Teacher-candidate course assessment is one topic that has not been adequately explored in teacher education literature where pre-service teachers' voices are rarely heard. This mixed-methods study explored a group of female pre-service teachers (n = 83) enrolled in a Diploma of Education program to identify their preferred method of assessment for…

Helping students achieve advanced critical thinking and writing skills in large undergraduate classes is a challenge faced by many university faculty members. We addressed this challenge in a three-year project using team course design, built around a cognitive apprenticeship model, to enhance undergraduates' writing, critical thinking, and…

Field-based undergraduate geography courses provide numerous pedagogical benefits including an opportunity for students to acquire employable skills in an applied context. This article presents one unique approach to teaching geographic field methods using paleoecological research. The goals of this course are to teach students key geographic…

Research involving student and tutor responses to a "pedagogy of the heart" approach in a first year university health science topic revealed anxiety, insecurity and perceptions of unpredictability in relation to an innovative arts-based assignment designed to elicit and assess experiential or imaginal knowledge. Using the lens of…

The purpose of this study was to determine students' perceptions of learning gains when using the one-minute paper. Thirty-one students from the Physical Therapy (PT) and Nurse Anesthesia (NA) programs participated in this study. Students completed the one-minute paper in three classes. An email to students clarified the "muddy" points…

Experts have advocated anonymous grading as a means of eliminating actual or perceived evaluator bias in subjective student assessment. The utility of anonymity in assessment rests on whether information derived from student identity can unduly influence evaluation. The halo effect provides a conceptual background for why a bias might occur. In…

This study examined conceptual physical education (CPE) course syllabi in order to better understand how such courses were taught in higher education. In total, 86 syllabi were collected with 43% of them emanating from colleges. The syllabi were analyzed to ascertain the course credits, formats, content, assignments and assessments. Chi-square…

It has long been lamented that Americans do not comprehend conservative and liberal ideologies and the associated policy preferences for each perspective (and the reasoning behind the associations). This research seeks to contribute to the teaching of conservatism and liberalism by creating a heuristic outlining six general characteristics for…

"Psych-Out" is a team-based game designed to motivate graduate counseling students to study diagnostic symptoms and related interventions associated with reading assignments. At least 83% of students agreed or strongly agreed that the game contributed to their enjoyment of the class, increased their motivation to study for class, and contributed…

This paper discusses the use of a presentation format known as "Pecha Kucha" (which means "chitchat" in Japanese). The objective of the Pecha Kucha assignment is to facilitate student communication of an argument, including stating and supporting a thesis. Throughout the semester, students become comfortable with the format via…

In recent years, the pressure for educators to cultivate civic participation among Canada's apathetic youth voters has been mounting. Between 1998 and 2007, a national wave of curriculum reform introducing or enhancing civic engagement education occurred at the secondary level. In this study, we explore the role and place of civic engagement in…

Student exit polling has demonstrated value in the classroom (Berry and Robinson 2012; Evans and Lagergren 2007; Lelieveldt and Rossen 2009), but faculty typically operate these polls in isolation. When faculty collaborate, however, students gain additional benefits from the experience. Collaboration provides a geographically diverse "student…

Group work, an essential component of learning and teaching in problem-based learning (PBL), is compromised if students' experiences of PBL are colored by dissatisfaction with the process or outcomes. For the potential benefits of PBL to be realized PBL group work must be genuinely collaborative to address students' personal and professional…

At the Danish University School of Education we have experimented with a form of assessment called "active participation". A week before each class students are given reading guidelines and questions to help them approach the texts, and on the basis of one of those questions the students each write a two-page essay. The students are…

To celebrate a milestone in eighth-graders' lives--leaving middle school and moving on to high school--the author assigns them the "Coming of Age" project, which examines the big idea of identity and promotes the move from self-reflection to self-expression. The project also includes writing components that correspond to each of the nine…