Effectively teaching the concepts of osmosis to college-level students is a major obstacle in biological education. Therefore, a novel computer model is presented that allows students to observe the random nature of particle motion simultaneously with the seemingly directed net flow of water across a semipermeable membrane during osmotic…

The most common question the author's students ask is, "When will I ever use this in real life?" To address this question in her geometry classes, the author sought to create a project that would incorporate a real-world business situation with their lesson series on the surface area and volume of three-dimensional objects--specifically, prisms,…

"Use of mathematical representations to model and interpret physical phenomena and solve problems is one of the major teaching objectives in high school math curriculum" [National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM), "Principles and Standards for School Mathematics", NCTM, Reston, VA, 2000]. Commonly used pre-calculus textbooks provide a…

The impact of computer simulations on the performance of 65 grade 11 learners in electromagnetism in a South African high school in the Mpumalanga province is investigated. Learners did not use the simulations individually, but teachers used them as an interactive demonstration tool. Basic concepts in electromagnetism are difficult to understand…

Educational technology continues to expand with multi-user virtual environments (e.g., Second Life™) being the latest technology. Understanding a virtual environment's usability can enhance educational planning and effective use. Usability includes the interaction quality between an individual and the item being assessed. The purpose was to assess…

The haptic paddle is a force-feedback joystick used at several universities in teaching System Dynamics, a core mechanical engineering undergraduate course where students learn to model dynamic systems in several domains. A second goal of the haptic paddle is to increase the accessibility of robotics and haptics by providing a low-cost device for…

The most effective ways to promote learning and inspire careers related to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) remain elusive. To address this gap, we reviewed the literature and designed and implemented a high-fidelity, medical simulation-based Harvard Medical School MEDscience course, which was integrated into high school…

This report captures the variety of music education research between 2012-2014 and covers a range of topics and events such as the International Society for Music Education (ISME) 2012, Australian Society for Music Education (ASME) 2013 and Australian and New Zealand Association for Research in Music Education (ANZARME) 2014.

The authors describe a simulation-based set of full-motion video scenarios which require students studying educational leadership to make decisions that solve problems presented in "A Year in the Life of a Middle School Principal." The decision points were designed to reflect the proficiencies emphasized in ISLLC [Interstate School…

A methodology for design based research (DBR) into effective development and use of Multi-User Virtual Environments (MUVE) in vocational education is proposed. It blends software development with DBR with two theories selected to inform the methodology. Legitimate peripheral participation LPP (Lave & Wenger, 1991) provides a filter when…

Visual program simulation (VPS) is a new, interactive form of educational program visualisation, in which learners use graphical controls to direct a program's execution rather than simply watching an animation of it. In this article, we report on a qualitative empirical study of novice programmers learning through VPS. From an analysis of…

Language learners' increased mobility and the ubiquity of virtual intercultural encounters has challenged traditional ideas of "cultures". Moreover, representations of cultures as consumable life-choices has meant that learners are no longer locked into standard and static cultural identities. Language learners are better defined as…

We developed an introductory statistics course for pre-service elementary teachers. In this paper, we describe the goals and structure of the course, as well as the assessments we implemented. Additionally, we use example course work to demonstrate pre-service teachers' progress both in learning statistics and as novice teachers. Overall, the…

The Association Supporting Computer Users in Education (ASCUE) is a group of people interested in small college computing issues. It is a blend of people from all over the country who use computers in their teaching, academic support, and administrative support functions. Begun in 1968 as the College and University Eleven-Thirty Users' Group…

High fidelity simulation has become a widespread and costly learning strategy in nursing education because it can fill the gap left by a shortage of clinical sites. In addition, high fidelity simulation is an active learning strategy that is thought to increase higher order thinking such as clinical reasoning and judgment skills in nursing…