Combining field experience with use of information technology has the potential to create a problem-based learning environment that engages learners in authentic scientific inquiry. This study, conducted over a 2-yr period, determined differences in attitudes and conceptual knowledge between students in a field lab and students with combined field…

Although academic writing in higher education has been the focus of research efforts for more than two decades, the specific writing experiences, needs and difficulties of undergraduate nursing and midwifery students have remained largely under-researched. This article reports on a project that investigated the nature and dynamics of academic…

Audience Response Technology (ART) has been widely adopted on college campuses, and prior research indicates that, on average, it receives positive evaluations from students. However, research has not yet examined how characteristics of students as learners influence their responses to ART. The current study examined aptitude for learning,…

Traditionally, transmission of cultural knowledge between generations in Micronesia was the role of family, in particular parents and grand parents. To what extent is that role still important today? In this article, we draw on data obtained from questionnaires distributed to high school and primary school children throughout Micronesia in 2002…

Previous research and retention interventions have been primarily targeted towards the freshmen, first-year experience (Gardner, Pattengale, & Schreiner, 2000; Pattengale & Schreiner, 2000) and yet, sophomores are a uniquely vulnerable group with increasing levels of dissatisfaction and attrition (Boivin, Fountain, & Baylis, 2000).This article…

This study uses social network analysis (SNA) in an innovative way to describe interaction and explain how interaction influences sense of community of students in online learning environments. The findings reveal differences on sense of community between two similarly structured online courses, and show unique interaction patterns for students in…

Although much has been written about the use of video cases--particularly, video cases in teacher preparation programs in the United States--little is known about what the consumers of video cases (i.e., preservice teachers) think about such cases and how they are implemented in teacher education courses. This research investigated preservice…

This article describes a new automatic digital content generation system we have developed. Recently some universities, including Hosei University, have been offering students opportunities to take distance interactive classes over the Internet from overseas. When such distance lectures are delivered in English to Japanese students, there is a…

The decision on whether to offer end-of-course evaluations in an electronic format or in traditional scan sheet format generates conflicting viewpoints. From an expediency perspective, offering evaluations online saves time and money and returns the results to faculty more quickly. From a student point of view, concerns involve convenience and…

This paper presents the methodology and results of teaching an entire engineering course using challenge-based instruction. The challenges consisted of eight biomechanics multimedia learning modules developed by the authors as part of a broader NSF educational coalition. The biomechanics modules were presented in an undergraduate mechanical…

Colleges of Business (COBs) have experienced high growth rates in the past decade and many colleges are imposing minimum grade point average (GPA) requirements for students to enter or remain in the college. A primary reason for this requirement may be the belief that students with high GPAs are more inclined to demonstrate higher-order cognitive…

According to many students, introductory physics is difficult. We investigated what students believe makes physics difficult and what can be done to overcome these difficulties. Our investigation included an initial free-response survey given to approximately 1400 students in an introductory physics course and a second survey, which was given to…

The purpose of the study was two fold, first the need to determine the extent to which college students indicated that at least one significant faculty relationship had made a difference in their ability to persist in school and second, the need to examine some of the characteristics of those relationships to determine if they were caring…

The purpose of this brief commentary is to determine which language skill Polish higher school learners think ought to be practiced most frequently during EFL classes. Twenty-seven male and female undergraduate students who study at AGH University of Science and Technology, Poland were surveyed, and the authors found that most learners (70%)…

This paper reports the findings of a study that sought to identify particular centrally held beliefs of secondary mathematics teachers that underpinned the establishment of classroom environments that were consistent with the principles of constructivism. The nine crucial beliefs identified were held by one or other of two teachers and emerged…