This case study is about the design of the one-day course "How to find a job as a Spanish teacher in the UK," which is taught at the Instituto Cervantes in London. The course came to exist due to a large number of requests from Spaniards who have come to the UK in recent years--many of them wanting to find a job as a Spanish teacher--and…

Understanding nature of science (NOS) is considered critical to the development of students' scientific literacy. However, various studies have shown that a large number of elementary and secondary science teachers do not possess an adequate understanding of NOS. This study investigated how elementary teachers' understanding of NOS was impacted…

Background: Beginning teachers encounter several constraints with respect to scientific inquiry. Depending on their prior beliefs, knowledge and understanding, these constraints affect their teaching of inquiry. Purpose: To investigate quantitatively the longitudinal relationship between pre-service teachers' knowledge and attitudes on scientific…

The authors designed and ran a crash course on emotional robotics involving students from both the Information Engineering School and the Design School of Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy. The course consisted of two intensive days of short introductory lessons and lab activity, done in interdisciplinary groups and supported by a well-equipped…

Though many experts argue that semester or year abroad study is the optimal path, short-term programs meet the needs of students who would not otherwise study abroad and can be effective at increasing intercultural competency. The present study describes one type of short-term program--the embedded faculty-led model--and provides evidence that…

Graduate and professional schools are increasingly using short-term international study abroad courses as one way for internationalizing their curriculum. While international service learning can be a means for improving students' engagement in international learning experiences and providing a structure for learning, it is difficult to design…

The tremendous popularity of mobile computing and Android in particular has attracted millions of developers who see opportunities for building their own start-ups. As a consequence Computer Science students express an increasing interest into the related technology of Java development for Android applications. Android projects are complex by…

Postsecondary education often requires students to use higher-order cognitive skills (HOCS) such as analysis, evaluation, and creation as they assess situations and apply what they have learned during lecture to the formulation of solutions. Summative assessment of these abilities is often accomplished using short-answer questions (SAQs). Quandary…

To facilitate student learning and ensure financial stability, leaders in higher education institutions offering online degrees and programs are adopting flexible course schedules with shorter terms. The literature does not include many evaluations demonstrating how shorter duration terms and courses might affect student achievement. In this…

In an effort to expand the teaching of medical Spanish to medical students, a one-week pilot course was developed and implemented at The University of Alabama School of Medicine (UASOM) in January 2010. Objectives included offering a refresher course in Spanish for medical students before third-year clerkships and providing a model for medical…

The SEED (Student Enterprise Experience in Dunedin) programme was developed as a four-week, intensive entrepreneurial "boot camp" to provide a small group of participants with a highly experiential business course. Using pre-course and post-course surveys, the authors measured the entrepreneurial ability, knowledge and intentions of the…

Spatial abilities have been used as a predictor of success in several engineering and technology disciplines (Strong & Smith, 2001). In engineering graphics courses, scores on spatial tests have also been used to predict success (Adanez & Velasco, 2002; Leopold, Gorska, & Sorby, 2001). Other studies have shown that some type of…

In order to ensure the safety of their inhabitants and properties, the residential, industrial and business installations require complying with NEC (national electrical code) for electrical systems. Electrical design engineers and technicians rely heavily on these very important design guidelines. However, these design guidelines are not formally…

Parents of children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) generally experience high levels of stress and report poorer emotional well-being and family functioning compared to parents of children with other disabilities. They also tend to rely on emotional rather than problem-focused coping strategies. Seven group-based sessions were offered to two…

In this paper, a short introductory course to introduce field-programmable gate array (FPGA)-based digital control of dc/dc switching power converters is presented. Digital control based on specific hardware has been at the leading edge of low-medium power dc/dc switching converters in recent years. Besides industry's interest in this topic, from…