Broadening the intercultural awareness and international outlook of undergraduate students is best achieved through active rather than passive learning. The international student interview provides an excellent strategy for such active learning in introductory human geography classes. It allows American-born students to enter into a dialogue with…

It is argued that library media specialists should consider technology as integral to their jobs as they do literature and books and use it to create an active learning community. The many ways that technology can be used to enhance student achievement are discussed.

An oral examination for assessing senior undergraduate students is described. The examinations were conducted in a room with a one-way mirror so that all students could learn from each other. This procedure was much appreciated by the participants.

As students are first learning to construct mathematical proofs, it is often helpful for them to have the opportunity to see and evaluate proofs that others have written. In fact, several textbooks designed for use in a transition or bridge course include a few exercises in which students are given a proposed proof and asked to determine if it…

For students, theory is often one of the most daunting aspects of sociology--it seems abstract, removed from the concrete events of their everyday lives, and therefore intimidating. In an attempt to break down student resistance to theory, instructors are increasingly turning to active learning approaches. Active learning exercises, then, appear…

A new field of children's learning is emerging. This new field differs from the old in recognizing that children's learning includes active as well as passive mechanisms and qualitative as well as quantitative changes. Children's learning involves substantial variability of representations and strategies within individual children as well as…

In 4 experiments, students received a lesson consisting of computer-based animation and narration or a lesson consisting of paper-based static diagrams and text. The lessons used the same words and graphics in the paper-based and computer-based versions to explain the process of lightning formation (Experiment 1), how a toilet tank works…

Since MIT's bold announcement of the OpenCourseWare initiative in 2001, the content of over 700 of its courses have been published on the Web and made available for free to the world. Important infrastructure initiatives have also been launched recently with a view to enabling the sustainable implementation of these educational programmes, through…

An inquiry-based experiment on Sherlock Holmes adventure stories used to actively involve students in a series of laboratory experiments to prove the guilt of the accused murderer is presented. The result from such experiments showed that students were able to distinguish between sugar and possible poison.

This article discusses a project about birds and their nests undertaken by 3- to 5-year-olds in a preschool class in Florida. After a description of the center and the goal of the project, the three phases of the project are presented. Reflections of the teachers and photographs taken for documenting the project are also included.

This article consists of the second part of an interview with John Sole and David Schrader on the Redesign of the High Schools in Philadelphia: Integrating Project Project-Based Learning and the Architectural Process January 2006. The first segment examined the work of educator John Sole. He emphasizes an active, self-directed project-based,…

Schoolyard wildlife habitats aren't just for beauty and fun--they are outdoor classrooms where real science learning takes place. Schoolyard habitat projects involve conservation and restoration of wildlife habitat; however, the learning doesn't have to stop there--outdoor classrooms can foster many kinds of active learning across the curriculum…

Project-based Learning (PbL) mirrors that of real-world business situations. PbL engages students in real projects for real corporations. Furthermore, this is an effective learning methodology which can be easily incorporated into a dynamic and challenging learning context such as international business education. Engaging in student-corporate…

We tried to enrich teaching human anatomy in high school biology lessons. Students construct dichotomous identification keys to the cells, tissues, organs, or body parts. By doing this, students have achieved higher-order cognitive levels of knowledge because construction of such keys is based on analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. Students found…

There is a collective need to increase the use of inquiry-based instruction at the college level. This paper provides of an example of how inquiry was successfully used in the laboratory component of an undergraduate course in microbial ecology. Students were offered a collection of field and laboratory methods to choose from, and they developed a…