This quasi-experimental study compared various outcomes of team-based-learning (TBL) (n = 67) and more traditional lecture-based instruction (n = 66) in a community college introductory psychology course and found no differences in knowledge of course content, attendance, or course retention. However, student self-reports indicated that, compared…

Students in a course on the psychology of language and thought first wrote flash fiction stories and analyzed them using course concepts. As an experiential learning exercise, they subsequently analyzed those stories for a number of psycholinguistic variables using the discourse technology Coh-Metrix. Their assignment was to change a number of…

This research examined the role of a first-year seminar course in promoting international student learning and academic transition. Through interviews with international students representing different countries and majors, the author investigated how the course can best be designed and taught to overcome the common learning barriers encountered…

This study aimed to identify which aspects of online instruction are most and least effective for promoting learning in a cohort-based doctoral program. Four doctoral program alumni and a professor who participated in the inaugural online doctoral program at a medium-sized mid-Atlantic university conducted the study. The researchers used data from…

Group projects center learning as a collaborative process, but they often produce mixed results in terms of student commitment and final products. The authors outline their experience with a course designed to engage undergraduate biomedical engineering students in a semester-long group experience and share data from their students' analyses of…

Diversity courses in higher education often seek to deepen understanding of the systematic advantages associated with dominant group membership, such as white privilege. Most pedagogical studies of privilege awareness examine the impact of full-length diversity courses on white privilege awareness (Case, 2007; Kernahan & Davis, 2009; Lawrence…

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of captioning on undergraduate students' learning within a typical classroom environment. Based on guidelines associated with Universal Design as well as limitations imposed by classroom acoustics and noise levels, it was hypothesized that captions would increase students' recall and…

This mixed-methods research study compared the level of community of inquiry (CoI) in online graduate classes that use web conferencing (WC) compared to those that do not. This study also investigated students' perceptions of Teaching Presence (TP), Social Presence (SP), and Cognitive Presence (CP). The authors found that students had…

This study examined the meaning of flexibility in teaching at the postsecondary level and its connection to teaching effectiveness. A total of 500 college students and 15 instructors participated. Data were gathered using an online survey with open-ended questions for the students and one-on-one interviews with instructors. Analysis followed a…

This action research study involves two cycles of investigation of Research Day an event at the end of each semester where doctoral students share their latest cycle of action research focused on a problem of practice they are facing. The study sought to understand students' perspectives of Research Day in terms of its instructional intention, how…

In order to achieve their course learning outcomes, public affairs instructors can train students to solve real community problems (SRCP). This approach focuses on the learners themselves and aims to transform the role of college professors from traditional teaching (lecturing) to facilitating and coaching students' learning activities. This study…

The authors captured students' and instructors' views of teaching effectiveness at the postsecondary level in two ways: open-ended questions delivered online to 500 students and one-on-one interviews with 15 instructors. A grounded theory approach suggested that effective teaching involves good communication aimed at helping students understand…

As technology and media become more popular pedagogical tools for instructors, the discussion of using films as a way to help students understand criminological concepts is also growing. Using a conceptual framework of popular criminology, the author set out to explore the ways in which films can be incorporated into a unique course aimed at…

Despite years of research on effective teaching suggesting that learners must engage actively in the process and that teachers should vary their instructional strategies, direct instruction using lecture continues to dominate in America's college classrooms. The author reviews selected studies focusing on effective instructional practices and…

Student engagement is a significant challenge facing administrators and faculty at institutions of higher learning (Carle, Jafee, Vaughn, & Eder, 2009). While the research emphasis to this point has been on students' perceptions of overall engagement (macro-engagement) across all of their experiences within a university, the authors assert that it…