Examines student instructor communication in freshman classes taught either in traditional lecture style or by using a variety of student-centered, active learning approaches to engage students in the learning process (cooperative learning groups, wireless microphones, permanent name tags, in-class and out-of-class writing). Encourages students to…

Reports on a survey of faculty members (n=29) asking them to define active learning, to rate how effectively different teaching techniques contribute to active learning, and to list the three teaching techniques they use most frequently. Concludes that active learning requires establishing an environment rather than employing a specific teaching…

Teachers in constructivist mathematics classrooms actively engage students in the learning process. Although constructivist teachers use different methods, most employ five contextual teaching strategies: relating, experiencing, applying, cooperating, and transferring. Students learn that even in mathematics, the "right" answer can be a matter of…

Uses DNA laboratories to apply three different active learning strategies to undergraduate education: (1) teaming students; (2) opening laboratories; and (3) linking experiments. Discusses the effectiveness of the stream method on student attitudes and understanding. (YDS)

Points out the low student achievement in microbiology courses and presents an active learning method applied in an introductory microbiology course which features daily quizzes, cooperative learning activities, and group projects. (Contains 30 references.) (YDS)

Instructional design is an integral part of a balanced approach to teaching vocabulary instruction. The goal of this paper is to reflect on several lessons using research-based vocabulary strategies, and to present think-alouds that detail the steps in matching instructional design with those strategies in order to reach the learning outcome.…

Broadening the intercultural awareness and international outlook of undergraduate students is best achieved through active rather than passive learning. The international student interview provides an excellent strategy for such active learning in introductory human geography classes. It allows American-born students to enter into a dialogue with…

It is argued that library media specialists should consider technology as integral to their jobs as they do literature and books and use it to create an active learning community. The many ways that technology can be used to enhance student achievement are discussed.

An oral examination for assessing senior undergraduate students is described. The examinations were conducted in a room with a one-way mirror so that all students could learn from each other. This procedure was much appreciated by the participants.

As students are first learning to construct mathematical proofs, it is often helpful for them to have the opportunity to see and evaluate proofs that others have written. In fact, several textbooks designed for use in a transition or bridge course include a few exercises in which students are given a proposed proof and asked to determine if it…

For students, theory is often one of the most daunting aspects of sociology--it seems abstract, removed from the concrete events of their everyday lives, and therefore intimidating. In an attempt to break down student resistance to theory, instructors are increasingly turning to active learning approaches. Active learning exercises, then, appear…

A new field of children's learning is emerging. This new field differs from the old in recognizing that children's learning includes active as well as passive mechanisms and qualitative as well as quantitative changes. Children's learning involves substantial variability of representations and strategies within individual children as well as…

In 4 experiments, students received a lesson consisting of computer-based animation and narration or a lesson consisting of paper-based static diagrams and text. The lessons used the same words and graphics in the paper-based and computer-based versions to explain the process of lightning formation (Experiment 1), how a toilet tank works…

Since MIT's bold announcement of the OpenCourseWare initiative in 2001, the content of over 700 of its courses have been published on the Web and made available for free to the world. Important infrastructure initiatives have also been launched recently with a view to enabling the sustainable implementation of these educational programmes, through…

An inquiry-based experiment on Sherlock Holmes adventure stories used to actively involve students in a series of laboratory experiments to prove the guilt of the accused murderer is presented. The result from such experiments showed that students were able to distinguish between sugar and possible poison.