Effective teaching requires the use of techniques and strategies to counter student passivity and enhance engagement. Research demonstrates that drawing improves memory retention, increases motivation to learn, provides an opportunity to learn what makes an image an effective communication tool, allows demonstration of conceptual understanding,…

In this article we focus on note taking as a practice that is fundamental to (higher) education. We argue that note-taking should not primarily be regarded as a method that supports effective learning, but as formative of the student herself (making her attentive and granting possibilities for self-transformation). Hence it is a practice that has…

Lecture Capture (LC) material is accepted to be an available and accessible resource for students in universities across the world. This exploratory study investigates the "when viewing" LC material engagement of accounting undergraduate students. Three categories of engagement are defined, Near-Event-Viewing (NEV), Get-Round-to-Viewing…

Analogies are useful tools instructors can use to help make challenging concepts less abstract by drawing connections to familiar contexts. In this paper we provide an overview of the various analogies published in the education literature that are situated in the context of enzyme kinetics, including narrative-based analogies (analogies intended…

While proof is often presented to mathematics undergraduates as a well-defined mathematical object, the proofs students encounter in different pedagogical contexts may bear salient differences. In this paper we draw on the work of Dawkins and Weber (2017) to explore variations in norms and values underlying a proof across different pedagogical…

Despite the substantial progress made to develop evidence-based pedagogical practices that support student learning, many courses are dominated by "traditional" practices such as a passive lecture. Thus, a continued focus on reforming courses is necessary. Here we describe the deliberate practice-driven reform of a large lecture-format…

This study investigated the use and functions of metadiscourse markers in English as a foreign language (EFL) virtual classroom during the Covid-19 pandemic. The study examined which metadiscourse markers--interactive or interactional--were used more frequently and how they were employed in an EFL context. It explored two interactive metadiscourse…

College instructors use lecture and its current counterpoint--active learning--widely and often rely on both strategies, but the question of which best promotes student learning has become a debate that ignores the fact that learning can result from both. Students still listen to and learn from lectures. They pass exams, obtain degrees, and…

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…

Many U.S. colleges and universities have emphasized the value of student-driven undergraduate research as one way to augment the traditional classroom experience. For undergraduate students, human subjects-based research, which typically requires review by an institutional review board (IRB), can have a particularly profound impact on their…

This column shares reflections or thoughtful opinions on issues of broad interest to the community. This month's issue discusses the value of traditional lecturing.

This essay explains how research in Physics education by Eric Mazur, arguing from the pedagogic deficiencies of instruction through lectures, has been applied successfully in a thorough revision of two undergraduate courses in English, one on John Milton and another on William Shakespeare.

This paper reports on the process of understanding myself and my pre-service teacher education students better through my lecture reflections and deliberations with critical friends as I taught a South African film entitled Tsotsi. Conversations with colleagues deepened my analysis as I was challenged to revisit my musings on lecture reflections,…

Although lecture is the traditional method of university mathematics instruction, there has been little empirical research that describes the general structure of lectures. In this paper, we adapt ideas from narrative analysis and apply them to an upper-level mathematics lecture. We develop a framework that enables us to conceptualize the lecture…

In recent years, the Australian tertiary education sector embraced the gradual adaption of the dual mode system in course delivery in universities and higher degree education providers. In such systems, students have the option, as well as the flexibility, to undertake the same course in a face-to-face (F2F) environment and/or an online…