To be actively involved in their own writing requires that students make decisions. In order to build a new approach for our Technical/Professional Writing classes, we assessed our individual teaching practices and past experiences, studied current scholarship on teaching writing, and conducted research on technical writing in our local community.…

The present study examined the reliability of student evaluations of summer undergraduate research experiences using the SURE (Survey of Undergraduate Research Experiences) and a follow-up survey disseminated 9 mo later. The survey further examines the hypothesis that undergraduate research enhances the educational experience of science…

The idea of engaging students in discussions of teaching and learning has not had as much attention in Greece as in some other countries. As a new high school teacher confronting the problem of motivating reluctant learners I drew on the research I had undertaken on pupil voice for my M.Phil. The research was concerned with features of pedagogy…

Interactivity in the classroom is reported to promote a more active learning environment, facilitate the building of learning communities, provide greater feedback for lecturers, and help student motivation. Various definitions of interactivity exist in the literature, alternately focusing on the participants, structure and technology. The "PLS…

The research on formative assessment and feedback is reinterpreted to show how these processes can help students take control of their own learning, i.e. become self-regulated learners. This reformulation is used to identify seven principles of good feedback practice that support self-regulation. A key argument is that students are already…

Purpose: To describe an exploration in the use of synergistic learning methods in the delivery of an innovative pilot programme designed to teach entrepreneurship capacities. The programme took a tripartite approach involving nascent entrepreneurs, existing entrepreneurs and facilitators using an action research and action learning approach.…

This study describes the experiences of 10- and 11-year-old students with building science models during a unit on weather. With the teacher, we prepared and gathered materials for the students to use in the building of dynamic physical models demonstrating the key features of the weather concepts they were learning. An important aspect of the…

The learning style individual difference factor has long been a basis for understanding student preferences for various learning activities. Marketing educators have been advised to heavily invest in tailoring course design based on the learning style groups in their classes. A further exploration of the effects of learning style differences on…

Classroom discussion is a frequently used "active learning" strategy; however, a dilemma this strategy produces is what to do about students who are less inclined to volunteer. This study examines an environment which uses cold calling and graded participation to include more students in discussions. The results suggest that despite widespread…

There is a nascent literature on the question of whether active learning methods, and in particular simulation methods, enhance student learning. In this article, the authors evaluate the utility of an international relations simulation in enhancing learning objectives. Student evaluations provide evidence that the simulation process enhances…

This paper describes a pedagogical technique employed for an interdisciplinary course on Cold War America. Students had to "become" a fictional person and discuss how political and social changes during the Cold War era would have impacted that person. By doing a semester-long project that required primary source research, this…

Comprehensive professional development is rarely offered to graduate students, yet would assist students to obtain employment and prosper in their careers. Our objective was to design a course framework to provide professional development training to graduate students that is comprehensive, minimizes faculty workload, and provides enculturation…

This paper reports on the experiences of a small collaborative inquiry group consisting of a high school science teacher, Deidre, and two university researchers, the authors of this paper, as they explored an active, inquiry-based approach to teaching and learning referred to as Problem-Based Learning or PBL (Barrows, 1994; Barrows & Tamblyn,…

This essay traces two teachers' experiences crossing spaces in a combined literature and history seminar where students explore American culture and diversity and engage in service learning. The model has evolved from paired classes with collaborative activities to a student-centered environment promoting active learning. This article offers…

Secondary vocational-technical education programs in Mississippi are faced with many challenges resulting from sweeping educational reforms at the national and state levels. Schools and teachers are increasingly being held accountable for providing true learning activities to every student in the classroom. This accountability is measured through…