Background: The growing necessity of providing better education, notably through the development of Adaptive Learning Systems (ALSs), leveraged the study of several psychological constructs to accurately characterize learners. A concept extensively studied in education is engagement, a multidimensional construct encompassing behavioral expression…

Previous studies have shown both benefits and challenges of group work and whole-class activities in educational settings. One overall finding in the existing literature is that it is challenging for teachers to facilitate whole-class conversations that realise the rich potential of student discussions and undertakings during group work. This…

Organic chemistry is notorious for being difficult to learn. Herein we describe a two-pronged approach to engage students in the ability to afford successful knowledge building. We have drawn on focus group interviews with students to show that the approach is appreciated by the students. The two prongs comprise peer learning in small groups and…

Background: Social annotation has emerged as a promising educational technology that fosters collaborative reading and discussion of digital resources among learners. While the positive impact of social annotation on students' learning process and performance is widely acknowledged, students' behavioural patterns in social annotation are…

Few studies provide conceptual frameworks that help teachers make decisions about the scaffolding they will offer their students in project-based learning (PBL) processes. To address this deficiency, an adaptation of the motivational development self-system model was used and a PBL experience involving high school students who had to create an…

In light of a growing emphasis on student-centred learning approaches, feedback is viewed as an activity that has potential to facilitate higher education students' explorations of knowledge contents and practices. However, research shows that feedback does not always lead to the expected student engagement. This qualitative study proposes a…

A board game is used in financial accounting courses as a means to engage students actively in their own learning. Since many students are intimidated by accounting or find the topic uninteresting, the use of games, especially a board game, encourages them to engage actively. After playing the board game, the students in the classroom appreciate a…

Escape rooms are "live-action team-based games where players discover clues, solve puzzles, and accomplish tasks in one or more rooms in order to accomplish a specific goal (usually escaping from the room) in a limited amount of time." Escape Rooms are one type of Escape Game, which are narrative-based challenges that use puzzles, tasks,…

The focus of this qualitative study is upon 15 Grade 12 students situated in an English Communications (ECM) classroom in rural Nova Scotia and the impact a daily classroom circle had upon their academic engagement. ECM is intended for students who may require further support to develop their skills as readers, writers, and language users as they…

The tension between teachers' desires to instill independence in students, and students' desires for teachers to provide answers, is a complex one. This article explores a lesson that, with virtually no guidance from the teacher, enhances student independence, engagement, and insight.

College students involved in service learning are often challenged to consider a deeper appreciation for persons from diverse populations. Many clients in the community organizations we serve are financially disadvantaged. To increase understanding of this common social condition, we implemented pedagogical techniques to bring the realities of…

Student engagement is an important consideration across all levels of education. The adoption of student-centered teaching methods is an effective way to increase student engagement. Student engagement is at risk when instructor expectations and student participation in purposeful engagement activities are not aligned. Traditionally, student…

In this pilot study, students in Anatomy and Physiology courses at a Southwest US Community College were assigned to groups with the instruction that they must meet outside of class time to work on course assignments throughout the semester. The assignments included exam preparation questions and case studies, but the groups could use their out of…

Online course facilitation is critical to the success of online courses. Instructors use various facilitation strategies in online courses to engage students. One hundred instructors were surveyed on their perception of helpfulness of twelve different facilitation strategies used in online courses to enhance instructor presence, instructor…

As schools work to implement the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), a team at Stanford University found that project-based learning is an effective framework for engaging students. The team used project-based learning, group activities, and performance-based assessments to design an effective, engaging curriculum. Over a three-year period,…