In this note, we describe a large-scale transition to an active learning format in first-semester calculus at the University of Florida. Student performance and attitudes are compared across traditional lecture and flipped sections.

Students come into the classroom with a variety of background knowledge. Therefore, it is imperative that educators are able to help all students, regardless of their familiarity with the content. Since it can be challenging for some large enrollment classes to schedule recitation classes after lectures due to logistical constraints, this study…

This article explores the transition from traditional to hybrid and fully online flipped classroom models in the Bachelor of Educational Sciences program at the University of Luxembourg, focusing on the mathematics education of pre-service elementary school teachers. Over eight years (2014-2022), the program evolved from teacher-centred lectures…

This study explores relationships of student mindfulness and resilience with student stress, depression, and anxiety before and after a first-year seminar course introducing mindfulness and resilience techniques to undergraduate Saint Louis University (SLU) students. Mindfulness and resilience concepts and practice were introduced through large…

Recent studies demonstrate that significant learning gains can be achieved when instructors take intentional steps to address the affective components of learning. While such efforts enhance the outcomes of all students, they are particularly beneficial for students from underrepresented groups and can reduce performance gaps. In the present…

The instructional practices used in introductory college courses often differ dramatically from those used in high school courses, and dissatisfaction with these practices is cited by students as a prominent reason for leaving science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors. To better characterize the transition to college course…

This study explores the teaching approach of the general courses of theoretical knowledge targeted at the freshmen based on a pilot study of the course Research Methodology in School of English for International Business (SEIB) in Guangdong University of Foreign Studies. A questionnaire survey of 163 freshmen who take the course at two consecutive…

Background: A growing number of educators have started exploring student-centered approaches to improve students' learning and satisfaction with courses and programs. While prior research shows a positive impact of such strategies on student learning, further exploration of the perceptions of traditional, lecture-based and other more inquiry-based…

University efforts in the first year of college promote freshman student engagement in learning with the objective of improving retention and persistence, and are likely to ultimately lead to college success with timely graduation. This paper reports on an exploratory study of a first-year seminar designed to include three types of instruction:…

Existing literature shows students agree that active participation in the classroom is important and many want to engage. However, only one third regularly do so and previous studies have suggested that the vast majority of contributions in class may be made by a handful of students. The aim of this research was to explore from the student's…

While American students increasingly choose to study online, most professors remain skeptical of its quality. This paper explores the perspectives of history professors at a liberal arts institution regarding their general education classes taught face-to-face (F2F) and online, focusing on interactive communication with students between the two…

Our Introduction to Research Methods course is a first-year majors course built around the idea of helping students learn to work like chemists, write like chemists, and think like chemists. We have developed this course as a hybrid hands-on/ lecture experience built around instrumentation use and report preparation. We take the product from one…

This paper reports on a study about how the mathematics textbook was perceived and used by the teacher in the context of a calculus part of a basic mathematics course for first-year engineering students. The focus was on the teacher's choices and the use of definitions, examples and exercises in a sequence of lectures introducing the derivative…

This article presents the combination of three enhanced educational approaches for training future scientists. These methods incorporate skills generally not introduced in the freshman year: student-led blackboard introductions; the writing of scientific papers; and the design, execution, and presentation of an independent lab module. We tested…

Despite the fact that screencasts have been used in higher education for years, little is known about the effectiveness of using them inside the classroom--as part of a lecture. One of the main benefits of using screencasts in class is that it allows the professor to work with students one-on-one. This novel instructional method was implemented to…