Psychometrics is the field of designing tests and assessments to measure certain psychological concepts. It is chiefly concerned with two fundamental properties: reliability and validity. These properties are often influenced by confounding variables: other things that can influence performance but are not what you are trying to measure. Here, I…

The paper describes an upper-division university course in Mars literature taught online since Fall 2013. The course readings comprise six novels relating to Mars. Authors include H.G. Wells, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Ray Bradbury, Phillip K. Dick, Greg Bear, and Kim Stanley Robinson. After an introduction, sections of the paper discuss course…

In the context of England, secondary biology education is dominated by sub-organismal systems, such as physiology, often to the detriment of evolution & ecology and impeding an integrated understanding of biology. This paper proposes a framework that teachers could use to help them consider how the learning of physiological and developmental…

Although research methodology is a staple and essential requirement of many undergraduate political science programmes worldwide, there are still many intense and ongoing debates among teachers and students on the series of effective learning and teaching approaches and strategies for this subject matter that involve theoretical understanding,…

This study develops a framework for describing the components and variations of pedagogic content beliefs (PCBs) held by accounting teachers in vocational schools in Shanghai. Semistructured interviews were held with 17 in-service teachers from four vocational schools in Shanghai. The findings show that the PCBs of accounting teachers are a…

Recent years have witnessed the spread of purpose-built active learning classrooms throughout the higher education sector. While these innovative learning spaces are well-suited for a variety of active learning strategies, their lack of a single focal point means they are inconvenient spaces for lecturing. While educational developers often…

This article's authors describe both the advantages of a literacy-targeted introductory course and how it might be taught by employing evidence-based teaching practices developed by cognitive scientists to maximize learning. This pairing of literacy-focused content with evidence-based pedagogy is intended to enhance student learning while focusing…

The didactic class is a pedagogical tool meant to increase classroom interactivity by encouraging student discussion of real-life cases in connection with theory. This paper evaluates the pedagogical impact of using a one-off didactic class where an external expert is brought in to discuss how to relate a cognitive psychology course's content to…

This study assesses the effectiveness of two online courses tailored for farmers and ranchers in California, with a particular focus on the role of farmer-to-farmer pedagogies. Utilizing live sessions, a social-learning platform, and multimedia content, we draw insights from engagement metrics, lesson and end-of-course survey evaluations, and…

There has been an increase of both neurodivergent students and enrollment in Computer Science programs in higher education. These increases have brought attention to two separate challenges: neurodivergent college students struggle more compared to their neurotypical peers and many students struggle in introductory computer science courses. This…

Purpose: Technology has revolutionized education, leading to innovative learning techniques like microlearning. Microlearning is gaining popularity in higher education and corporate settings for its student-centred approach and well-planned modules. However, its pedagogical design is complex, requiring a systematic review of studies to identify…

History departments at many colleges and universities offer upper-level courses that focus upon the craft of the discipline. These stand-alone methods classes often lack the specific time period and geographic region that typically anchor history curriculum. Although most graduate programs in history provide in-depth exposure to historical theory,…

In this essay I concentrate on a distinct aspect of teaching courses online postpandemic: concrete steps both to ease workload burden and to increase student learning efficacy. There are ten lessons that can facilitate moving instruction online: 1. Organize the Course in Weekly Modules; 2. Communicate on a Regular Schedule; 3. Post Key Lectures;…

Background: Data-driven educational technology solutions have the potential to support teachers in different tasks, such as the designing and orchestration of collaborative learning activities. When designing, such solutions can improve teacher understanding of how learning designs impact student learning and behaviour; and guide them to refine…

Difficulty index and its derivative performance index (PFI) have been commonly used to measure student learning outcomes. However, these indexes have a high volatility and low sensitivity. This work has established the simplex learning index (SLI), which has a low volatility and high sensitivity. To construct SLI, students were divided into two…