Higher Education and Teaching Commons^™

Teaching And Learning In Stem With Computation, Modeling, And Simulation Practices, Alejandra J. Magana

Purdue University Press Books

Computation, modeling, and simulation practices are commonplace in the STEM workplace, yet formal training embedded in disciplinary practices is not as standard in the undergraduate classroom. Teaching and Learning in STEM With Computation, Modeling, and Simulation Practices: A Guide for Practitioners and Researchers gives instructors a handbook to ensure their curriculum bridges the gap between the classroom and workplace by equipping students with computational skills and preparing them for a rewarding career in STEM. Grounded in theory and supported by fifteen years of education research at the undergraduate level, this book provides instructional, pedagogical, and assessment guidance for integrating modeling …

Chatgpt & The Impact Of Artificial Intelligence On Higher Education, Andrew Lang

Professional Development Resources

Dr. Andy Lang, Chair of the Department of Computing and Mathematics, discusses the history of artificial intelligence and places where language processing already exists in everyday living. He continues with a review of ChatGPT, BING chat, Elicit and Google’s BARD. The presentation then turns to AI in the classroom followed by an open discussion on the implications for teaching and learning at ORU.

Resource 1: Lang, A. (2023, May). The Impact of AI on Christian Higher Education: A Call to Lead. Department of Computing & Mathematics, Oral Roberts University.

Resource 2: Lang, A. (2023) "Editorial: The Impact of AI …

Efl Teachers’ Understandings Of The Role Of Assessment In Second Language Learning, Evelyn Almeida

Language, Literacy, and Sociocultural Studies ETDs

Given the important role of assessment in the process of Second Language Learning (SLL) and framed within Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD), this study aims to analyze: (1) how EFL teachers’ understanding of the role of assessment in SLL can be improved, (2) how effective dynamic assessment is in their teaching practices, (3) how EFL teachers’ assessment practices reflect their understanding of the concept of assessment/dynamic assessment, and (4) what strategies can help them understand these concepts. These four points are studied within the context of English classes at a Language Institute in Quito, Ecuador. This project’s contribution brings …

Faculty Perspectives On Online Teaching In Higher Education: A Qualitative Approach To Understand Faculty Members’ Challenges And Experiences, Felix O. Quayson

Journal of Research Initiatives

This study explored faculty members' perspectives on online teaching in higher education and described, analyzed, and interpreted faculty members challenges and experiences of teaching online courses. Participants were twelve (12) faculty members who have taught online courses or currently teach online courses. Data was collected from 60-minutes semi-structured interview sessions, 78 open-ended questions, three research driving questions, background questionnaire, and personal artifacts from faculty members. Five major themes with subthemes, 15 code categories, and code co-occurrences emerged from the data collection, field notes, memos, and data analysis. However, not all of the code categories were replicated by all of the …

English Teachers' Opinions On Challenges Face In Teaching English As Foreign Language: The Case Of Jalalabad Selected Secondary Schools, Fahim Rahimi, Hangama Samadi

Journal of Research Initiatives

One important goal of teaching is to achieve learning outcomes. It has been observed in universities that many students have different levels of English language proficiency. However, they study in the same English courses at the school level. The main objective of this study is to learn the challenges that exist in teaching the English language as a foreign language in secondary schools that affect the English proficiency of students. In addition, ways in which these challenges will be overcome is reviewed. The data collection tools were questionnaires and semi-structured interviews to collect data from English language teachers in selected …

My First Time Ungrading: Approach Used And Reflections, Heather Leslie

Feminist Pedagogy

A few months ago, I began devouring information about ungrading with a fervent appetite. I started with the book Ungrading: Why Rating Students Undermines Learning (and What To Do Instead) edited by Susan Blum and listened to just about every podcast where she was interviewed about this topic. I then read other books she recommended like Wad-Ja-Get: The Grading Game in American Education by Howard Kirschenbaum and Punished By Rewards: The Trouble with Gold Stars, Incentive Plans, A’s, and Praise by Alfie Kohn. Recently, I have become much more dialed into the ungrading movement by reading articles from Teachers Going …

A Book Club With No Books: Using Podcasts Movies, And Documentaries To Increase Transfer Of Learning, Incorporate Social Justice Themes, Create Community, And Bolster Traditional And Character-Based Legal Skills During A Pandemic, Marni Goldstein Caputo, Kathleen Luz

Faculty Scholarship

In the fall of 2020, students entered law school under extreme circumstances. The COVID-19 pandemic led to isolation, depression, and restrictions on activities. A new hybrid learning environment was created. Social upheaval also caused unease. The 2020 national elections loomed, bringing divisive political discourse. The murder of George Floyd and other BIPOC, at the hands of police, led to a reckoning around the country. Additionally, with the COVID-19 pandemic came a rash of anti-Asian violence.

Faced with these unprecedented realities, we, as legal educators, struggled with how to adapt our curriculum to this new normal. These realities forced us to …

Tried And True Methods Of Course Design: Overview & Lesson Example, Judith Slapak-Barski

HCAS Instructional Design and Pedagogy

As we strive to find new models of student engagement in a post-pandemic educational landscape, it best to build upon proven methods and best practices. This paper provides a sample blueprint for course or lesson design that can be used in face-to-face, hybrid, or online courses, so that we can teach the way students learn best. The sample lesson provided is an applied example of integrating each of the steps delineated in Gagné’s book, The Conditions of Learning, first published in 1965, identified the mental conditions for learning. These steps might be completed in one class meeting, in a whole …

Cognitive Science For The Classroom, Kyle Heys

TFSC Publications and Presentations

Kyle Heys shares principles of cognitive science and how they can be used in the college classroom to enhance student learning.

Student-Centered, Interaction-Based, Community-Driven Language Teaching, Sharon Lyman

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

This portfolio is a compilation that highlights some of the author’s accomplished work while in the Master of Second Language Teaching (MSLT) program at Utah State University (USU). Organized into sections that reflect the author’s teaching and research perspectives as a MSLT graduate student and instructor, who taught intensive English reading, writing, and conversation courses for the Intensive English Language Institute (IELI).

In the first section, teaching perspectives, the author describes her desired professional environment, shares her personal teaching philosophy statement, and accounts for her professional development through classroom observations. In the second section, research perspectives, two research papers and …

Designing A Collaborative Cross-Campus Drop-In Workshop Series To Motivate Lifelong Learners, Tim Miller, Sarah Fay Philips

Tim Miller

Combining Different Motivation And Cognitive Supports In Undergraduate Biology In Different Contexts: Lessons Learned, Avi Kaplan, Jennifer G. Cromley, Tony Perez, Ting Dai, Kyle R. Mara, Michael Balsai

STEMPS Faculty Publications

Researchers acknowledge that students’ learning and achievement requires both effective cognition and the motivation to apply it. In addition, both cognition and motivation are multidimensional, each involving different processes that may be less or more salient in different contexts. However, most basic research and intervention studies focus on either cognition OR motivation, and commonly only target a single process. We designed an intervention to investigate the role of different combinations of cognitive and motivational supports in first-year undergraduate introductory biology courses. We sought an online delivery approach with minimal burden on the instructor that can accompany any such course. Building …

Teaching Students How To Make Their Dreams Come True: An Autoethnography Of Developing And Teaching The Dream Research Methods Course, E. James Baesler

The Qualitative Report

How to make students’ dreams come true is the central focus of this autoethnography that chronicles the story of the transformation of a traditional undergraduate communication research methods course into a new and creative dream research methods course. Pedagogical and institutional issues in teaching the traditional methods course join personal influences in my life story to birth the new dream research methods course. The content and format of the new course are described chronologically using personal stories, student perspectives, advice to teachers, and reflection questions. I encourage teachers, by experimenting with the ideas in the dream research methods course, to …

Generational Shift: Why We Should Modify Our Instructional Strategies For The Next Generations Of Aviators, Mary Niemczyk

National Training Aircraft Symposium (NTAS)

Air transportation has proven to be an extremely safe, efficient and reliable means for travel – a testament to highly effective instruction and training. Airlines are forecasted to continue their rapid expansion over the next 20 years needing to hire more than 2 million aviation personnel (Boeing, 2015). As Baby Boomers retire, at the rate of 10,000 per day/4 million per year, a ‘generational replacement’ or shift will occur with Gen Y and Z members taking their places in the workforce.

Each generation is impacted by significant events during their developmental adolescent years. For Gen Y members, technological and K-12 …

Thinking About Students' Learning: Metacognition Across The Disciplines, Saryn R. Goldberg, Jennifer Gundlach, Amy M. Masnick, Jennifer A. Rich, Jessica R. Santangelo

Hofstra University Distinguished Faculty Lecture Series

The ability to think about one’s own thinking—metacognition—is identified as one of the keys to subject mastery in most, if not all, disciplines. It is clear that being able to be one’s own critic — assessing and reassessing one’s understanding — is of critical importance to learning. Rarely, however, is metacognition explicitly taught or discussed as a centerpiece of learning in a content-heavy classroom, even with the best intentions of the professors.

A panel of Hofstra faculty from the disciplines of psychology, biology, law, engineering and writing studies will share results from their ongoing research about the impact of integrating …

Meng 3250: Mechanics Of Elastic Bodies—A Peer Review Of Teaching Project Benchmark Portfolio, Jinying Zhu

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

This portfolio focuses on mechanics of materials (course title: Mechanics of Elastic Bodies), a sophomore level course taken primarily by civil engineering and architectural engineering majors on Omaha campus. It is a prerequisite for broad range of courses in mechanical, civil and agricultural engineering majors. This course studies the mechanics of solids with applications to science and engineering, including stress, strains and deformation in structural elements (axial, torsional and bending), shear and moment diagram for beams, and a brief introduction to material failure mechanisms.

This portfolio describes the teaching methods used to help students understand the fundamental knowledge about material …

An Examination Of Accessible Hands-On Science Learning Experiences, Self-Confidence In One’S Capacity To Function In The Sciences, And Motivation And Interest In Scientific Studies And Careers., Mick D. Isaacson, Cary Supalo, Michelle Michaels, Alan Roth

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

This study examined the potential relationship of accessible hands-on science learning experiences to the development of positive beliefs concerning one’s capacity to function in the sciences and motivation to consider science as a college major and career. Findings from Likert survey items given before and after engaging in accessible hands-on science laboratories show that students who were blind or had low vision (BLV) were more likely to agree with the following items after engaging in accessible science experiences: 1) I plan on enrolling as a science major in college; 2) My educational experiences, so far, have given me the …

Examining The Application Of Experiential Learning Techniques Across Sport Management Programs, Elizabeth Sattler

Theses and Dissertations

The Commission on Sport Management Accreditation (COSMA) has identified experiential learning projects as an integral element to be included in sport management curriculum (COSMA, 2016). However, often the experiential learning opportunities offered by sport management programs are limited to a required internship experience (Foster & Dollar, 2010). While internship programs have been widely accepted and implemented by sport management programs (Eagleman & McNary, 2010), there is little evidence of the implementation of other experiential learning practices within sport management programs. Consequently, the purpose of this study was to investigate the widespread application of experiential learning practices of sport management faculty. …

Dynamic Online Discussions That Work, Lauri Deruiter-Willems, Kathleen Phillips

Faculty Research and Creative Activity

Tired of short, insignificant discussion posts? We will share our tips and suggestions for developing meaningful interactions between your students in online discussion boards in lower and upper division courses. Our system allows for active learning through instructor-led or student-led conversations by incorporating procedures to ensure that dialogue is related to the course content, empowers students to engage in critical thinking and persuasive writing, and also provides a manageable system of evaluation for instructors.

Preparing Computer Science Graduates For The 21st Century, Paul Parsons

Paul Parsons

The nature of computer use has changed remarkably in the past fifty years. However, most undergraduate computer science courses are still often taught through an old paradigm that is not adequate to address modern concerns. This 90 minute seminar will address some issues relevant to preparing computer scientists for the 21st century. These include issues central to human-computer interaction (HCI) such as cognitive and perceptual aspects of computer users, ergonomics, and human factors. Although there has been literature on this topic for at least the past 15 years, it is still not widely recognized nor understood by the majority of …

Geographical Literacy, Attitudes, And Experiences Of Freshman Students: A Qualitative Study At Florida International University, Daniela F. Ottati

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the study was to explore the geography literacy, attitudes and experiences of Florida International University (FIU) freshman students scoring at the low and high ends of a geography literacy survey. The Geography Literacy and ABC Models formed the conceptual framework. Participants were freshman students enrolled in the Finite Math course at FIU. Since it is assumed that students who perform poorly on geography assessments do not have an interest in the subject, testing and interviewing students allowed the researcher to explore the assumption.

In Phase I, participants completed the Geography Literacy Survey (GLS) with items taken from …

Teac 451p: Learning And Teaching Principles And Practices (Secondary Mathematics)—A Peer Review Of Teaching Project Benchmark Portfolio, Lorraine Males

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

The goal of my peer review portfolio was to better understand how to improve students' learning of how to teach secondary mathematics in reform-oriented ways. Most students that pursue admission into the Secondary Mathematics Teacher Education Program have little to no experience learning mathematics in reform-oriented ways. These preservice teachers (PSTs) were “successful” in mathematics courses in middle and high school, most of them taking honors or accelerated courses. However, many of these PSTs did not have opportunities to engage as active participants in their own learning and develop complex cognitive skills and processes, the focus of reform-oriented instruction. This …

Effect Of Sleep On Vigilance, Short-Term Memory, And Learning In College Students, Ayesha Uddin

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Despite years of research supporting a link between sleep and cognitive functioning, little research has focused on the effect of sleep on cognitive factors in the college population. According to the trace reactivation hypothesis, sleep plays a crucial role in memory consolidation and learning. Cognitivism further indicates that the processing of information is limited when sleep is restricted. The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the effect of sleep on vigilance, short-term memory, and learning; an additional goal was to test whether these variables influence grade point average (GPA). Sleep and GPA data were collected using self-report questionnaires. …

College Leve Inqury Learning's Influence On Later Science Thinking Behavior, Eric Gordon Chesloff

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Society needs scientists who can collaborate to become keener analysts so that they might better inform citizens. College students who are well educated in science are likely to become better analysts. The purpose of this grounded theory constructivist-oriented study was to illuminate the influence of undergraduate freshman inquiry learning on thinking skills in science courses during the senior college year. The conceptual framework involved the 3 components of the cognitive learning cycle: exploration, concept invention, and application. Research questions concerned college seniors' perceptions of their freshman process-oriented guided inquiry learning (POGIL) experience in general chemistry and its influence on their …

An Analysis Of Program Evaluation In Community College Learning Assistance Centers, Doug Franklin

Theses and Dissertations

Learning assistance centers exist in varied formats at many colleges and provide services to support the educational mission such as tutoring, support for special needs students, study skills instruction, writing or math instruction. This study seeks to add to the small body of research on evaluation measures used within learning assistance centers and the program evaluation practices of such centers by determining the prevalence of program evaluation and what measures learning assistance directors perceive they should be using in the evaluation of their program compared to those actually being used?

Learning assistance center directors at 61 public two-year institutions, out …

Student's Perception Of Teacher Immediacy Behaviors On Student Success And Retention, Rebecca Rae Mullane

Theses and Dissertations

This investigation tested the relationship and the fit for a causal model between both verbal and nonverbal teacher immediacy behaviors in the classroom and affective learning, cognitive learning, and student success and retention. Data was collected from two distinct populations, a large Midwestern university and a Midwestern community college. Results indicate that both verbal and nonverbal teacher immediacy behaviors independently predict or cause a level of affective learning and cognitive learning, and affective learning predicts or causes cognitive learning, further supporting that path model. Practical implications of these findings are discussed and recommendations for areas of future research development are …

Social Media As An Educational Tool In University Level Geography, Elizabeth Hundey

Beth J Hundey

Social media is not a passing fad—it is a new, versatile way of both information gathering and production. It is broadly defined as “networked tools that emphasize the social aspect of the Internet for communication, collaboration and creative expression” (Dabbagh & Kitsantas, 2012). Although many courses have online components (e.g. WebCT or other learning management systems), it is arguable that we as educators are not taking advantage of mainstream (i.e. applications and sites that are not education specific) social media to its full potential in the classroom. This short paper offers an outline of a seminar discussing the uses of …

Aecn 399: Commodity Market Analysis—A Peer Review Of Teaching Project Benchmark Portfolio, Fabio Mattos

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

I have been teaching for a few years, in different universities and different courses. I have taught large classes (over 100 students) and small classes (approximately 10 students), introductory courses and advanced courses, and in 4-year programs as well as 2-year programs. Although I believe that principles of good teaching can be applied to any course, I feel that teaching methods may need to be adjusted to different courses, different student population and distinct class size. So I welcomed the opportunity to participate in the “2013-2014 Peer Review of Teaching Program” because it gave me a chance to join a …

Ento 403/803: Management Of Horticultural Crop Pests—A Peer Review Of Teaching Project Benchmark Portfolio, Thomas J. Weissling

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

ENTO 403/803, management of horticultural crop pests, is an important class for many students. It is required by undergraduate horticulture majors at UNL, but because it is offered online, it is also of interest to entomology and horticulture graduate students across the U.S. and globally. I chose this class for the peer review process because I find it challenging due to online course delivery, and the breadth of knowledge of students that are enrolled. I feel I need to take this course to a higher level where I can engage students of all backgrounds, and ensure that each of them …

Ento 401: Insect Physiology—A Peer Review Of Teaching Project Benchmark Portfolio, Nicholas Miller

UNL Faculty Course Portfolios

Insect Physiology (ENTO 401) is a required course for majors in Insect Science. This portfolio documents my efforts to improve the course as I teach it for the second time. My intention was to use the development of a portfolio as a vehicle to modify the course so that the methods I use are better aligned to my overall goals for the course. Consequently, I have produced a portfolio that is directed toward my efforts to develop a more varied approach that improves integrated understanding and scientific thinking and to better document that the development of integrated understanding and scientific …