in which the…

Real Analysis is a required class for most undergraduate mathematics majors, but it is also one of the most difficult classes they will take. In this article, the author compares two approaches to teaching in the two analysis classes she has taught. The first one was taught in a traditional lecture-homework-exam format, while the second was taught…