Recently, interest in understanding the prospects of virtual environments, specifically virtual reality laboratories (VR Lab) -- those that involve a first-person practica experience via a desktop computer or head-mounted display -- in science education has increased. Seemingly ingrained in the process of implementing a VR Lab is a supposition of…

We describe our experiences teaching MapReduce in a large undergraduate lecture course using public cloud services and the standard Hadoop API. Using the standard API, students directly experienced the quality of industrial big-data tools. Using the cloud, every student could carry out scalability benchmarking assignments on realistic hardware,…

The percentage of Latinas/os decreases at each stage in the educational pipeline and is especially proportionally low at the post-baccalaureate level. This study investigates the complexities of the quest to increase post-baccalaureate participation for Latina/o students. We present data on post-baccalaureate education by utilizing 2 comprehensive…

Nearly 40 percent of the students entering 2- and 4-year postsecondary institutions indicated their intention to major in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in 2012. But the barriers to students realizing their ambitions are reflected in the fact that about half of those with the intention to earn a STEM bachelor's degree and…

This paper presents the structure of an undergraduate course entitled "programming techniques and the use of specialised software in structural engineering" which is offered to the fifth (final) year students of the Civil Engineering Department of Aristotle University Thessaloniki in Greece. The aim of this course is to demonstrate the…

Numerous studies have been undertaken demonstrating that online learning is an effective teaching tool, working best when combined with more conventional teaching methods. There is a paucity of data both examining the longitudinal blending of an e-module with more conventional modes of curriculum delivery and also relating to the time and…

Reports on a distance education undergraduate nursing course offered by Dalhousie University School of Nursing (Nova Scotia) via live interactive television during 1984-85. The delivery method, course design, student achievement and attitudes towards the delivery method, costs, and advantages and disadvantages are described. (MBR)

Thirty-two computer-based lesson modules in organic chemistry were developed at the University of Texas (Austin) over an 18-month period and evaluated in varying classroom situations for three semesters starting in the Fall of 1972. The modules were designed as supplements to the traditional organic chemistry course of the University. As such,…