Developing students' metacognitive awareness and self-efficacy is crucial for fostering independent learning and higher-order thinking skills, especially in research-related tasks. Despite the widespread recognition of the importance of cultivating higher-order thinking skills in higher education, there remains a significant gap in our…

This study of first year high-school students in South Australia focussed on the effectiveness of using an innovative project-based mathematics strategy to improve the classroom learning environment and the student outcomes of enjoyment, academic efficacy and achievement. As well, we investigated the differential effectiveness of project-based…

This study examined the impact on the motivation of students toward learning physics upon applying the Nikola Tesla Center (NTC) learning system. The research was conducted using a quasi-experiment with a pretest-posttest non-equivalent control group design. The participants considered were a large group of 1371 students, from various grades and…

Self-knowledge is an important element of metacognition. It encompasses understanding one's own strengths and weaknesses and includes belief and self-assessment of one's capacity to perform a task. Cognitive skills comprise a range of mental processes, such as attention, memory, problem solving, systems thinking, abstract thinking, and critical…

Microlearning is gaining ground in the higher education domain. Despite this trend, there is a lack of evidence of effectiveness when a large number of microlearning units are grouped to form a macrolearning programme. The purpose of this paper is to explore how and why a macrolearning affects students' self-efficacy. The originality of this paper…

Project-based learning (PBL) is a transformative approach to college education with the potential to develop comprehensive skills such as critical thinking, problem-solving, and teamwork. This study explores factors influencing the effectiveness of PBL and proposes strategies for its enhancement among Chinese college students. Utilizing the…

This Mixed-Method Action Research study aimed to implement an extended Project-Based Learning professional development series with middle school science teachers. The professional development series took place during the teachers' Communities of Practice, offering them high-quality support, active participation, and content-specific conversations.…

This quasi-experimental, quantitative study was completed to determine if a Modern Classroom approach to teaching had a significant relationship with student self-reported efficacy measures and end-of-course test data when compared to classrooms taught with traditional instructional methods as well as if there was a difference in results for…

Two prominent factors that have been linked to students' mathematics achievement are teachers' instructional practices and students' self-efficacy. However, these factors are typically considered in isolation, negating the relationship between the two. This study examined the effect of two instructional practices, direct instruction and inquiry…

This research was carried out to examine the effects of active learning methods, which take the information away from memorization and make it applicable in daily life, on the achievement, attitude and self-efficacy of the 'Contemporary Art Practices' course taken by the undergraduate students. In the study, single group pretest-posttest…

Over the past several decades, empirical support for inquiry-based forms of science teaching has accumulated. Critical voices, however, also exist, claiming that minimally guided teaching approaches might be less effective than guided forms; they might even be harmful, particularly for novice students, due to the production of cognitive overload.…

This research examined the effects of a first-year seminar course redesign on promoting students' self-efficacy. By implementing a project-based approach in the course curriculum, the study investigated if, and to what extent, did such redesign improve student belief in their ability to master course-related outcomes. Two-tailed independent…

Introduction to American Government is a foundational general education course meant to promote understanding of democracy and students' ability to participate in it. But, there is substantial variation in how the course is structured: it can enroll anywhere from a dozen students to hundreds; it can be delivered online, face-to-face, or in hybrid…

This study investigated (i) the effect of inquiry-oriented laboratory activities on preservice primary school teachers' (PPSTs) achievement in science process skills (SPS) and science teaching efficacy beliefs, and (ii) changes in groups' reflections of SPS in the laboratory reports as they engaged in the activities. There were 71 PPSTs enrolled…

Contribution: A first-year programming course was redesigned with a large, open-ended robotics project. The course design aligns with best practices for promoting development of students' self-efficacy in solving ill-structured software design problems. Background: From Jonassen's theory, problem-solving outcomes are dependent on the problem…