Co-invention projects in elementary school engage pupils in complex, open-ended design tasks in a practical, hands-on way. Physical materials are an intrinsic part of design, involving trasformation of conceptual ideas into material forms, such as prototypes. These tangible objects mediate embodied thinking and act as material-social mediators of…

In this innovative project, a social sciences librarian partnered with a sociology professor to embed the "Authority is Constructed and Contextual" frame into an upper-division sociology of poverty course. Students in this course participated in an experiential learning project, collaborating with local children on a participatory photo…

Participating in undergraduate research yields positive outcomes for undergraduate students, and universities are seeking ways to engage more students in undergraduate research earlier in their academic careers. Typically, undergraduate students perform research either as part of an apprenticeship where a student receives individual mentorship in…

This account of practice offers an example of the use of action learning within the undergraduate Degree Apprenticeship Curriculum of a UK university, specifically the Chartered Manager Degree Apprenticeship. This programme is aimed at an age-diverse group who are supported by their employers through the levy to improve their knowledge, skills and…

The new educational paradigm has led to a change in the teaching methodologies toward those more focused on the student, among these, project-based learning (PBL) is postulated as one of the most promising. This work is focused on the description of the experience of using PBL methodology in Materials Science courses, conducted by four different…

Dynamics of Machine Elements is a junior-level course in mechanical engineering that covers the kinematics (motion) and kinetics (causes of motion) of machine elements such as linkages, cams, and gear trains. This paper describes the results of adding a Rube Goldberg Machine Contest® project to the course to address student concerns over the lack…

Student-led design projects undertaken within healthcare settings raise considerable ethical challenges, primarily resulting from collaboration with service users. This article emerged out of the experiences of design from a New Zealand university undertaking real world projects in acute health care contexts. A human-centred approach to design is…

This article is aimed at justifying sensible use of inventive tasks in physics teaching. The justification will encourage teachers to form learners' creative thinking; in particular, the course of physics has the great potential for forming learners' creative thinking. Being adapted to the course of physics, the basic stages to solve inventive…

If the movement toward more project-based learning is to be successful, it's essential to understand what teachers need to do to be effective in a project-based classroom. Pam Grossman, Christopher G. Pupik Dean, Sarah Schneider Kavanagh, and Zachary Herrmann surveyed experts and teachers and viewed classroom videos to identify a set of core…

Project-/Problem-Based Learning (PBL) creates dynamic learning environments, incorporates various stimuli, allows learners to gain valuable experiences that extend to real-world applicability, and should be considered as a primary delivery method in STEM classes. The application and benefits of PBL in STEM classes are limitless. Students learn…

Many competing voices are speaking about the state of American education and how it should be reformed in the best interest of students. Topics such as teachers unions, charter schools, and standardized tests are at the center of many of these discussions. How do we decipher what to believe amid such conflicting perspectives concerning these…

A laboratory-safety course has been developed that is designed to introduce first-year graduate students to the array of dangers associated with research in the chemical sciences. We describe the challenges of creating an impactful course that seeks to convey practical laboratory-safety information in a classroom setting for students with a…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to gain a better understanding of the challenges academics face today in developing a knowledge-based economy. In response to these challenges, the authors developed a collaborative approach to enhancing the learning experience for engineering management (or industrial engineering) capstone design courses. The…

Numerous institutions encourage service-learning, but few have extended beyond nonprofit realms to include (1) larger budgets, (2) multi-faceted volunteer/staff/leadership constraints, and (3) elevated expectations with immediate impact on full towns. This study explores how strategic communication students construct knowledge in branding and…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to better understand how faculty approach teaching statistics. This study sought to further understand the instructional strategies professors' use and how faculty try to improve academic success in a statistics course.