As educators interested in pedagogical uses of technology, we utilize the internet to improve students' knowledge and awareness of the world beyond our own national borders. Web-based technologies offer us resources for our courses and can play an important role in promoting a more active style of learning from our students. Yet when teaching…

This paper identifies an interdisciplinary, five-step process, built upon existing theory and best practices in cognitive development, effective learning environments, and outcomes-based assessment. The "Process for the Development of Higher Level Thinking Skills" provides teachers with an easy to implement method of moving toward a more…

Ethiopia is a developing country that has invested extensively in expanding its educational opportunities. In this expansion, there has been a drastic restructuring of its system of preparing teachers and teacher educators. Often, improving teacher quality is dependent on professional development that diversifies pedagogy (active learning). This…

In an English as a second language (ESL) or English as a foreign language (EFL) class, special emphasis is often put on interaction and negotiation as a means of learning and understanding the language being taught (Long, 1981; Pica, 1994). However, student-student interaction as well as student-teacher interaction could be difficult to achieve in…

Over the last 2 decades, Irish schooling and society have gone through a period of significant structural and policy-driven change. To meet the emerging needs of the knowledge/learning society, schools and teachers are challenged to develop their capacities as "active learning communities". This places greater demands on teachers and…

Nursing schools are facing demands to admit and graduate increasing numbers of students to meet the needs of the future healthcare system. Nursing schools must therefore admit, retain and graduate qualified applicants, able to provide care in complex healthcare environments. Educators are challenged to identify the best educational practices to…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide assessment guidelines which help to implement research-based education in science and technology areas, which would benefit from the quality of this type of education within this subject area. Design/methodology/approach: This paper is a reflection on, and analysis of, different aspects of…

The National Science Foundation (NSF) Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST) program provides a unique opportunity to assess a broad spectrum of professional development projects that share key characteristics but were designed to meet distinct local school and community contexts. To better understand how innovative…

Face-to-face bioinformatics courses commonly include a weekly, in-person computer lab to facilitate active learning, reinforce conceptual material, and teach practical skills. Similarly, fully-online bioinformatics courses employ hands-on exercises to achieve these outcomes, although students typically perform this work offsite. Combining a…

In order to improve teaching and learning within a faculty, an action research intervention involving peer observation of teaching staff via an expert was designed and implemented. A total of ten staff (including the first author) were observed over the year. The process consisted of observation at class, a written report, discussion between…

This article will be a reflective report, made by participants, facilitators and tutors, on the first stage of a project entitled "Mentalentity", which had as its brief the promotion of positive attitudes to mental health among men in rural areas. The arts "product" is a 25-minute film made by a group of men in South Armagh…

This qualitative interpretative study serves to identify and compare the verbal discourse practices exhibited by students in traditional and inquiry-based undergraduate labs for non-science majors and to identify factors in both lab contexts that would facilitate and / or inhibit student participation in the discourse practices of the labs.…

Student-centered learning is an approach in education focusing on the needs of the students, rather than those of others involved in the educational process, such as teachers and administrators (Blumberg, 2009). This approach has many implications for the design of curriculum, course content, and interactivity of courses (O'Neil & McMahon,…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of grade level and gender on elementary school students' motivation towards science learning. A total of 2231 sixth and eight grade students participated in the study. Data were collected through Students' Motivation towards Science Learning Questionnaire. Two-way Multivariate Analysis of…

Inquiry-based instruction is gaining favor in college classrooms because it improves scientific skills as well as critical thinking. As we seek ways to improve science education, elementary school is increasingly becoming an embattled component because of decreased time spent on science during those years. The approach that elementary educators…