As a generic and diversified pedagogy, cooperative learning (CL) reaches out to the field of intercultural education with an offer to establish a reciprocal relationship. After a short description of the diversity of CL and a brief exploration of the influence that culture has on learning, this paper depicts how the partnership between CL and…

In this article, the author describes the use of active and collaborative learning strategies in an undergraduate sociological theory course. A semester-long ethnographic project is the foundation for the course; both individual and group participation contribute to the learning process. Assessment findings indicate that students are able, through…

Because quantitative biology requires skills and concepts from a disparate collection of different disciplines, the scientists of the near future will increasingly need to rely on collaborations to produce results. Correspondingly, students in disciplines impacted by quantitative biology will need to be taught how to create and engage in such…

Error correction is a classroom activity that rarely interests the students. When students are given back their written tests they are interested in the mark earned--not the errors made. This case study used cooperative learning as a technique for correcting students' errors in order to motivate them, raise their attention, and encourage them to…

Recent significant advances in automatically predicting user learning styles are described. The system works with new client-based systems that filter Web pages and provide easy, structured, focused, and controlled access to the Internet. A first system called iLessons was embedded within Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 and provided teachers with…

This study uses a Vygotskian approach and a socio-cultural lens, as well as the Transactional Reading Theory to investigate how "social interactions" and "literary transactions" can combine through "buddy reading" to empower young readers and promote "literacy" in a first grade classroom. The research focuses on how literary transaction and social…

The "What's the "matter" With XOD" activity addresses students' misconceptions and refines their ideas about phases of matter. This activity introduces the characteristics for solids, liquids, and gases, and begins a discussion about physical and chemical changes and how matter can cycle through different phases. Depending on class size and…

Cooperative learning has increasingly become a popular form of active pedagogy employed in academic institutions. This case study explores the relationship between cooperative learning and academic performance in higher education, specifically in the field of communication. Findings from a questionnaire administered to undergraduate students in a…

The diversity of fieldwork education models and practices ranges from mandatory to voluntary, from graded to ungraded, from paid to unpaid spectrums and they vary in length from less than a week to up to one year. Colleagues who work in the same university but in different schools, faculties or campuses are often so busy working within their…

From Web-based software to smartboards to the omnipresent MP3 player, technology can revolutionize the way children create, comprehend, and master music. Best yet, proponents say, technology is often able to light a spark among students who otherwise might be turned off by more traditional music education practices. None of this is a major…

Mineralogy is a core topic for tertiary geoscience programs worldwide. We report on the use of laboratory group work as an effective and integral part of a new introductory mineralogy curriculum at the University of British Columbia. The new laboratory curriculum was developed by incorporating student feedback with evidence-based pedagogies. These…

E-learning has become an increasingly important teaching and learning mode in educational institutions and corporate training. The evaluation of E-learning, however, is essential for the quality assurance of E-learning courses. This paper constructs a three-phase evaluation model for E-learning courses, which includes development, process, and…

This paper contains results of an empirical study that tested the efficacy and acceptability of two templates designed to fully involve students in proper and fair peer-assessments of their group project work (GPW) by providing concrete evidence of independent progressive documentation of their peers' contributions to the work-process and…

Teacher education in the 21st century is encountering increased scrutiny, added pressure, and escalating external regulations but does not have practical and immediate solutions for improving programs. While reforms in teacher education call for additional and improved clinical practice for candidates, through strengthened partnerships with local…

Computer technology is used as a mediational tool to support collaborative instructional methods. Computer support offers a platform for collaboration with the goal of scaffolding students' understanding, providing increased agency to the student for their own learning, and motivating students, as participants in a PBL process. In online PBL,…