The core pedagogic problem considered here is how to effectively teach statistics to physicians who are engaged in a "learning health system" (LHS). This is a special case of a broader issue--namely, how to effectively teach statistics to academic physicians for whom research--and thus statistics--is a requirement for professional…

Transformation of higher education in South Africa has resulted in an ongoing need to reflect critically on the relevance and responsiveness of higher education curricula. This article describes two inter-related aspects of curriculum mapping, namely the mapping process and the mapping tool. Based on a case study of a career-oriented business…

"Context-based courses" are increasingly used in an address to the major challenges that science education currently faces: lack of clear purpose, content overload, incoherent learning by students, lack of relevance to students, and lack of transfer of learning to new contexts. In this paper, four criteria for the design of context-based courses…

The Web is now a standard tool for information access and dissemination in higher education. The prospect of Web-based, simulated learning platforms and technologies, however, remains underexplored. We have developed a Web-based tutorial program (ChemVoyage) for a third-year organic chemistry class on the topic of pericyclic reactions to…

This study used scientometric methods to conduct an automatic content analysis on the development trends of science education research from the published articles in the four journals of "International Journal of Science Education, Journal of Research in Science Teaching, Research in Science Education, and Science Education" from 1990 to 2007. The…

The present study aimed to evaluate whether a chemistry laboratory course called "Laboratory Experiments in Science Education" based on constructivist instruction accompanied with concept mapping enhanced pre-service chemistry teachers' conceptual understanding. Data were collected from five pre-service chemistry teachers at a university…

With student numbers decreasing and traditional teaching methods having been found inefficient, it is widely accepted that alternative teaching methods need to be explored in tertiary physics education. In 2006 a different teaching environment was offered to 244 first year students with little or no prior formal instruction in physics. Students…

The researchers investigated the comparative effects of individually-constructed and collaboratively-constructed computer-based concept mapping on middle school science concept learning. One hundred and sixty one students completed the entire study. Using prior science performance scores to assure equivalence of student achievement across groups,…

The aim of this study was to examine the effect of instructional materials for the subject of classification of matter as solids, liquids and gases that were developed using a holistic instructional design model on student achievement. In the study a pre-test/post-test with control group experimental design was used. The study was conducted in the…

Teaching mixed methods research is difficult. This longitudinal explanatory study examined how two classes were designed, taught, and evaluated. Curriculum, Research, and Teaching (EDCS-606) and Mixed Methods Research (EDCS-780) used a research proposal generation process to highlight the importance of the purpose, research question and…

Various methods have been performed to identify teachers' attitudes towards assessment. Recognizing the idea that mapping is one of the most efficient tools, this study was aimed to investigate the effectiveness of attitude maps in the evaluation of teachers' attitudes towards assessment. The instrument, composed of open-ended questions, was…

The education of science teachers necessarily involves instruction around the use of computer technologies. Acadia University, a laptop institution, offers a unique setting where students are immersed in the critique of pedagogical applications of computers. The current trend to employ constructivist approaches in teaching provides a backdrop for…

Describes the use of concept maps as a metacognitive tool to help chemistry teachers and learners improve teaching and learning. Concept maps were used in response to changes in the conceptions of the nature of scientific knowledge and in how learning occurs. Concept maps are valuable in documenting and exploring the restructuring of conceptual…

Teacher education students have a significant role to play in the sustained application of ICT in schools. It is imperative therefore, that they are exposed to effective use of ICT in their training. However, "effective use" is subjective and existing characterisations of this construct appear to drive different ICT implementation plans…

Dull classroom environments, poor students' attitudes and inhibited conceptual development led to the creation of an innovative mathematics program, the Class Banking System (CBS), which enables teachers to use constructivist ideas and approaches. To assess the effectiveness of the CBS, the Individualised Classroom Environment Questionnaire…