To incorporate active and collaborative teaching methods early in our curriculum, we have developed a freshman design laboratory. The course introduces numerous core concepts and lab skills, by way of seven teaching modules, including spectrometer construction and a collaborative project with seniors. Survey data show students enjoyed and learned…

Research in design of Web-based modules should incorporate aging as an important factor given the diversity of the current workforce. This work aims to understand how Web-Based Learning modules can be designed to accommodate young (25-35 years) as well as older (55-65 years) users by: (1) identifying how information sources (instructor video,…

Transition metal organometallic reactions have become increasingly important in the synthesis of organic molecules. A new approach has been developed to introduce organometallic chemistry, along with organic and inorganic chemistry, at the foundational level. This change highlights applications of organometallic chemistry that have dramatically…

Institutional internationalisation is regarded as an important aspect in today's higher education development. This paper first argues that the development of intercultural competence should be considered as an important students' outcome of institutional internationalisation. It is believed that English teaching and related activities are easily…

This study reports on findings of an evaluative study on the effectiveness of an information and communication technology (ICT) module that forms part of the Advanced Certificate in Education: School Leadership and Management program. The study was carried out among distance education (DE) students from the University of the Free State enrolled…

The UCF Libraries are continually developing new forms of library instruction to meet the needs of a growing student body with the same number of librarians. These efforts attempt to find the balance between impersonal online tutorials and time-intensive embedded librarianship. The pros and cons of each model employed at our growing university are…

The traditional focus of the language elective has been to give students the skills to communicate in the foreign language which has also been their main selling point. However, language graduates need more specific and wide-ranging skills if they are to compete in the current and future job markets. It is now widely accepted that universities…

The problem of mastering English does not involve students alone. The English language teachers, policy makers and curriculum developers are also affected. Thus, teachers have resorted to using higher order thinking skills (HOT) as a means to teach writing to weak ESL learners. The study aimed at developing and validating a higher order thinking…

Current forms of marketisation in university systems create pressures towards purely ends-focused expectations among students and have implications for learning and assessment processes. The potential harm that these trends have on "learning" should be resisted by educators and students alike. Critical Pedagogy approaches offer one way…

Student engagement is intrinsically linked to two important metrics in learning: student satisfaction and the quality of the student experience. One of the ways that engagement can be influenced is through careful curriculum design. Using the knowledge that many students are "assessment-driven," a low-stakes continuous weekly summative…

This paper considers curriculum integration in the secondary school context and investigates the claims made that it can enhance learning outcomes for students. I argue that curriculum integration should be utilized not as a main means of curricular delivery but as a supplementary opportunity to put disciplinary knowledge to use in certain,…

As professional learning director in California's Palo Alto Unified School District, Kelly Bikle attended a California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress Institute (CAASPP) workshop with a district team composed of our assessment coordinator, a special education inclusion specialist, and several teachers. The goal was to learn about…

As the number of older people in society increases, gaining an awareness of the needs of an aging population is important for university students from all academic backgrounds. Using a multidisciplinary approach to aging, we developed a new teaching module (NU-AGE [Newcastle University Aging Generations Education]) aimed at students enrolled in…

It is often difficult for students to develop an intuition about molecular processes, which occur in a realm far different from day-to-day life. For example, thermal fluctuations take on hurricane-like proportions at the molecular scale. Students need a way to visualize realistic depictions of molecular processes to appreciate them. To this end,…

In the last decade, e-learning has been a standard part of the educational process at all types of schools--primary, secondary, and high schools. When used, e-learning can achieve significant savings not only in terms of time as well as operating costs. However, e-learning is also often criticized. This is mainly due to direct absence of teachers…