Any adequate comparison between the lecture method of instruction and the case method of instruction necessarily requires a comparison of their underlying philosophical foundation and methodology. This is based on the premise that foundational philosophies or world views underlie educational philosophies, and each educational philosophy favors a…

Cooperative learning has gained popularity in higher educational settings. However, assigning grades equitably to all team members in a way that rewards them for their contributions remains challenging. In this paper, we ask whether having free riders on a team lowers the quality of submitted work, and whether students' course performance…

People consistently prefer numbers associated with themselves (e.g., birth dates) over other numbers. We argue that such number preferences are also shaped by cultural influences, such as customs regarding the day on which Christmas is celebrated and customs regarding ranking of numerals used in national school's grading system. Across 6 different…

One of the most important things that teachers do is to provide feedback to students. It's possible to have wonderful curricula, engaging lesson plans, and high expectations, but when a feedback is ineffective, students don't understand how to translate curricula and lessons into improved academic performance. For a student, grades are very…

In recent years, I have cultivated an almost pathological resistance to grading. Here I explore the reasons why and describe how I eventually recovered. In particular, I propose that although grading, or more explicitly, effective assessment of student learning, is a challenging component of a mathematics instructor's job description, reflective…

Most English-medium programs at European universities require prospective students to take standardised tests for English as a foreign language (EFL) to be admitted. However, there are contexts in which individual teachers' judgements serve the same function, thus having high-stakes consequences for the higher education entrance of their students.…

This article, the first of a two-part series, offers readers 13 teaching innovations debuted at the 2017 Association for Business Communication's annual conference in Dublin, Ireland. Assignment topics presented here include communication strategy and message-packaging skills, deep communication insights, and career and personal development.…

This study investigates cooperativeness, assertiveness, group satisfaction, leader grade, and leadership negotiation in a collaborative assignment conducted in a small group. Researchers manipulated the assignment of team members who reported on measures of group satisfaction and original scales of assertiveness and cooperativeness. Respondents…

This study reports on a qualitative small-scale exploratory study which examined the factors influencing 32 Iranian pre-service language teachers' participation in online asynchronous text-based discussion forums. By adopting a multiple case study design and analysing data gathered through semi-structured interviews and participants' online…

This paper examines an assessment process within the context of quality, accountability and institutional effectiveness in academia. Considered as one of the most important elements in higher education, the assessment process plays a significant role in contributing to holistic quality as well as the performance of an academic institution. As a…

Grading can be accelerated to make time for more effective instruction. This article presents specific time management strategies selected to decrease administrative time required of faculty and teaching assistants, including a multiple answer multiple choice interface for exams, a three-tier grading system for open ended problem solving, and a…

Our university hosts a diverse student cohort and, in certain discipline areas, international students and domestic students whose first language is not English outnumber their English-speaking peers. On the whole, group projects with these cohorts are challenging, and in particular, the allocation of marks is fraught with difficulty. Awarding the…

This article presents principles and practices of effective assessment, outlining seven key concepts--usefulness, reliability, validity, practicality, washback, authenticity, and transparency--and demonstrating how to apply them in creating an exam blueprint. The article also discusses the importance of providing feedback after a test has been…

Pertinent research literature recognizes the importance of using multimodalities to enhance and extend ways of learning across the curriculum in such subject areas as literacy, geology, media studies, physical education, social studies and disabilities studies. As an action researcher who constantly seeks ways to improve my own classroom practice,…

Anyone who has taught an introductory biology lab has sat at their desk in front of a towering stack of lengthy lab reports and wondered if there was a better way to teach scientific writing. We propose the use of a one-page format that we have called a "mini-report," which we believe better allows students to understand the structure…