Have you ever thought about which pigments are found in tattoos and how laser treatment eliminates the pigmentation? In pursuit of losing weight, have you considered why artificial sweeteners are advertised as low calorie? During a four-week South Carolina Governor's School course, "Got Bio?", high school students were introduced to the…

Lecture is the approach traditionally used to teach music theory courses. Although efficient in the delivery of large amounts of information in a short period of time, lecture lacks the effectiveness of an active learning approach. "Theory Survivor" is a unique cooperative-learning method based on the Student Teams-Achievement Divisions technique…

The purpose of this study was to investigate and characterize current practice in secondary history education and its relationship to best practices. In this phenomenological study, the author examines the pedagogy of three high school history teachers and the extent to which their current methods exhibited recent thinking on best practices in…

The informal activities of cooperative learning and short periods of lecturing has been combined and used in the university teaching of biochemistry as part of the first year course of Optics and Optometry in the academic years 2004-2005 and 2005-2006. The lessons were previously elaborated by the teacher and included all that is necessary to…

For this essay, the author takes as an organizing premise Jodi O'Brien and Judith A. Howard's notion of responsible authority--that "teaching is a value-based activity" in which educators should be striving to engage students in academic pursuits in order to create a moral citizenry. That is, educators need to acknowledge that they wield the power…

Two studies examined the free recall for course content of 314 American undergraduate students across various course levels. The purpose was to examine how students' memories and level of understanding for introductory materials would differ from those of more advanced classes. Across all class levels, the most frequently listed items were…

This article presents the text of a lecture delivered to an imaginary History of Education class in the year 2084. In the lecture, the speaker explains that historians have often come across evidence of human activities and beliefs which seem to them odd or even inexplicable. The latter half of the twentieth century was remarkable for the number…

In delivering a core science course to pre-health-related majors, the authors sought ways to engage students, make material relevant to life-long learning, and present it in a memorable way. Their goals were to present scientific content fused with history, ethics, public policy, and art in such a way that the students would be provided a unique…

This paper describes two studies, one a pilot and the second, an enhanced study, that compare problem-based learning and lecture-based learning in library instruction for first-year engineering students. Two distinct assessment strategies were used to provide empirical evidence that supports the use of problem-based learning as an effective…

The implementation of constructivist teaching strategies has vast professional benefits in nursing education through the promotion of critical thinking skills, as students must demonstrate success on the National Council Licensing Examination for Registered Nurses and ultimately perform competently within the nursing profession. While literature…

This article discusses how an active learning environment was created in a community college class and a high school mathematics class using the same approach. In both settings the NCTM and AMATYC Standards, such as problem solving, communication, use of technology and alternate assessment, were fully embraced. The goal was to have students take…

This paper deals with the features and design of explanations in public physics lectures. It presents the findings from a comparative study of three exemplary public physics lectures, given by practicing physicists who are acknowledged as excellent public lecturers. The study uses three different perspectives: the lecture, the lecturer, and the…

The inclusion of digital multimedia into teaching and learning has changed instructional strategies in the classroom. While this course has been traditionally given in lecture-based environment, an attempt was made to move it towards a more multimedia-mediated environment to provide a student-centred approach in teaching the principles of…

Despite their flaws as teaching and learning environments, large lectures remain a standard teaching approach because of their relatively low cost, ease of preparation, and long tradition in education. Research shows that active inquiry yields positive results in learning outcomes, and one way to make the large lecture class more active and…

This investigation examined the course experiences of Bachelor of Education Primary students across each year of the course. The aims of the study were to identify gaps in what we know about our students; to identify relevant domains in student experiences and to assist with course improvements. A reflective inquiry paradigm was adopted for…