The aim of this research was to check the effects of teacher's training and teaching methods on academic achievements and interests of students at secondary schools in computer course. The population was divided into four groups; lecture teaching method (control group), discussion teaching method (experimental method), inquiry teaching method…

The mismatch between high school and college learning environments creates a barrier to student success in STEM majors in college. The high school learning environment relies on surface learning in which skills such as re-reading and memorizing are sufficient for academic success. The college learning environment, particularly in STEM disciplines,…

The effect of class size on student learning has numerous policy implications and has been a major subject of conversation and research for decades. Despite this, few studies have been done on class size in the context of university settings or physics courses. This dissertation helps address that gap in the literature by quantitatively analyzing…

Student anxiety is a growing concern for colleges and universities. As science classrooms transition from traditional lecture to active learning, researchers have sought to understand how active learning affects undergraduate anxiety. However, although community colleges educate nearly half of all undergraduates, no studies have explored the…

This paper investigates what instructional factors influence conceptual understanding (CU) of signals and systems for senior undergraduate engineering students. Previous results show students in signals and systems courses typically gain little CU, though evidence-based instructional practices, such as active learning, can increase gains in CU.…

The two major impetuses to improve STEM education are the shift to online learning and increasing active learning and engagement. Although the COVID-19 pandemic necessitated a rapid shift to online learning, this shift came at the cost of losing on-ground active learning strategies. This study provides descriptive analytical information on the…

A mounting body of evidence has shown that student-centered instructional practices are more effective than traditional teacher-centered methodologies in Undergraduate STEM courses. Several studies have shown the effectiveness of student-centered pedagogies through increases in student performance, retention, and higher achievement by…

Over the course of instruction, not only does most introductory physics students' content knowledge evolve but their attitudes and approaches to problem solving are also likely to evolve. This change may depend on many factors including the curricula and pedagogies used, the degree to which instruction actively engages students in the learning…

Video "podcast" recordings of lectures are popular with students, but are often associated with a decrease in attendance and little increase in performance. Assessment has generally focused on the class as a whole, potentially masking benefits to different subgroups. In this study, conducted in 2 sections of a large active-learning…

Burgeoning college enrolments and insufficient funding to higher education have expanded the use of large lecture courses. As this trend continues, it is important to ensure that students can still learn in those challenging learning environments. Within education broadly and undergraduate engineering specifically, active learning pedagogies have…

Undergraduate introductory biology courses are changing based on our growing understanding of how students learn and rapid scientific advancement in the biological sciences. At Iowa State University, faculty instructors are transforming a second-semester large-enrollment introductory biology course to include active learning within the lecture…

The purpose of this study was to determine whether an active learning classroom environment is more effective in teaching university students certain concepts of business law than the traditional lecture environment. To generate data to answer this question, over a seven-semester period beginning in fall semester 2005, six classes of Legal…

Flipped classrooms are gaining popularity in various educational settings as proponents report several benefits. In order for flipped classrooms to be successful, students must take responsibility for certain assignments outside of class time. In this study, Management Information Systems students were to learn textbook material by reading the…

There has been an increased emphasis for college instruction to incorporate more active and collaborative involvement of students in the learning process. These views have been asserted by The Association of American Colleges (AAC), the National Science Foundation (NSF), and The National Research Counsel (NRC), which are advocating for the…

Since 2005, there has been rapid adoption of the use of podcasting in schools. In this flood of adoption, content has been recorded and distributed, but predominantly not internally structured or pedagogically integrated. This research aims to remedy pedagogical deficiencies in lecture podcasting by making use of chapter feature technology to…