Despite several researchers reporting evidence that 3D Virtual Worlds can be used to effectively support educational processes in recent years, the integration of this technology in real learning processes is not as commonplace as in other educational technologies. Instructional designers have to balance the cost associated with the development of…

The study explores how a complexity approach empowers science learning. A complexity approach represents systems as many interacting entities. The construct of micro-macro compatibility is introduced, the degree of similarity between behaviors at the micro- and macro-levels of the system. Seventh-grade students' learning about gases was studied…

The purpose of this study was to describe and examine the environments used by teacher candidates in multi-user virtual environments. Secondary data analysis of a case study methodology was employed. Multiple data sources including interviews, surveys, observations, snapshots, course artifacts, and the researcher's journal were used in the initial…

This paper focuses on methodologies of serious games deployment and evaluation. Particularly, this study will present a specific category of serious games that are based on Collaborative Virtual Environments and they aim to support Collaborative Learning. We call these serious games Collaborative Virtual Educational Games (CVEG). The paper aims to…

This paper describes designing and implementing a scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) study in a basic electrical circuits course at LaGuardia Community College. Inspired by my understanding of Shulman's (2005) concept of "signature pedagogy" and Mazur's (2009) emphasis on student-centered approaches, and aware that our students…

This paper presents a piece of educational software covering a comprehensive number of topics of chemical kinetics, which is available free of charge in Portuguese and English. The software was developed to support chemistry educators and students in the teaching-learning process of chemical kinetics by using animations, calculations, and…

Introductions of computer-aided software and simulators are implemented during the sophomore-year of the chemical engineering (ChE) curriculum at the American University of Sharjah (AUS). Our faculty concurs that software integration within the curriculum is beneficial to our students, as evidenced by the positive feedback received from industry…

Histology stands as a major discipline in the life science curricula, and the practice of teaching it is based on theoretical didactic strategies along with practical training. Traditionally, students achieve practical competence in this subject by learning optical microscopy. Today, students can use newer information and communication…

This study investigated the impact of three commonly used cardiovascular model-assisted activities on student learning and student attitudes and perspectives about science. College students enrolled in a Human Anatomy and Physiology course were randomly assigned to one of three experimental groups (organ dissections, virtual dissections, or…

Anatomical corrosion casts of human specimens are useful teaching aids. However, their use is limited due to ethical dilemmas associated with their production, their lack of perfect reproducibility, and their consumption of original specimens in the process of casting. In this study, new approaches with modern distribution of complex anatomical…

This paper presents the basic features of a software system developed to support the teaching of digital logic, as well as the experience of using it in the Digital Logic course taught at the School of Electrical Engineering, University of Belgrade, Serbia. The system has been used for several years, both by students for self-learning and…

The FluAnisot educational software package is a fully contained tutorial on the technique of fluorescence anisotropy measurement as well as a simulator on which two experiments can be performed. The procedure for each of the experiments is also contained within the package along with example analyses of results that were obtained using the…

Studies have shown that standard lectures and instructional laboratory experiments are not effective at teaching interference and diffraction. In response, the author created an interactive computer program that simulates interference and diffraction effects using the finite difference time domain method. The software allows students to easily…

There is increasing use of computer-based resources to teach anatomy, although no study has compared computer-based learning to traditional. In this study, we examine the effectiveness of three formats of anatomy learning: (1) a virtual reality (VR) computer-based module, (2) a static computer-based module providing Key Views (KV), (3) a plastic…

This article has a dual purpose: it describes the development of First Year Dental Anatomy (FYDA), a web-based 3D interactive application used in the dental curriculum at a major Canadian university, and it reports on the results of a research study conducted to assess the perception of learning benefits students experienced through the use of…