Dropping out of school is a universal problem, concerning fairly similar target groups in all countries. Several action plans to prevent dropping out and to activate the dropouts have been developed worldwide. The object of this study, the Activity School of East Finland, is an exceptionally comprehensive entity, within which alternative…

The article addresses the issue of whether student learning style has an impact on use of a learning technology such as a virtual learning environment (VLE). It is based on material from a broader research project at a UK university (Kingston University) on the use of VLEs in teaching and learning and explores the findings from the analysis of…

The use of geographic information systems (GIS) in the classroom provides a robust and effective method of teaching the primary spatial skills of identification, description, and explanation of spatial pattern. A major handicap for the development of GIS-based learning experiences, especially for non-GIS specialist educators, is the availability…

To be actively involved in their own writing requires that students make decisions. In order to build a new approach for our Technical/Professional Writing classes, we assessed our individual teaching practices and past experiences, studied current scholarship on teaching writing, and conducted research on technical writing in our local community.…

In an effort to improve instruction related to psychometrics and psychological testing for beginning psychology majors, an approach was developed at Pennsylvania's Ursinus College that incorporates active, participatory learning and problem solving. The approach is used in a course on research methods and makes use of a networked computer system…

In an Adolescent Development course at the University of Wisconsin, La Crosse, activities are employed to encourage students to become active learners, to become critical consumers of information regarding adolescents, and to develop an empathetic understanding of adolescents and their experiences. One activity that promotes critical thinking…

The Research on Trial technique is designed to enable students to think critically about psychological research, to help them apply what they have learned in class in an in-depth way to this research, and to create a classroom environment in which research issues are debated. The technique employs a courtroom trial role-play, with students…

Sport facility design and management courses rely heavily or exclusively upon lectures and readings--modes of instruction that engage students in a passive form of learning. This paper advocates one method of stimulating higher-level thinking and active learning in facility courses--the use of cooperative small-group learning. In facility courses,…

Businesses use both classroom and facilitation forms of leadership development. In this article I describe over 20 leadership-development methods, placing them in either of two categories, classroom or facilitation. I then provide the results of a quick survey of leadership development companies on the Internet, over 200 in all, about which group…

This paper considers how active learning events in the form of problem solving/discussion events can be combined with the traditional lecture to better support good teaching and student learning in information systems (IS) education. A single case study is used to illustrate and evaluate the effectiveness of small group problem solving and…

This document presents the Maryland Collaborative for Teacher Preparation (MCTP) faculty's reviews on instructional issues of different disciplines. Contents include: (1) "The Maryland Collaborative for Teacher Preparation"; (2) "Guiding Principles: New Thinking in Mathematics and Science Teaching"; (3) "Introduction: Parallel Journeys of Risk and…

There is a tendency to equate electronic learning or e-learning with distance learning. In fact, e-learning covers a broad spectrum, from learning which is primarily contact based to learning which is 100% distance. Thus, each course can be measured by the proportion of learning and teaching that is intended to be conducted electronically. The…

This study explored the relationship between student diversity, campus climate, faculty composition, and research and teaching content. Data came from three primary sources: a 1992-93 survey of college and university faculty, which provided information on full-time faculty from 344 institutions; the Higher Education Governance Institutional Survey…

Proposes a teaching strategy to teach ecological concepts and terminology through the use of games and simulations. Includes examples from physiological ecology, population ecology, and ecosystem ecology. (Author/SOE)

Presents classroom science activities dealing with flotation, which may be presented at different levels of cognitive complexity. The activities involve observing various objects in carbonated soda and deal with concepts of weight, volume, and density. Describes a Cartesian Diver activity that allows further examination of the effects of…