This article describes the author's experience designing and implementing an inquiry-based learning (IBL) pedagogical approach to an upper-division undergraduate cryptology course. The author shares the course goals and how the IBL style supports their achievement. The article concludes with sample activities -- in-class exercises that touch on…

This teaching note presents an active learning exercise using a clip from the television show "The Office." The exercise centers on a promise to pay for the college education of a group of third graders, raising questions about capacity, consideration, offer, acceptance, statute of frauds, revocations, promissory estoppel, and other key…

This paper is a practical how-to guide to help you start using active learning or to have greater success and more fun with it. We categorize active learning techniques as Think, Pair, Share, Composite, Group, Move, or Lead and discuss how to implement activities in each category, along with advice on creating engaging, effective, and equitable…

The mathematical egg hunt is a hands-on activity designed to help students understand mathematical relations in an Introduction to Proofs course. This activity gives students the opportunity to practice selecting which ordered pairs do and do not belong to a given relation in a moderately competitive egg hunt. It is designed to be low-stakes, yet…

Many management information systems (MIS) faculty have adopted a project-oriented approach in their systems analysis and design courses. In these courses, students use a software development methodology to create a web or mobile application project, which can be based on a predefined case or developed for an external stakeholder. Because most…

Students have an endless capacity of positive energy that can be harnessed into deeper understanding. This notion lies at the heart of "The Power of We." Through a powerful combination of first-hand stories and expert research, author Ron Nash recounts his awakening to the truth that engaging students starts by involving them as active…

Based on work conducted through the Instructional Moves project at Harvard University, "Instructional Moves for Powerful Teaching in Higher Education" outlines the many ways in which good college and graduate school teaching is rooted in deliberate pedagogical choices that support active learning. Jeremy T. Murphy and Meira Levinson…

In "Uprooting Instructional Inequity," noted leadership coach Jill Harrison Berg offers a comprehensive guide to help school and teacher leaders amplify the power of collaborative inquiry as a means for identifying, interrogating, and addressing instructional inequity. At the center of the book is Berg's i3PD Planning Map, an invaluable…

In a thriving education system, students experience learning that prepares them as the vital keepers of a just and democratic society. Teachers as professionals and experts, not cogs in a machine, are essential to this goal. "Sparks Into Fire" offers design principles for facilitating effective professional learning in which teachers are…

Instead of disruptions, avoidance, and withdrawal, your learners could be participating, investing, and "driving" their learning experience. It's time to reimagine student engagement! Focused around three essential goals, "Reimagining Student Engagement" develops a new vocabulary for real classrooms, proposes an engagement…

Water electrolysis, a well-known and simple experiment, confirms that a water molecule comprises hydrogen and oxygen atoms. In this experiment, hydroxide or hydrogen ions generated from each electrode were identified using an indicator based on the assumption that electrodes, electrolytes, and indicators do not participate in the water…

This edited volume is an invitation to redesign STEM higher education. It shows the way to active learning in diverse scenarios and provides educators, leaders and policymakers with a visionary approach to active learning and hands-on examples of how education can help students navigate complexity and unpredictability--the challenges of…

Active learning pedagogy has many documented benefits, and while several positive examples of its recent use in STEM classes have led to better performance, greater diversity, more equity, and improved retention of underrepresented student populations, more research in IS and IT classrooms is needed. Most active learning exercises are in a…

Demonstrating higher-order thinking skills is crucial for thriving in a volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) environment. In science education, inquiry-based learning has increasingly been recognized as a potent approach to stimulate students' higher-order thinking skills. While prior research has shown evidence of its positive…

Effective teaching requires the use of techniques and strategies to counter student passivity and enhance engagement. Research demonstrates that drawing improves memory retention, increases motivation to learn, provides an opportunity to learn what makes an image an effective communication tool, allows demonstration of conceptual understanding,…