This research aims to answer the question, "in what ways do mediated learning environments support or hinder learner autonomy?" Learner autonomy has been identified as one important factor in the success of mediated learning environments. The central aspect of learner autonomy is the control that the learner exercises over the various aspects of…

This paper describes how new roles for instructors and learners can be integrated into course design and delivery by rethinking course design as part of a process-based staff development program. The goal of incorporating online learning tasks was to engage students with course resources prior to class time through active learning. The staff…

This work describes a 2-year study in teaching school science, based on the stimulation of higher thinking levels in learning science using a highly student-centred and constructivist learning approach. We sought to shift and strengthen students' positive attitudes towards science learning, self-efficacy towards invention, and achievement.…

Based on a categorization of simulation and gaming barriers developed in a previous study, this work seeks to explore in greater depth the composition and nature of these obstacles. It examines the interrelationships between the barriers and the impact of other contextual factors in the pedagogic environment. A series of in-depth interviews were…

This paper discusses how to increase the diversity of engineering education by making it more relevant and gainful for all students, as well as more attractive to women. Questions were raised whether, and in which ways the problem-based and project-based learning (PBL) method is apt for increasing gender diversity from both the quality and the…

This article describes a six-week long exercise that incorporates a dynamic learning approach into an e-commerce or Internet technology business law elective course; the exercise pursues an entrepreneurial approach to the use of an appropriate business model by emphasizing the interaction between technology, business, and law. This active learning…

Online teaching and learning are becoming part of the fabric of the mainstream public and private university system. As such, more and more feminist teachers are feeling the pressure to teach online and hybrid courses or even to integrate course management software into their face-to-face classes. The strategies the authors describe in this…

Bioinformatics education for undergraduates has been approached primarily in two ways: introduction of new courses with largely bioinformatics focus or introduction of bioinformatics experiences into existing courses. For small colleges such as Kalamazoo, creation of new courses within an already resource-stretched setting has not been an option.…

This article identifies the curiosity in marketing thinking and offers ways to teach for marketing thinking through an environment that fosters students' curiosity. The significance of curiosity in its relationship with thinking is that when curiosity is absent, so is thinking. Challenges are discussed in recognizing the fragility of curiosity…

Jane S. Halonen is the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of West Florida, where she insists on teaching introductory psychology each fall. She was employed in various roles at Alverno College for 17 years and also served for 5 years as the Director of the School of Psychology at James Madison University. Past president of…

This paper argues that Amartya Sen's ("Development as freedom," New York: Random House, 1999) concept of "capabilities" provides a useful framework for interpreting the brokering of learning provisions that emerged as a key feature of reforms to education and training in Queensland (Australia) for young people. Sen's capability…

Children personally construct explanations of natural phenomena, some of which differ from currently accepted scientific explanations. The replacement of personal explanations with scientific explanations, as well as the development of concrete, formal, and post-formal reasoning patterns, requires self-regulation in which alternative explanations…

Evidence suggests that college students' concentration levels are limited and hard to maintain. Even though relevant in higher education, scant empirical research exists on interventions to "re-set" their concentration during a college lecture. Using a within-subjects design, four active learning interventions are administered across two…

This article examines the growing body of literature on service learning as a pedagogical tool within political science. It also reports the results of a service learning experiment used in a course on State and Local Politics. Students completed service learning projects that combined community service, attendance at local political meetings…

Assigning a grade to students' class contribution may be 1 of the most controversial and difficult challenges that instructors face. The authors examine the perceived fairness of class contribution grading methods from the perspective of the performance appraisal literature. In 2 scenario studies based on actual grading techniques, the authors…