Lectures remain the primary method of instruction in higher education despite several limitations: Students typically lose interest during hour-long lectures, lectures lead to rote learning by some students, and lectures do not lead to development of higher-level conceptual thinking skills. As an alternative to a lecture on the topic, an active…

This paper examines a non-equivalent quasi-experimental research effort, wherein two versions of a two week Project Based Learning unit were developed, implemented, and assessed. Students used a collaborative GIS or paper maps to support data analysis activities in this eighth grade Earth science unit. Attitude and self-efficacy in science as…

Teaching is a scholarly activity and a life-long learning process with no single method or pedagogy that is always most effective. Applications of teaching pedagogies properly vary from content-based to discipline-based areas. In this paper, various teaching pedagogies, including scaffolding, concept mapping, constructivism, and learning…

This article explores the integration of technology into community engagement and service-learning activities at Tennessee State University (TSU). We have used active learning experiences to develop action-oriented research questions that help both students and local community members connect theory with experience and thought with action through…

This study followed a small but diverse group of biology teachers through the first two years of the pilot for a new Advanced Level Biology course--Salters-Nuffield Advanced Biology. SNAB aims to modernise A-level Biology using real world contexts and examples as the starting point, promoting conceptual understanding rather than factual recall,…

These proceedings contain the papers and posters of the International Conferences on Internet Technologies & Society (ITS 2016), Educational Technologies (ICEduTech 2016) and Sustainability, Technology and Education (STE 2016), which have been organised by the International Association for Development of the Information Society and…

This volume synthesizes the scholarship and practice of the teaching and learning of psychology to create a practical handbook for faculty who work with undergraduates in this discipline. Section 1 establishes the framework with "Principles for Quality Undergraduate Psychology Programs" (Cynthia Baum, and others). Section 2 reviews seven critical…

This study examined characteristics of passive and active learners among college students enrolled in remedial classes and students enrolled in regular academic classes. Active learners are typically analytical, focused on task, tolerant of new ideas, curious, adept at processing information, able to develop other ways to solve a problem,…

This book advocates that teachers of history create for their students a workshop environment where they actually can practice being historians. Adolescents, rather than thinking analytically, prefer to identify strongly with heroes and heroines and to explore their own lives and identity, character and convictions, through heroic stories. This…

Some misconceptions surround youth organizations and their contribution to career and occupational development. The first myth is that student youth organizations have diminishing value to today's vocational education students. The truth is that vocational educators have identified strong vocational student organizations (VSOs) as an essential…

Active learning results in better comprehension and retention of course concepts than passive learning. Experiential exercises (EE's) are a valuable means of achieving the goals of active learning. Well conceived EE's require, among other things, that the student: (1) engage in the gathering of concept-related behavioral data; (2) write a report…

The purpose of this guide is to make available to teachers both curriculum ideas and information about the craft of instruction, and provide information about their adaptation to differing circumstances. Chapter 1 of the guide addresses the "theoretical framework" including the issue of active versus passive learning. Chapter 2 addresses…

The 18 papers in this proceedings describe strategies and practices used in undergraduate psychology courses at two- and four-year colleges. The following presentations are included: "The Costs and Benefits of Critical Thinking," (Randall E. Osborne, Judy Laws, Ken Weadick, and Vicki Mantooth); "What's a Developmentalist To Do?" (Judith Luis);…

Students in an undergraduate course in abnormal psychology annually employ a cooperative active learning model to conduct a 4- to 6-day, values-oriented public policy forum (PPF) within the class itself on a general topic of concern to the field of mental health. A comprehensive and structured five-phase model for a PPF is detailed for course…

Using feature films to teach undergraduate psychology courses can promote active learning for several reasons. Films can reach students with a variety of learning styles, including those with a visual approach to learning. Also, students seem to enjoy commercial films and their use can help decrease levels of monotony from daily lectures. Feature…