Disciplinary Literacy is about to go from theory to game plan--taking students from superficial understanding to deep content expertise. And guess what? ReLeah Lent's big secret lies in highlighting each content area's "differences"--advancing a discipline-specific model in which literacy is used as a tool for strategic thinking,…

Today's schools face challenges that go beyond those of the 20th Century, in addition to the more recent impact of No Child Left Behind. Common core standards and stipulations found in the recent Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) call for new academic programs and ways for teachers to implement them. Integral to the ESSA are techniques for…

Renee Clary and James Wandersee implemented the Stratigraphy and Data Interpretation Project described in this article when they recognized that some students were having difficulties constructing appropriate graphics and interpreting their constructed graphics for an earlier mathematics-science project in their classrooms. They also previously…

This article presents the use of a model-centric approach to facilitate software development projects conforming to the three-tier architecture in undergraduate software engineering courses. Many instructors intend that such projects create software applications for use by real-world customers. While it is important that the first version of these…

The power of stories is well documented. Scott Russell Sanders (1997) maintained that stories have the power to build community and help us see the world through others' eyes. Furthermore, Sanders (1997) asserted that "stories teach us that every gesture, every act, every choice we make sends ripples of influence into the future" (p. 3).…

This study proposes an advanced method to factor in the contributions of individual group members engaged in an integrated group project using peer assessment procedures. Conway et al. proposed the Individual Weight Factor (IWF) method for peer assessment which has been extensively developed over the years. However, most methods associated with…

Evolutionary experiments are usually difficult to perform in the classroom because of the large sizes and long timescales of experiments testing evolutionary hypotheses. Computer applications give students a window to observe evolution in action, allowing them to gain comfort with the process of natural selection and facilitating inquiry…

Student engagement is vital in enhancing the student experience and encouraging deeper learning. Involving students in the design of assessment criteria is one way in which to increase student engagement. In 2011, a marking matrix was used at Aston University (UK) for logbook assessment (Group One) in a project-based learning module. The next…

Despite numerous calls for science education to be driven by authentic investigation, many laboratory experiences continue to consist of disconnected weekly units during which students carry out instructions that lead to some predetermined finding. This study developed and evaluated a pedagogical design for introductory biology labs where students…

Broadening participation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers requires that underrepresented students, including women and minorities, persist in their studies and complete undergraduate and graduate degrees. Studies have shown that engaging students in undergraduate research and improving students' science…

This paper introduces agile learning, a novel pedagogical approach that applies the processes and principles of agile software development to the context of learning. Agile learning is characterized by short project cycles, called sprints, in which a usable deliverable is fully planned, designed, built, tested, reviewed, and launched. An…

Background and Purpose: Grand Rounds is a teaching methodology that has existed in various forms in medical education for centuries. When a student-run pro bono clinic identified a growing challenge of providing continuity of care for clients and a lack of preparedness in students, they implemented a Grand Rounds model of case presentation within…

This study used structured online interviews with teachers to examine the impact that inquiry-based teaching methods had on their students. The research question was the following: What are the effects on student learning and motivation as a result of teachers using problem-based and project-based learning? Interviews were conducted with 36…

Systems Analysis and Design (SA&D) is the cornerstone course of a traditional information system curriculum. Conventionally, it is a sequence of two courses with the second course dedicated to the completion of a project. However, it has recently become more common to reduce the two-course sequence into one, especially for IS departments that…

Collaboration technologies play an increasingly important role in student teamwork in universities. With the proliferation of collaboration systems on the market and the wide range of features they offer, choosing an appropriate system can be an overwhelming task for college students. In this paper, the authors present an empirical study that…