There is a large body of research on how to improve student learning through active learning and metacognition. However, without well-structured guidelines, students do not tend to actively engage with the taught material, peers, and the instructor at a desirable metacognitive level (Deslauriers et al., 2019). To address this problem, a…

This study assessed the impact of flipped instruction on study effort, exam performance, motivation, and perceived class quality in two sections of an introductory chemistry course. Giving frequent assignments and quizzes provided enough incentive to ensure pre-class study compliance, and flipped instruction did not appreciably increase overall…

Reading is an "invisible" skill, making it challenging to address in a college classroom. Yet, it is fundamental to disciplinary thought. Inspired by the "signature pedagogies" conversation, I wanted to find ways to make more visible in my classroom what I do when I work with readings. This gave rise to several questions: How…

Many college students fall into the habit of coming to class unprepared, without having read assigned texts, or having read partially and superficially. As a consequence, they may take a passive stance, discussion can fall flat, and learning can be diminished. This article describes an instructional strategy for engaging students as active…

This paper illustrates a radical course design structured to create active and situated learning in which students participate in communities of practice within the classroom, replicating real-life work situations. This paper illustrates the approach through a People Management module, but the approach is also used across a range of disciplines…

Colleges and universities are beginning to invest in active learning (AL) classrooms in an effort to replace the traditional lecture style pedagogy that is frequently used by many professors in higher education (Eagan et al., 2014). This is a quantitative research study conducted at a medium-sized Midwestern university. Students were given the…

This instructional article is about an innovative teaching approach for enhancing student engagement and active learning in higher education through a combination of just-in-time teaching and the use of PowerPoint technology. The central component of this approach was students' pre-lecture preparation of a short PowerPoint presentation in which…

Studies have shown Active Learning Classrooms [ALCs] help increase student engagement and improve student performance. However, remodeling all traditional classrooms to ALCs entails substantial financial burdens. Thus, an imperative question for institutions of higher education is whether active learning pedagogies can improve learning outcomes…

This article provides an evaluation of the redesign of a research methods course intended to enhance students' learning for understanding and transfer. Drawing on principles of formative assessment from the existing academic literature, the instructor introduced a number of increasingly complex low-stakes assignments for students to complete prior…

Large first-year class sizes have resulted in many lecturers adopting coping strategies consisting of direct-transmission mode teaching, reduced practical time, and assessment. Recently several strategies have been implemented in an attempt to improve student participation and active learning; however, these changes have to be facilitated and…

This instructional paper is intended to provide an alternative approach to developing lecture materials, including handouts and PowerPoint slides, successfully developed over several years. The principal objective is to aid in the bridging of traditional "chalk and talk" lecture approaches with more active learning techniques, especially in more…