Within the teaching of political theory, an assumption is emerging that "Reacting to the Past" simulations are an effective tool because they encourage greater student engagement with ideas and history. While previous studies have assessed the advantages of simulations in other political science subfields or offered anecdotal evidence of…

Within the broader literature concerned with potential bias in student measures of instructor effectiveness, two broad types of bias have been shown to operate in a course: internal and external. Missing is an assessment of the relative influence of each bias type in the classroom. Do internal or external types of bias matter more or less to…

This quasi-treatment study, using a non-equivalent group design, explored how a set of animations related to various concepts in algebra impacted students' ability to learn as measured by changes in quiz and test scores. The concepts that were investigated were addition and subtraction of rational expressions, solving equations involving rational…

Teachers are confronted with complex and unexpected classroom situations that not only demand knowledge but also social-emotional competencies. Consequently, researchers have tried to identify conditions that support the development of relevant abilities in this domain. This study examined the frequently stated, but not yet empirically…

Drawing by learners can be an effective way to develop memory and generate visual models for higher-order skills in biology, but students are often reluctant to adopt drawing as a study method. We designed a nonclassroom intervention that instructed introductory biology college students in a drawing method, minute sketches in folded lists (MSFL),…

In observational studies, selection bias will be completely removed only if the selection mechanism is ignorable, namely, all confounders of treatment selection and potential outcomes are reliably measured. Ideally, well-grounded substantive theories about the selection process and outcome-generating model are used to generate the sample of…

The study reported here examined college students' academic self-efficacy, 'academic press' and learning achievement, as well as the association between these three variables within learning contexts using interactive whiteboard-based instruction. A quasi-experimental study was conducted using a sample (n = 103) of first-year college students in…

Objective: Suicide remains a pressing issue for college communities. Consequently, gatekeeper trainings are often provided for staff. This study examines the effect of one such program, Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST). Participants: 51 college employees received ASIST in August of 2014 and were compared to 30 wait-list control…

The theory of spatial thinking is relevant to the learning and teaching of many academic domains. One promising method to facilitate learners' higher-order thinking is to utilize a web map mind tool to assist learners in applying spatial thinking to cooperative problem solving. In this study, an environment is designed based on the theory of…

Veterans and military service members enter the classroom with valuable life and leadership experience; however, transitioning to student life represents unique challenges. Like the larger veteran population, student veterans may bring to campus the negative aftereffects of their combat experiences in the form of post-traumatic stress, substance…

STEM educational reform encourages a transition from instructor-centered passive learning classrooms to student-centered, active learning environments. Instructors adopting these changes incorporate research-validated teaching practices that improve student learning. Professional development that trains faculty to implement instructional reforms…

Professors of international relations are increasingly realizing that simulations can be a fun and effective way of teaching the complexities of the field to their students. One popular simulation that has emerged in recent years--the "Statecraft" simulation--is now used by more than 190 colleges and universities worldwide. Despite…

Online course-packs are marketed as improving grades in introductory-level coursework, yet it is unknown whether these course-packs can effectively replace, as opposed to supplement, in-class instruction. This study compared learning outcomes for Introductory Psychology students in hybrid and traditional sections, with hybrid sections replacing…

This study investigates how educational games impact on students' academic performance and multimedia flow experiences in a computer science course. A curriculum consists of five basic learning units, that is, the stack, queue, sort, tree traversal, and binary search tree, was conducted for 110 university students during one semester. Two groups…

In this study we investigated how two different approaches to drawing free body diagrams influence the development of students' understanding of Newton's laws, including their ability to identify real forces. For this purpose we developed a 12-item two-tier multiple choice survey and conducted a quasiexperiment. This experiment included two groups…