Learning within first-year biology is about inquiry, but in this content-heavy science students can easily fall into the trap of parrot-fashion learning. This study investigates the influence of lecturers' expectation of students in meaning making on the nature of their slides and the quality of students' note-making. Data were collected by…

Video lectures are increasingly being used in physics instruction. For example, video lectures can be used to "flip" the classroom, i.e., to deliver, via the Internet, content that is traditionally transmitted by in-class lectures (e.g., presenting concepts, working examples, etc.), thereby freeing up classroom time for more interactive…

An inexpensive light board projection system that enables lecturers to face the classroom while lecturing is described. The lecturer's writing appears in high contrast in front of the lecturer; it is never blocked by the lecturer, even while writing. The projected image displays both the writing as well as the lecturer's gestures and facial…

Detailed accounts of teaching can shed light on the nature and prevalence of active learning, yet common approaches reduce teaching to unidimensional descriptors or binary categorizations. In this paper, I use the instructional systems-of-practice framework and the Teaching Dimensions Observation Protocol (TDOP) to advance an approach to thinking…

Demonstrations are used in chemistry lectures to improve conceptual understanding by direct observation. The visual aid described here is designed to demonstrate the change in state of matter with the change of temperature and the change of pressure with temperature. Temperature is presented by the rate of airflow and pressure is presented by…

An introductory organic classroom demonstration is discussed where analogies are made between common societal hand contact and covalent bond formation. A handshake signifies creation of a [sigma] bond ("head-on" orbital overlap), whereas the action of praying illustrates "sideways" overlap and generation of a [pi] bond. The nature of orbital and…

Describes a lecture teaching technique called lap-dissolve projection in which two slide projectors are operated alternately so that one visual image fades away while the next appears on the same screen area. (MLH)