In this paper, I present the findings of a self-study into my teaching practices as a sociology-of-education lecturer working in the pre-service teacher education programme of a regional university in New South Wales, Australia. The principal data source is a logbook of the teaching practices which characterised several tutorial classes taught in…

The use of the Internet as a teaching tool continues to grow in popularity at colleges and universities. We consider, from the students' perspective, the use of an Internet approach compared to a lecture and lab-based approach for teaching an introductory course in statistical methods. We conducted a survey of introductory statistics students.…

Maintaining student concentration in lectures has long been a challenge for lecturers. Pedagogical research consistently finds a drop in attention between 10 and 30 minutes into the lecture, which has been associated with the passive nature of the standard format, and has consequences for learning approaches and outcomes. A similar phenomenon has…

This article describes the authors' attempts to make a college mathematics class more hands-on and interactive. The authors challenge other college mathematics instructors to try similar approaches to enhance the learning and understanding of their students.

Instructors often use Microsoft PowerPoint lectures and handouts as support tools to provide students with the main concepts of the lectures. Some instructors and researchers believe that PowerPoint encourages student passivity. We conducted 2 studies to determine whether the use of content-based questions (CBQs) would enhance learning when…

The fundamental attribution error (FAE) is the tendency to overestimate dispositional and underestimate situational causes for others' behavior (Ross, 1977). Undergraduate students (N = 155) explained the causes of a person's "bad day." The experimental group completed responses after viewing a documentary on Jonestown and discussing situational…

The term "flexible education" is now firmly entrenched within Australian higher education discourse, yet the term is a contested one imbued with a multiplicity of meanings. This paper describes a process designed to elucidate how the idea of flexible education can be translated into teaching models that are informed by the specific…

A summer academy is held for grade 9-12 high school students at the University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada, every year. The academy, dubbed the Da Vinci Engineering Enrichment Program (DEEP), is a diverse program that aims to attract domestic and international high school students to engineering and sciences (and possibly recruit them). DEEP…

In many parts of the world, the state education system is accompanied by a shadow system that mirrors the school curriculum. In England, most provision in the shadow system is through private, one-to-one tutoring, offered by those working independently and through local, regional and national agencies. International surveys indicate that shadow…

Abundant research and literature suggest the unreflective use of PowerPoint (PPT)-type presentations to deliver core content in higher education classes may have a negative effect on student learning (Driessnack, 2005; Kinchin et al. 2008; Maxwell, 2007). Many students rely heavily on downloadable notes from electronic delivery to the exclusion of…

This study investigated the breakdown effect of a listening comprehension test, whether test takers are affected in comprehending lectures by impediments, and collected test takers' cognitive awareness on test tasks which contain listening breakdown factors how they perceived these impediments. In this context of the study, a "Breakdown" is a test…

Lecture/presentation capture is a gradually emerging technology at many colleges and universities and will likely increase in use because students prefer courses that offer online lectures over traditional classes that do not. Many capture products also allow faculty to segment and edit lectures, add/exchange notations, view lectures on mobile…

Two experiments were conducted to assess an online version of Keller's personalized system of instruction, called computer-aided personalized system of instruction (CAPSI), as part of a blended learning design with regard to course knowledge and critical thinking development. In Experiment 1, two lecture sections of an introduction to University…

The present article discusses the design and impact of computer-based visualization tools for supporting student learning and representational competence in science. Specifically, learning outcomes and student representation use are compared between eight secondary classrooms utilizing The Connected Chemistry Curriculum and eight secondary…

We studied student seating habits in both a traditional lecture hall with the instructor in the front and in a SCALE-UP (Student-Centered Activities for Large Enrollment Undergraduate Programs) studio-style classroom with the instructor in the middle. Like several previous authors, we find that students with higher course grades tend to sit in the…