Recent years have witnessed the spread of purpose-built active learning classrooms throughout the higher education sector. While these innovative learning spaces are well-suited for a variety of active learning strategies, their lack of a single focal point means they are inconvenient spaces for lecturing. While educational developers often…

The study utilized participatory action research and grounded theory methods and methodology to explore how critical pedagogy, as practiced by a small group of university education professors, shapes and influences the development of a critical consciousness among preservice teachers. Although there were some 'conscious raising' learning…

We discuss an innovative course model used in first-year calculus courses at a large North American research university, which we refer to as the "Blended Model." We argue that our model takes the best features of lectures, flipped classrooms, and traditional recitations, and gathers them into a cohesive, robust structure that benefits…

The use of video has become commonplace in education today. Educators are engaging students with video communication technology more frequently than ever before, given COVID-19. However, questions remain on how instructors use video as a communication and teaching tool in online and blended courses. The purpose of this literature review was to…

Drawing on data from five large enrolment introductory courses in a public university, we compared students' perceptions of blended learning on design, interaction, learning, and satisfaction in four different blended models. The models, which were the result of a course redesign initiative, had different combinations of face-to-face lectures,…

As they emerge from the pandemic, universities worldwide are evaluating the adaptations in the education sector during the pandemic and determining their course of action for the future. In this work, drawing on the lessons from four courses across two different universities, a survey of over 300 students, and the literature, we present strategies…

We investigated whether the implementation of a scaffolded case study assignment could increase student perceptions of their scientific literacy (SL) skills in a third year Nutritional Science course. The change in students' SL perceptions were assessed by the completion of two surveys (administered at the start and end of the semester) consisting…

This study examined the relations among perceived and actual knowledge of phonemic awareness (PA), exposure to PA instruction during practicum, and self-efficacy for teaching PA in a sample of 54 teacher candidates (TCs) enrolled in a 1-year Bachelor of Education program in a Canadian university. It also assessed the effects of a brief…

Computer Science 1 (CS1), the first course taken by college-level computer science (CS) majors, has traditionally suffered from high failure rates. Efforts to understand this phenomenon have considered a wide range of predictors of CS success, such as prior programming experience, math ability, learning style, and gender, with findings that are…

Using self-study methodology, we describe one professor's efforts to support students' academic learning by integrating three, evidence-based learning strategies and associated metacognitive dialogue about their use in a first-year, lecture-based course. Learning strategies included the activation/provision of prior knowledge, narratives and…

Over the course of two years, 2012-2014, we have implemented a "flipping" the classroom approach in three of our large enrolment first year calculus courses: differential and integral calculus for scientists and engineers. In this article we describe the details of our particular approach and share with the reader some experiences of…

With the burgeoning influence of cognitive neuroscience in the field of psychology, it is important to train, or at least expose, undergraduate psychology students to the discipline's methods. Unfortunately, many instructors are limited in their ability to provide such tangible experiences due to resource limitations. However, recent advances in…

Positive student-instructor relationships are important for student engagement, motivation, retention and achievement. Yet, as class sizes grow, these relationships can be increasingly difficult to develop. This study explores LectureTools--a web-based student response and learning platform that facilitates communication between instructors and…

This study investigated gender differences in science learning between two pedagogical approaches: traditional lecture and narrative case studies using personal response systems ("clickers"). Thirteen instructors of introductory biology classes at 12 different institutions across the USA and Canada used two types of pedagogy (Clicker…

This paper describes a case study of two pure mathematicians who flipped their lecture to teach matrix determinants in two large mathematics service courses (one at Stage I and the other at Stage II). The purpose of the study was to transform the passive lecture into an active learning opportunity and to introduce valuable mathematical skills,…