Background: Much work has focused on "inattention" in the classroom, examining how episodes of task-unrelated thought (i.e., mind wandering) and engagement with various forms of media (e.g., media multitasking, smartphone use) influence retention of lecture material. However, considerably less work has examined factors that may…

Computer Science 1 (CS1), the first course taken by college-level computer science (CS) majors, has traditionally suffered from high failure rates. Efforts to understand this phenomenon have considered a wide range of predictors of CS success, such as prior programming experience, math ability, learning style, and gender, with findings that are…

Positive student-instructor relationships are important for student engagement, motivation, retention and achievement. Yet, as class sizes grow, these relationships can be increasingly difficult to develop. This study explores LectureTools--a web-based student response and learning platform that facilitates communication between instructors and…

Universities have experienced increases in technology ownership and usage amongst students entering undergraduate programs. Almost all students report owning a mobile phone and many students view laptops and tablets as educational tools, though they also report using them for nonacademic activities during lectures. We explored the relationship…

The use of lecture capture in higher education is becoming increasingly widespread, with many instructors now providing digital videos of lecture content that can be used by students as learning resources in a variety of ways, including to catch up on material after a class absence. Despite accumulating research regarding the relationship between…

Many higher education institutions are now digitally capturing lectures in courses and making them available on the web for students to view anytime and in anyplace. This study is an attempt to understand the relationship between student perceptions of lecture capture and academic performance in large undergraduate courses where the practice is…

This paper examines students' mixed perceptions of the use of active learning techniques in undergraduate science lectures. Written comments from over 250 students offered an in-depth view of why students perceive these techniques as helping or hindering their learning and experience. Fourth- and fifth-year students were more likely to view…

This study examined the use of lecture capture in students in a large 3rd year undergraduate biological science course at the University of Guelph. Data regarding viewing behaviour, academic performance, and attendance were analyzed in relation to student learning approach (as assessed by the R-SPQ-2F), gender, and year of post-secondary…

A laboratory experiment was carried out with 120 undergraduate students to examine a possible aptitude-treatment interaction between teacher clarity and student test anxiety in relation to two outcome measures, namely student achievement and student motivation, with student intelligence statistically controlled. Students completed measures of…

Describes a project that evaluated the academic effectiveness of 2-way interactive video as a means for delivering class lectures in an introductory psychology course. Finds that the students at the campus studio and remote site all achieved the same academically and expressed positive attitudes about the course. (CMK)

A study of British Columbia high schools found that block scheduling can endanger mathematics achievement. Reduced math scores were attributed to irregular planning time, little opportunity to modify curriculum; and the provincial examination system. Longer time blocks cannot succeed without adequate planning time, curricular restructuring, and…

A model of learning from instruction proposed that students perceive and cognitively respond to instructional stimuli before engaging learning processes per se. University students were trained to recognize only or to recognize and cognitively respond to teacher skills in lectures. Additional prelecture practice in recognition enhanced learning.…

Previous "educational seduction" research suggested that teacher differences in expressiveness controlled the degree to which lecture content affected student ratings differently from student achievement. We attempted to replicate this Expressiveness x Content x Measures interaction in four simulated college classes. Student incentive…