Education Commons^™

Project-Based Science Instruction For General-Education Undergraduates And Seventh Graders: Practices, Proficiency, And Pitfalls, Walter S. Borowski, Malcolm P. Frisbie

EKU Faculty and Staff Scholarship

For three semesters we conducted a general-education course designed for both undergraduates and seventh-graders in which students investigated contaminant sources and water quality of a local stream. The middle school students attend a local, county school that draws its students from disadvantaged areas of the town of Richmond, Kentucky. Undergraduates were general-education honors students with little predilection toward science. The instructors guided undergraduates through the project, and our honors students then mentored the middle-schoolers in their scientific endeavors.

Both sets of students serially investigated the chemical and biological properties of a typical upland stream (Tates Creek, Madison County, Kentucky) impacted …

Inattention, Distraction, And Dysfunction - Modern Challenges For Business Education And Practice, Michael T. Roberson, Beth Polin

EKU Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Students of every generation have faced factors that limited the amount of time available for study based on responsibilities such as family and jobs. There were also potential distractions that challenged students’ willpower to focus on academic activities instead of other completely discretionary uses of their time. The choice was between activities that provided immediate gratification versus academic activities that would yield a far greater payoff over the long run.

The last decade has seen a significant array of new temptations in the form of smart phones and other personal technologies that are powerful, portable, and pervasive. While these technologies …

Using Constructivism As An Alternative To Teacher-Centered Instruction, Jacquelyn W. Jensen, Helyne I. Frederick

EKU Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Constructivism is the idea that learners “actively try to organize and make sense” of information (Ormrod, 2012, p. 154). To do so, students “must individually discover and transform complex information” (Slavin, 2012, p. 218). Students compare new information with what they already know, and revise their understanding. Active learning is a focus of the constructivist classroom, so the instruction is most often student-centered. Students construct their knowledge instead of soaking up or only record information (Eggen & Kauchak, 2013). This means that teachers help students to make sense of new information rather than merely lecturing or controlling all of the …