In this article Donald Philip describes Knowledge Building, a pedagogy based on the way research organizations function. The global economy, Philip argues, is driving a shift from older, industrial models to the model of the business as a learning organization. The cognitive patterns of today's Net Generation students, formed by lifetime exposure…

In recent years, the information and communication technology (ICT) has created a significant impact on the methods of communicating information and knowledge to the learners and, consequently, innovative teaching techniques have evolved to change the way teachers teach and students learn. In this paper, the focus is on a study which was conducted…

We carried out an experiment to determine whether student learning gains in a large, traditionally taught, upper-division lecture course in developmental biology could be increased by partially changing to a more interactive classroom format. In two successive semesters, we presented the same course syllabus using different teaching styles: in…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present a "soft methodology" model in knowledge management that addresses the problem of accessing and managing one particular type of knowledge: personal (implicit/tacit) knowledge. Design/methodology/approach: The model is based on the theories and methodologies of grounded theory, adult…

In this article, the authors describe two kinds of interventions aimed at changing classroom behavior in technology classrooms to create a more welcoming environment for girls. The educational materials they developed and successfully piloted take the form of carefully structured interactive skits and collaborative group exercises involving the…

Distance education has been offered to young students in Australia for about 100 years. Recently, information and communication technology has been introduced as a means to improve communication, but not all remote students have access to this new technology. This has made it difficult to arrange collaborative learning for distance-education…

The use of pair and small group activities in the second language (L2) classroom has been supported by both theoretical and pedagogical arguments. However, L2 researchers and practitioners have expressed concerns about their use in some instructional contexts. This small-scale study explored instructors' and learners' perceptions about the use of…

TeamXchange, an online team-based exercise, is described. TeamXchange is consistent with the collaborative model of learning and provides a means of fostering enhanced student learning and engagement through collaboration in virtual teams experiencing periodic membership changes. It was administered in an undergraduate Organizational Behavior…

Students of the pedagogy of teaching have found that cooperative/problem-based learning activities engage the learner, promote ownership of the material, advance the development of higher-level cognitive skills and increase retention better than more passive learning activities. Despite broad recognition within the political science discipline…

Drawing on the work of researchers in several disciplines, this article describes and discusses methods which can be used for analysing joint activity during computer-based, side-by-side, collaborative activity in educational settings. It is argued that the choice of methods in any particular study should take into account the range of…

The purpose of this study was to examine the student performance and student satisfaction in two courses offered by the University of Minnesota to in-service career and technical education teachers who were preparing to teach occupational programs at the high school or technical college level. The study compared the student performance and…

In this article, the author examines the inquiry talk of a small group of bilingual children discussing the text "Oliver Button Is a Sissy". The children raised many questions about the story and about issues of gender. The major focus of this article is on the participants' inquiry talk and the context that mediated their talk. The author uses…

In an environment, in which English is a second or other language for every student, fear and anxiety affect students' learning and engagement. Yet, in spite of these concerns, students welcomed the chance to practice their spoken English in cooperative structures while learning about and engaging in their composing processes. English language…

Background: To overcome the "teacher bandwidth problem" in supporting large groups of students, both automated process support (cueing) and face-to-face feedback by peers during small group work (collaboration) can be provided to students. Aim: The purpose of this experimental study was to examine whether a multimedia practical…

New teaching methods are needed to match the industrial team oriented environment and to accommodate a variety of learning styles. A novel approach used at Washington State University replaces most lectures with a combined cooperative, hands-on, active, and problem based learning pedagogy. Students work in structured groups, with hands-on modules…