Education Commons^™

A Study Of The Impact Of Small-Group And Whole-Group Discussion On The Critical Thinking Dispositions Of Community College English Composition Ii Students, Mechel M. Albano

Doctor of Education (Ed.D)

The area of critical thinking skills has been one of concern for many professionals working in the field of higher education (Nicholas & Raider-Roth, 2016; Shim & Walczak, 2012). The purpose of this study was to provide these professionals with sound pedagogical tools that can be used to assist college students in developing their critical thinking skills and dispositions. Using a sample of 34 English Composition II students from a community college in the Southeast, the researcher employed a pre-test/post-test comparison group design to compare the effects of small-group discussion of higher-order questions to the effects of whole-group discussion on …

Making Pictures, Writing About Pictures, Discussing Pictures And Lecture-Discussion As Teaching Methods In Art History, Jari M. Martikainen

Art History Pedagogy & Practice

This article discusses making pictures, writing about pictures, discussing pictures, and lecture-discussion as methods of teaching art history in Finnish Upper Secondary Vocational Education and Training (Qualification in Visual Expression, Study Programmes in Visual and Media Art Photography). A total of 25 students majoring in Visual Expression participated in the research by studying art history using picture-based–visual and verbal–methods and reflecting on their learning experiences. This article introduces the concept of ‘contextual subject-related didactics,’ by which conceptions of contemporary art history, together with the objectives and aims of the curriculum, guide the choice of teaching methods. The article argues that …

Inquiry Based Learning From The Learner’S Point Of View: A Teacher Candidate’S Success Story, Caroline Johnson Caswell, Derek J. Labrie

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

The goal of this paper is to review current research on Inquiry Based Learning (IBL) and shed some light, from a student's perspective, on the challenges and rewards of this pedagogy. The first part of the article provides an extensive review of the literature on IBL. The second part focuses on one student's experiences in an IBL classroom.

In particular, a graduate secondary mathematics student reflects upon his experiences in a college mathematics class where the instructor implemented an Inquiry Based Learning model. His experience is validated by current research on IBL educational methodology which structures the classroom environment for …

Inclusive Teaching Strategies: An Evaluation Of Course Structure And Summative Assessment In Introductory Biology, Oluwaseun O. Agboola

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Several active learning strategies have been used when increasing the structure of a course as increasing course structure has been known to improve student learning in introductory STEM courses. Much has been studied on the value of frequent formative assessment; however, few studies have evaluated the effective modes of delivering summative assessment. This study examines the use of summative assessment as an inclusive teaching practice to improve first generation college student success in introductory biology and also uses faculty surveys to find out how instructors structure their introductory biology course and why they are structured that way. Final exams were …

Building Data And Information Literacy In The Undergraduate Chemistry Curriculum, Yasmeen Shorish, Barbara A. Reisner

Yasmeen Shorish

The Literature and Seminar sequence at James Madison University has been used to develop the chemistry information literacy skills of chemistry majors for over four decades. These courses have been continually updated to emphasize information literacy skills for the twenty-first century. This chapter describes the methods that have been developed to improve chemical, data and general information literacy at a large, public, primarily undergraduate institution. The focus of the first semester course, described in this chapter, is on skill building rather than teaching specific resources. It is a model of integration and collaboration between chemistry faculty and chemistry librarians. Changes …

Various Forms Of Student Engagement And Student Learning, Dan Richard, Melissa Newberry

Dan Richard

Previous research indicates that student engagement is multi-dimensional. Numerous engaged or active learning strategies (e.g., think-pair-share, problem-based learning, interactive games) emphasize some dimensions of student engagement but not others. The current project assesses the learning impact of a diversity of active learning strategies employing various dimensions of student engagement within three sections of a course in Social Psychology. Direct assessment of student performance on multiple-choice exams as well as indirect assessment of student preferences for learning activities will be addressed. In this session, participants will review original research on student engagement, receive examples of course activities, evaluate these activities on …

Developing Teen Health Information Literacy, Sharon A. Weiner, David Walker, Kathryn Dilworth, Lalatendu Acharya, Lisa Kirkham, Bethany Mc, Laura Henzl

Libraries Faculty and Staff Presentations

This presentation discusses a health information literacy project for teens that was a collaboration between librarians and experts in health communications and school administration. They co-developed and co-taught a required high school health course in Spring 2016 using student-centered active learning techniques. The course project was a “Teen Health” website developed by the students.

Flipping The Classroom: Assessment Of Strategies To Promote Student-Centered, Self-Directed Learning In A Dental School Course In Pediatric Dentistry., Brenda S Bohaty, Gloria J. Redford, Cynthia C. Gadbury-Amyot

Manuscripts, Articles, Book Chapters and Other Papers

The aim of this study was to explore student and course director experiences with the redesign of a traditional lecture-based course into a flipped classroom for teaching didactic content in pediatric dentistry to second-year dental students. The study assessed student satisfaction, extent of student engagement, overall course grades, and course director satisfaction. The students enrolled in a flipped classroom pediatric dentistry course (spring semester 2014; SP14) were asked to complete pre- and post-course questionnaires to assess their perceptions of active learning, knowledge acquisition, and course satisfaction. The process was repeated with the class enrolled in the same course the following …

Developing Healthcare Practitioners’ Professional Expertise Through Effective Continuing Education: Commentary, Caroline Faucher

Internet Journal of Allied Health Sciences and Practice

Development of professional expertise is the transition from novice to expert within a profession through deliberate practice with feedback. While this development is actively stimulated during undergraduate studies, encouraging practicing healthcare professionals to pursue their development towards expertise doesn’t seem as obvious. This commentary briefly describes the development of professional expertise and the possible decline in performance that can occur with time. It then gives insight into the roles of continuing professional education in healthcare practitioners’ acquisition and maintenance of professional expertise.

Interactive Multimedia Learning On Health Care Among Lebanese Women: An Exploratory Study, Joanna R. Kassem, Zeinab H. Houssein, Leila Halawi

Leila A. Halawi

Multimedia learning greatly enhanced the learning outcome and experience of learners exposed to it. The proposed study will explore the usefulness of multimedia learning software devised to educate Lebanese pregnant women who have a low level of formal education about pregnancy and early infant care. The study will be based on the media richness theory. It is expected that through media rich programs, communication of information is facilitated, promoting the resolving of indecisiveness and ambiguity that stems out of the lack of knowledge or information about a given a subject and the inability to convey a meaning of what is …

Turning Guest Speakers' Visits Into Active Learning Opportunities, Vassilis Dalakas

Atlantic Marketing Journal

While guest speakers have a lot to offer, the traditional format of their visits to marketing classes may hinder student engagement. This paper describes an idea used in marketing classes intended to increase active learning and to maximize impact of guest speakers’ visits. It involves creating assignments for the students to prepare prior to a speaker’s visit. As a result, the students end up preparing thoughtful questions, they are engaged in their discussion with the speaker, and they make a more conscious effort to link course material to the insight from the speaker.

Developing Blended Learning In Library Instruction To Cultivate Research And Critical Thinking Skills In The Undergraduate Student Population, Bernadette López-Fitzsimmons

Georgia International Conference on Information Literacy

The ever-evolving digital resources in multiple types and formats have introduced numerous opportunities for enhanced teaching-and-learning environments focused on student–driven activities. Many of these strategies have already been implemented at educational institutions throughout the world.

This presentation will demonstrate how blended learning pedagogies in a library’s one-shot and for-credit courses cultivate research and critical thinking skills. The presenter will discuss how to customize library instruction for diverse student populations who have a complex history of multiple learning styles and varying literacy levels.

The presenter will describe several strategies that activate prior knowledge so that building new knowledge is seamlessly organic. …

The Impact Of A Flipped Classroom Compared To Lecture-Based Teaching On Achieving Course Outcomes, Melissa J. Beck, Akwasi Appiah, Jasmine Gunti, Victoria Bumgardner, Caleb Tang

The Research and Scholarship Symposium (2013-2019)

Education is one of the most vital components that compose a modern society and as such, its improvement and optimization is always sought. This study investigates the efficacy between two learning methods in a graduate level biochemistry course: complete active learning and a hybrid of active and passive learning. Active learning is one method of achieving course outcomes with an emphasis on student responsibility through self-studying of course material followed by classroom discussion. In comparison, passive learning emphasizes instructor responsibility through didactic lecturing of course material. The aftermath results following a hybrid form of active and passive learning (in-class didactic …

Building Data And Information Literacy In The Undergraduate Chemistry Curriculum, Yasmeen Shorish, Barbara A. Reisner

Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry - Faculty Scholarship

The Literature and Seminar sequence at James Madison University has been used to develop the chemistry information literacy skills of chemistry majors for over four decades. These courses have been continually updated to emphasize information literacy skills for the twenty-first century. This chapter describes the methods that have been developed to improve chemical, data and general information literacy at a large, public, primarily undergraduate institution. The focus of the first semester course, described in this chapter, is on skill building rather than teaching specific resources. It is a model of integration and collaboration between chemistry faculty and chemistry librarians. Changes …

An Action Plan For Implementing The Principles For Responsible Management Education In College Of Business Programme Learning Outcomes, Maeve O'Connell, Lorraine Sweeney

Teaching Fellowships

Recent corporate scandals have resulted in criticism of business schools for graduating students who put too much emphasis on shareholder value and profit maximisation but neglect the broader social and environmental context in which businesses operate. This research fellowship set out to review current literature of ethics education in third level universities and institutions to determine best practice in the area. It also set out to review the reports of the signatories of PRME (Principals for Responsible Management Education) to develop an understanding of the range of options available to the College of Business to embed principles for responsible management …

Online Resource Platform For Mathematics Education, Marisa Llorens, Edmund Nevin, Eileen Mageean

Conference papers

Engineering education is facing many challenges: a decline in core mathematical skills; lowering entry requirements; and the diversity of the student cohort. One approach to confronting these challenges is to make subject content appropriate to the communication styles of today’s student. To achieve this, a pedagogical shift from the traditional hierarchical approach to learning to one that embraces the use of technology as a tool to enhance the student learning experience is required. By including the student as co-creator of course content, a greater sense of engagement is achieved and a change to one where students become agents of their …

Work In Progress: Online Resource Platform For Mathematics Education, Marisa Llorens, Edmund Nevin, Eileen Mageean

Conference papers

Mathematics is intrinsic to engineering and as such plays an integral role in the education of engineers. New challenges are being faced in higher education particularly in the areas of student motivation, engagement and attainment. As a result mathematics is often the focus of engineering education research. Traditional methods of delivery such as lectures and tutorials need to evolve to counter these challenges with new pedagogical approaches explored including the use of new technologies. Today’s students are immersed in an increasingly technological world and are willing to adapt to new technological advances. This paper describes a study being undertaken in …

Two Methods In Teaching Introductory Physics, With Emphasis On The Effect In Gender Performance, Maria Babiuc-Hamilton

Maria C. Babiuc-Hamilton

Reports show that females are underrepresented in physics, and their average scores are lower than males. This proposal is targeted towards improving the performance of female students studying physics. Two different pedagogical approaches in teaching introductory level physics will be compared: the lecture-based method, enhanced with multimedia, and the active learning laboratories based on the Physics Suite. We analyze which method is more efficient in fostering the success of female students. The expected benefit of this project is that it will improve the understanding on how different pedagogical methods can influence female students to perform better in physics. It will …

The Trading Card Effect, Adam Epstein

Adam Epstein

The purpose of this article is to demonstrate a teaching method that I have used for the last several years and have found to be effective particularly during the challenging final weeks of the semester. I reward students with trading cards for answering questions currently during an unannounced quiz to provide positive reinforcement in an engaging way. Students ultimately form teams and receive a relevant and classic football, baseball, basketball, hockey, or other trading card that they can keep as a souvenir to the class and the course. The intent is to give something to the students directly relevant to …

The Power Of Animations In Stem Courses, Adrian Heinz, Xin Xu

Interdisciplinary STEM Teaching & Learning Conference (2012-2019)

We demonstrate educational web-based animations to facilitate teaching and learning in STEM courses. These animations were developed by IT students who closely worked with the researchers and faculty. The animations are later used in the classroom to explain specific concepts to students of STEM disciplines such as chemistry, biology and mathematics. The interactive nature of the animations allows students to become active participants of the learning process. In order to measure their value as a teaching and learning tool, pre and post survey data was collected and analyzed.

Pharmacy Students’ Performance And Perceptions In A Flipped Teaching Pilot On Cardiac Arrhythmias, Terri H. Wong, Eric J. Ip, Ingrid C. Lopes, Vanishree Rajagopalan

Faculty Publications & Research of the TUC College of Pharmacy

Objective. To implement the flipped teaching method in a 3-class pilot on cardiac arrhythmias and to assess the impact of the intervention on academic performance and student perceptions.

Design. An intervention group of 101 first-year pharmacy students, who took the class with the flipped teaching method, were supplied with prerecorded lectures prior to their 3 classes (1 class in each of the following subjects: basic sciences, pharmacology, and therapeutics) on cardiac arrhythmias. Class time was focused on active-learning and case-based exercises. Students then took a final examination that included questions on cardiac arrhythmias. The examination scores of the …

Learning Through Play, The Old School Way: Teaching Information Ethics To Millennials, Lucinda Rush

Libraries Faculty & Staff Publications

Incorporating gaming and active learning elements into library instruction in academic libraries has proven to be an effective way to engage Millennials and increase their retention of knowledge. This article ties research on the learning preferences of Millennials to elements of active and game-based learning. The author describes the process of creating an innovative game based on Candy Land to teach undergraduates about information ethics and makes recommendations for creating non-digital games for instructional purposes based on this experience.

The Relationship Between The Use Of Academic Text Talk And The Comprehension Of Scientific Academic Language For Diverse Second Graders, Peggy Lee Mandel

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Changing demographics impact our schools as children come from more linguistically and culturally diverse backgrounds. The various social, cultural, and economic backgrounds of the students affect their early language learning experiences which expose them to the academic language needed to succeed in school. Teachers can help students acquire academic language by introducing words that are within their Zone of Proximal Development and increasing exposure to and use of academic language. This study investigated the effects of increasing structured activities for students to orally interact with informational text on their scientific academic language development and comprehension of expository text.

The Academic …

From Theory To College Classrooms: Collaborative/Cooperative Learning Techniques That Work, Judith Longfield

Centers for Teaching Excellence Staff Presentations

Research demonstrates that engaging students in the learning process leads to improved attitudes, enhanced learning and student retention. In this session attendees will learn about the research behind cooperative and collaborative learning, how to form groups and create effective learning tasks, and be introduced to a variety of active learning techniques. Participant will also practice integrating collaborative learning techniques (CoLTs) into a course by developing a plan for using, grading and evaluating one or more CoLTs.

Using Collaborative Learning Techniques (Colts) To Promote Engaged Student Learning, Judith Longfield

Centers for Teaching Excellence Staff Presentations

Research demonstrates that engaging students in the learning process leads to improved attitudes, enhanced learning and student retention. In this interactive session you will learn about collaborative and cooperative learning, how to form groups and create effective learning tasks, and be introduced to a variety of active learning techniques. You will also practice integrating collaborative learning techniques (CoLTs) into a course by developing a plan for using, grading and evaluating one or more CoLTs.

Making An Im:Pact By Partnering With Faculty, Donalee Attardo, Pat Reid

IMPACT Presentations

IM:PACT is a centrally supported program that encourages faculty innovation in the redesign of large-enrollment courses at Purdue University. In two years, IM:PACT has seen the participation of 61 faculty, representing 49 courses and 11 colleges. FLC (faculty learning community) sessions lead faculty through the course redesign process, focusing on creating student-centered learning and leveraging instructional technology. Faculty work closely with design teams comprising staff from the academic technologies division of the central IT organization (ITaP), the Center of Instructional Excellence (CIE), and Libraries. This presentation explored how to begin a similar program at their own institution. Presented at the …

Drugs, Devices, And Desires: A Problem-Based Learning Course In The History Of Medicine, Sarah Levitt, Anne Mckeage, P. K. Rangachari

Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning

Problem-based learning (PBL) is well suited for courses in the history of medicine, where multiple perspectives exist and information has to be gleaned from different sources. A student, an archivist, and a teacher offer three perspectives about a senior level course where students explored the antecedents and consequences of medical technology. Two active learning strategies were used: (a) PBL to explore the historical basis of procedures used to diagnose, prevent and treat a single disease, tuberculosis, and (b) a concurrent inquiry-based component that permitted individual exploration of other medical technologies and demonstration of learning through diverse options (book reviews, conversations, …

A Faculty-Focused Course Design/Redesign Process, Pat Reid

IMPACT Presentations

As a part of the IMPACT (Instruction Matters: Purdue Academic Course Transformation) project, faculty attend weekly developmental workshops. As these have become progressively more focused and interactive, we realized that many faculty members have little to no education in sound course design. As a result, a faculty-focused, backward design process was developed that offers a flexible, step-by-step model. The model provides both practical and theoretical background at each step, links to articles, videos, websites, and more for faculty who wish to delve deeper. Presented at the EDUCASE Learning Initiative (ELI) 2013 Annual Meeting, Denver, Colorado.

Im:Pact: Supporting Faculty Innovation In Course Redesign, Pat Reid

IMPACT Presentations

IM:PACT is a centrally supported program that encourages faculty innovation in the redesign of large-enrollment courses at Purdue University. In two years, IM:PACT has seen the participation of 61 faculty, representing 49 courses and 11 colleges. FLC (faculty learning community) sessions lead faculty through the course redesign process, focusing on creating student-centered learning and leveraging instructional technology. Faculty work closely with design teams composed of staff from the academic technologies division of the central IT organization (ITaP), the Center of Instructional Excellence (CIE), and Libraries. This presentation explored how to begin a similar program at their own institutions. Presented at …

Helping Undergraduate Students Learn From Each Other: A Pedagogical Process For In-Class Collaborative Research Projects, Angela Cora Garcia

Natural & Applied Sciences Faculty Publications

Previous research has shown that experiential, active, and collaborative teaching techniques help undergraduate students learn and develop critical thinking, communication, and teamwork skills that can help them in future study or work place roles. At the same time, universities are seeking ways to increase the number of students who get training and experience doing original research while undergraduates. This paper reports on a process for a collaborative in-class original research project which can help instructors achieve these goals. This paper first briefly reviews the relevant literature and then describes the course and the collaborative project. The value of the project …