Physics education has been identified as one of the public sectors that are mostly influenced by technological developments. This paper adopted the quasi-experimental pre- and post-test design to assess the effects of multimedia-aided technologies (MAT) on undergraduate students' performance in quantum physics (QP) at the University of Rwanda…

Active learning yields better learning outcomes than traditional, lecture-based teaching. Common approaches in large lecture courses are activating elements during the lectures and warm-up activities using online learning environments. However, implementing warm-up exercises, on which students work on by themselves makes formative feedback…

This paper represents the second contribution from an action research study on a bachelor-level quantum chemistry and spectroscopy course. In the proposed instructional model, active learning principles are extended outside lectures to form a student-centred course structure. The new model resulted in superior learning outcomes compared to a class…

Using Piaget's perspective of individual cognition and Vygotsky's theory of social constructivism as lenses, this paper reports on the instructional prompts that are used by biology lecturers to promote student interaction. The study further reports on the link between the prompts used and the subsequent quality of the interaction. Three lecturers…

Problems with understanding concepts and mechanisms connected to plant movements have been diagnosed among biology students. Alternative conceptions in understanding these phenomena are marginally studied. The diagnosis was based on a sample survey of university students and their lecturers, which was quantitatively and qualitatively exploratory…

Undergraduate physics programs are increasingly facing pressure from university and college administration, industry, and funding agencies to improve training of our undergraduates. Increasingly, tertiary institutions have redefined their graduate profiles and mission statements to encompass more than just content knowledge, including skills that…

There is much in the literature about the perks and pitfalls of introducing lecture capture technology (LCT) into the classroom, with recommendations and guidelines as well as mixed reports outlining the ensuing expected and unexpected, in terms of positive and negative outcomes. With the goal of providing another student study resource, LCT was…

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…

Educational techniques that improve student engagement have repeatedly been shown to improve performance at the class level at many institutions and in multiple disciplines. However, knowledge of engagement in individual activities in large first-year classes, where there may be several subpopulations of students in different programs reflecting…

A simple, reliable, and cost-effective experiment is presented in which students synthesized citrate-capped gold nanoparticles (GNPs), functionalized them with poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG), and transferred the PEG-GNPs from water to the organic phase dichloromethane. The experiment introduces students to nanotechnology with foci on important…

In this paper, the authors discuss the effectiveness of MOOCs as part of a pedagogical strategy aimed at supporting Physics' preliminary undergraduate students in large-size lectures. Our study is based on an experimental activity based on a blended course, which integrated a parallel MOOC delivered through the POK (PoliMi Open Knowledge,…

This paper presents and analyses the results obtained by applying Active Learning techniques in overcrowded Physics lectures at the University of the Republic, Uruguay. The course referred to is Physics 1, the first Physics course that all students of the Faculty of Engineering take in their first semester for all the Engineering-related careers.…

This paper analyzes pre-post matched gains in the epistemological views of science students taking the introductory physics course at Beijing Normal University (BNU) in China. In this study we examined the attitudes and beliefs of science majors (n = 441) in four classes, one taught using traditional (lecture) teaching methods, and the other three…

Interactive engagement activities are increasingly common in undergraduate physics teaching. As research efforts move beyond simply showing that interactive engagement pedagogies work towards developing an understanding of "how" they lead to improved learning outcomes, a detailed analysis of the way in which these activities are used in…

The article describes the development of a new approach to teach molecular biology to undergraduate biology students. The 34 students who participated in this research belonged to the first period of the Biological Sciences teaching course of the Instituto Federal Goiano at Urutaí Campus, Brazil. They were registered in Cell Biology in the first…