Working together and exchanging ideas is inherent in interactive learning. The focus of interactive learning is on what learners believe is important to learn, the various processes learners use to learn and how learners use learning in other settings and situations. Active learning processes that promote reflection, writing, demonstrations,…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to study the impact of a web-based constructivist learning environment, which was developed based on a course given to students in the Faculty of Creative Multimedia (FCM) on student learning. Design/methodology/approach: In this paper, a web-based multimedia-mediated project was developed based on an Internet…

Peer mentoring has been used for many years by the Nelson R. Mandela School of Medicine to integrate new students into the academic and social culture of the institution. In 2001, an unusual situation arose. A problem-based learning (PBL) curriculum was introduced and the first cohort in this programme was mentored by senior traditional curriculum…

The time and effort spent during the first days of a new semester are key to the success of the class that lies ahead. What happens during these first days can set a tone that inspires students to work actively and cooperatively to achieve success in the new semester, or to sit back and assume a "here we go again" attitude. In this article, the…

This paper presents a Problem-Based Learning (PBL) approach to support and promote deeper student learning in a computer architecture course. A PBL approach using a simulator building activity was used to teach part of the course. The remainder of the course was taught using a traditional lecture-tutorial approach. Qualitative data was collected…

The traditional classroom teaching mode is based on the content of the subject, takes the teacher as the center and gives priority to classroom instruction. While PBL (Problem Based Learning) teaching method breaches the traditional mode, combining the basic science with clinical practice and covering the process from discussion to self-study to…

Summer undergraduate research programs in science and engineering facilitate research progress for faculty and provide a close-ended research experience for students, which can prepare them for careers in industry, medicine, and academia. However, ensuring these outcomes is a challenge when the students arrive ill-prepared for substantive research…

Problem-based learning, group work, project work and fieldwork are prescribed learning methods aimed at replacing or complementing traditional lectures in higher education in Norway (Innst. S. nr 337, 2000-2001) [Proposal to the Norwegian Parliament no. 337 (2000-2001)]. This is based on the belief that student activity can enhance learning. The…

This study investigates how teacher education students responded to a particular suite of educational products that involved media based educational learning objects, and their attitudes to them in fostering student centred learning in general, and problem based learning in particular, with the ultimate goal of enhancing and improving the quality…

We redesigned our medical school's Problem-Based Learning (PBL) curriculum to include a substantial increase in required geriatrics content. Innovations included new PBL health care problems and standardized patients (SPs) throughout the first three years and a new required four-week, fourth-year rotation. We used data from the AAMC Medical School…

In 2009 Australia's vocational education and training (VET) system, in common with so many other areas of public policy and the economy, was preoccupied by the effects of the global economic downturn and, like other sectors, sought to reposition itself to deal with the economic fallout, while anticipating its role in the recovery. Yet, as…

Digestion of DNA with restriction enzymes, calculation of volumes and concentrations of reagents for reactions, and the separation of DNA fragments by agarose gel electrophoresis are common molecular biology techniques that are best taught through repetition. The following open-ended, investigative laboratory exercise in plasmid restriction…

Service-learning projects are a useful method for students to learn both the practice and value of statistical methods. Effective service learning, however, depends on several factors and can be implemented according to a variety of models. In this article, different models for incorporating service-learning in statistics courses are presented…

This paper reports the development of innovative assessment sessions within two core technical courses in Civil Engineering at the University of Queensland. Peer Assessment Learning Sessions (PALS) facilitate a student's peer assessment of a colleague's problem-based learning assignment or tutorial within a "traditional" whole-class…

Project-based learning is not a new idea. It has a solid track record of increasing student motivation and improving students' problem-solving and higher-order thinking skills (Stites, 1998; Thomas, 2000). In the traditional model, students work in teams to investigate open-ended questions and apply their knowledge through culminating products or…