Darwin's theory of evolution is explicitly competitive, yet co-operation between individuals is a common phenomenon. The Prisoner's Dilemma model is central to the teaching of the evolution of co-operation. The best-known explorations of the Prisoner's Dilemma are the tournaments run by Robert Axelrod in the 1980s. Aimed at students of biological…

BREATHE is an acronym for Breathe, Reflect, Empathize, Accept, Thank, Hearten, Engage. The addition of Understand allows for a holistic approach to living a healthy and balanced life both inside and outside the classroom. This paper took form as a result of my personal, spiritual journey, as well as my teaching practice. I noticed that the…

We present our efforts towards building an observational system for measuring classroom activity. The goal is to explore visual cues which can be acquired with a system of video cameras and automatically processed to enrich the teacher's perception of the audience. The paper will give a brief overview of our methodology, explored features, and…

This article introduces a four-paper cluster, included in this issue of "Feminist Teacher," in which the authors take up the challenge to dismantle the perceived dichotomy between feminism theory and practice. The authors analyze specific theory based feminist pedagogical practices, which are employed on four very different campuses with…

While observing the bounce heights of various kinds of sports balls dropped from different heights onto a variety of surfaces, we thought of the following question: Could measurements of drop and bounce heights of balls of different diameters, but of the same material, falling from different heights, but on the same surface, be expressed by a…

This article offers instrumental directors at all levels some suggestions for the use of movement to facilitate "beat competency". We use the term beat competency to refer to a musician's ability to play with a consistent sense of pulse and balanced subdivision, as well as the eventual ability to bring that sense of pulse to reading…

Calculus students' difficulties in understanding integration have been extensively studied. Research shows that the difficulty lies with students understanding of the definition of the definite integral as a limit of a Riemann sum and with the idea of accumulation inherent in integration. We have created a set of manipulatives and activities…

Although the concept of multitasking itself is under debate, smartphones do enable users to divert attention from the task at hand to nongermane matters. As smartphone use becomes pervasive, extending into our classrooms, educators are concerned that they are becoming a major distraction. Does multitasking with smartphones impede learning? Can…

Using Critical Communication Pedagogy, this semester-long service-learning approach to public speaking requires students to apply public speaking concepts to a speech they develop and deliver to a specific community audience, to examine their own biases, and to explore and evaluate various strategies for adapting to their audience.

This article describes an in-class exercise designed to demonstrate the concept of emotional contagion. Empirical research has found that leader emotional displays at work relate to various member work attitudes and performance. However, students may have a difficult time understanding how and why emotions can influence organizational outcomes.…

Background: Asian American experiences have been largely ignored in the engineering education research literature. Asian Americans are often considered as a homogenous group, despite including over 40 different ethnic subgroups who speak over 300 languages. The immigrant trajectories, cultural experiences, and college completion rates of Asian…

We describe an in-class activity that helps students improve their skills in media selection and use to reinforce effective communication. The activity builds on media richness and channel expansion theories through an examination of the media selection and use of NBA athlete LeBron James and Cleveland Cavaliers majority owner Dan Gilbert during…

Causal layered analysis (CLA) is a technique that enables deeper critical inquiry through a structured exploration of four layers of causation. CLA's layers reach down from the surface litany of media understanding, through the layer of systemic causes identified by conventional research, to underpinning worldviews, ideologies and philosophies,…

Young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often demonstrate delays in expressive communication, impacting their ability to independently function in typical environments. Individuals with ASD who develop expressive language during early childhood experience better outcomes later in life; therefore, examination of naturalistic language…

This paper is focused on an innovation which involved students being assessed on short written responses to an issue to be addressed in the following classroom session. The innovation was evaluated through a student survey, individual and focus-group interviews with participants, and the analysis of a critical friend. Positive findings included…