This paper presents the first experimental evidence on the effects of live versus internet media of instruction. Students in a large introductory microeconomics course at a major research university were randomly assigned to live lectures versus watching these same lectures in an internet setting, where all other factors (e.g., instruction,…

Have you ever found yourself lecturing a child, with the best of intentions, in an attempt to help him or her learn a lesson or process a situation in a manner that you feel will be productive? Curiosity questions, which the authors also call What and How questions, help children process an experience, event, or natural consequence so that they…

As an astronomy instructor I am always looking for commonly experienced Earthly phenomena to help my students and me understand and appreciate similar occurrences elsewhere in the solar system. Recently I wrote short "TPT" articles on frost and precipitation. The present article is on winds in the solar system. A windy day or storm might…

In order to achieve their course learning outcomes, public affairs instructors can train students to solve real community problems (SRCP). This approach focuses on the learners themselves and aims to transform the role of college professors from traditional teaching (lecturing) to facilitating and coaching students' learning activities. This study…

Three emerging technologies were used in a large introductory chemistry class: a tablet PC, a lecture capture and replay software program, and an online homework program. At the end of the semester, student usage of the lecture replay and online homework systems was compared to course performance as measured by course grade and by a standardized…

A study to compare the effectiveness of an in-person library orientation with an online asynchronous orientation was conducted with three sections of Social Work Research Methods, a required course in the University of Iowa's Master of Social Work program. Two sections of the course received an online orientation involving short videos, text and…

Video lectures are fast becoming an everyday educational resource in higher education. They are being incorporated into existing university curricula around the world, while also emerging as a key component of the open education movement. In 2007, the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV) implemented its poliMedia lecture capture system for…

A growing number of studies have shown that interteaching produces better student-learning outcomes than more traditional teaching methods such as lecture. But to date, no studies have directly examined whether interteaching is differentially effective for students who typically earn either good or bad grades in their courses. In this study, we…

Changing demographics, student diversity, and increased accountability have compelled educators to challenge the uniform constraints of traditional instruction and create an environment focused on individual achievement. Differentiated instruction empowers teachers to target multiple learning styles through varied themes, adapted content delivery,…

This is the final paper in a five-paper series describing our national study of the teaching and learning of cosmology in general education astronomy college-level courses. A significant portion of this work was dedicated to the development of five new "Lecture-Tutorials" that focus on addressing the conceptual and reasoning difficulties that our…

The purpose of this study was to compare the traditional teaching method of Concepts of Fitness (CF) with a teaching method using the Internet as an instructional supplement. Participants in the study were 52 students (27 male, 25 female) from a four-year institution of higher learning. Participants were enrolled in a required, general education…

A significant issue mathematics instructors face is how to cover all the material. Mathematics teachers of all levels have some external and internal pressures to "get through" all the required material. The authors define "the coverage issue" to be the set of difficulties that arise in attempting to cover a lengthy list of topics. Principal among…

An online, lecture/laboratory course in Human Physiology was run in two sections in five consecutive summers. In each year, the two sections were identical in content, assignments, and assessments but were different in duration; the shorter section was 1 mo and the longer section lasted 2 mo. The shorter section had a higher enrollment and a…

Florida Atlantic University implemented a number of changes in the College Algebra course in an attempt to improve student success. We summarize these changes, and how they have affected the course. We also discuss possibilities for future improvements. (Contains 3 figures and 1 footnote.)

This study investigated gender differences in science learning between two pedagogical approaches: traditional lecture and narrative case studies using personal response systems ("clickers"). Thirteen instructors of introductory biology classes at 12 different institutions across the USA and Canada used two types of pedagogy (Clicker…