Innovative Strategies for Empowering Your Students to Become Active, Responsible Learners

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hufnagel, B.

2011-09-01

The economy continues to sputter along, and the repercussions are now hitting hard at publicly-funded colleges and universities, with enrollment increasing and funding decreasing. Funding agencies are starting to look at retention and completion rates as a way to allocate scarce dollars. Improving these rates is also one way to increase the future stream of tuition; students who can't pass introductory classes like ASTRO101 won't enroll and pay tuition for the next level, and they won't complete their degree. So what can you, a mere professor of astronomy, do? Tired of the "What do you want me to know?" questions? Provide your students with learner-centered structures to help them learn more deeply. Do your students resist active-engagement techniques and hate group work? Share empowerment strategies for helping students become active, responsible learners who can thrive in a learner-centered environment. Do you think that it's wrong for the freshman classes to be over-crowded, yet your sophomore classes don't get enough students or don't even exist? After using the proven curriculum of On Course, college and universities across the country have improved their retention across a wide range of disciplines (http://www.OnCourseWorkshop.com/Data.htm). Experience a sample of the fun and engaging activities developed over two decades to help students (1) accept personal responsibility, (2) discover self motivation, (3) master self-management, (4) use interdependence, (5) gain self-awareness, (6) adopt lifelong learning, (7) develop emotional intelligence, and (8) believe in themselves. Since this is only a one-hour workshop, we will focus on choices one and four: to be successful, students need to see themselves as the primary cause of their outcomes and experiences and to build mutually supportive relationships in our classroom and labs. Outcomes: (1) one ASTRO101 Course-ready activity to help students accept personal responsibility; (2) one ASTRO101 Course-ready activity to help students use interdependence; (3) personal experience with one of the activities. Optional: Discussion of the results of your personal Self-Assessment, taken prior to or during the conference (http://www.cengage.com/success/Downing/OnCourseSS).

Teachers' PET Project. Population Education Training.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zero Population Growth, Inc., Washington, DC.

Six population education activities presented in both English and Spanish are part of this activity pack. The first, "Population Riddles," helps students to understand just how much one billion is. The second, "Everything Is Connected," helps students to identify ways that factors in human society and the natural environment are interdependent.…

Going beyond the X

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Robertson, Carol

2018-01-01

How much do students really know about chromosomes? This article describes a partner activity and then a whole-class activity that use modeling to teach DNA replication, connect it to the shape of chromosomes during mitosis, and help students understand how daughter cells have the same DNA. Modeling is integral to science, helping students…

Approaches to Drama in the School.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Arnold, Roslyn, Ed.

The eight articles in this booklet suggest activities designed to help students see drama as an active, engaging pursuit. The first article uses excerpts from Harold Pinter's "The Caretaker" to illustrate how improvisation can be used to help students discover meaning in a play. The second and third articles provide suggestions for…

Sciencewise: Discovering Scientific Process through Problem Solving. Book 2.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Holley, Dennis

This book of activities uses problem solving to help students develop the basic science process skills of observing, predicting, designing/experimenting, eliminating, and drawing conclusions. The activities are divided into two sections: Dynamo Demos and Creative Challenges. The teacher-led Dynamo Demos help students to develop science process…

Sciencewise: Discovering Scientific Process through Problem Solving. Book 1.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Holley, Dennis

This book of activities uses problem solving to help students develop the basic science process skills of observing, predicting, designing/experimenting, eliminating, and drawing conclusions. The activities are divided into two sections: Dynamo Demos and Creative Challenges. The teacher-led Dynamo Demos help students to develop science process…

Psychiatry student interest groups: what they are and what they could be.

PubMed

Reardon, Claudia L; Dottl, Susan; Krahn, Dean

2013-05-01

Medical student interest groups across all specialties help students explore various specialties. There are no published reports on psychiatry student interest group (PSIG) curricula. The aim was to develop elements of a curriculum for such groups, based on data elicited from medical students and faculty members through a multi-institutional online survey. The authors electronically surveyed 172 United States psychiatric residency training directors to determine the activities they felt to be important for inclusion in PSIG curricula. Similarly, they surveyed U.S. medical student PSIG leaders to ascertain the activities they felt important to include in such groups, and the current content of their groups. Authors received responses from 64 program directors and 44 PSIG leaders. Based on integration of the results of both surveys, and the practices of existing groups, they propose elements of a curriculum for PSIGs. Medical student PSIG leaders are particularly interested in activities that involve residents. Other curricular topics of interest both to students and training directors include those that focus on student/physician mental health and various psychiatry subspecialties or practice settings. Training directors are willing to be involved with a wide variety of PSIG activities. The results of these surveys should help to guide PSIG leaders and faculty members in optimizing their PSIG curricula by helping them to include those activities felt to be of most interest by students and of most relevance by training directors.

Creating a Critical Thinker

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Piergiovanni, Polly R.

2014-01-01

A college education is expected to improve students' critical thinking skills. Keeping students active in class--through writing activities and class discussion--has been shown to help students think critically. In this article, creative hands-on activities, which are common in engineering courses, are shown to improve students' critical thinking…

Activity Book: Ocean Ecology.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Learning, 1992

1992-01-01

Presents a collection of activities to help elementary students study ocean ecology. The activities have students investigate ocean inhabitants, analyze animal adaptations, examine how temperature and saltiness affect ocean creatures, and learn about safeguarding the sea. Student pages offer reproducible learning sheets. (SM)

A Simple Classroom Teaching Technique to Help Students Understand Michaelis-Menten Kinetics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Runge, Steven W.; Hill, Brent J. F.; Moran, William M.

2006-01-01

A new, simple classroom technique helps cell biology students understand principles of Michaelis-Menten enzyme kinetics. A student mimics the enzyme and the student's hand represents the enzyme's active site. The catalytic event is the transfer of marbles (substrate molecules) by hand from one plastic container to another. As predicted, increases…

Conservation II. Science Activities in Energy. [Student's and] Teacher's Guide.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Oak Ridge Associated Universities, TN.

Designed for science students in fourth, fifth, and sixth grades, the activities in this unit illustrate principles and problems related to the conservation of energy. Eleven student activities using art, economics, arithmetic, and other skills and disciplines help teachers directly involve students in exploring scientific questions and making…

Interrogating Meanings of Work in Children's Literature

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wieland, Stacey M. B.; Bauer, Janell C.

2015-01-01

In this article, Wieland and Bauer discuss a teaching activity that helps students understand how meanings of work (MOW) are socially constructed through commonplace texts: children's books. The activity helps students consider how children's books shape future workers' understandings of what work is, what kinds of work are most…

Curriculum Boosters. Social Studies, Math, Language Arts.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reissman, Rose; And Others

1994-01-01

Presents three curriculum boosting activities for elementary classes. A social studies activity builds bridges to other cultures via literature. A math activity teaches students about percentages using baseball card statistics. A language arts activity helps students learn to appreciate the language of Shakespeare. A student page presents a…

Establishing the SECME model in the District of Columbia. Quarterly report, 1 January 1994--31 March 1994

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Vikers, R.G.

1994-05-01

During this quarter, many program activities were held to help SECME teachers and counselors implement, improve and strengthen SECME school programs in the District of Columbia. Teachers were actively engaged in enhanced instructional techniques, ideas, processes and resources to help them enrich their students` learning experience. Students are busily participating in hands-on instructional activities and preparing for the SECME competition where they are learning to excel in a competitive environment designed to help them make the most of their school experience.

Strategies to Support Students' Mathematical Modeling

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jung, Hyunyi

2015-01-01

An important question for mathematics teachers is this: "How can we help students learn mathematics to solve everyday problems, rather than teaching them only to memorize rules and practice mathematical procedures?" Teaching students using modeling activities can help them learn mathematics in real-world problem-solving situations that…

GED Math for Workplace Students.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Goschen, Claire

This curriculum module contains lesson plans and application activities that were developed to help adult students master the mathematics skills needed to earn a general high school equivalency diploma. Included in the module are materials designed to help students improve their understanding of mathematics and achieve the following objectives:…

Guidelines to Student Activity Fund Accounting. Revised.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Association of School Business Officials International, Reston, VA.

This booklet provides guidelines to help school business officials develop sound procedures for keeping proper accounts of and managing the money raised and spent in the course of conducting student activity programs. The booklet notes the roles of the administrators and activity advisers related to management of the student activity fund, then…

All Things Being Equal

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Putti, Alice

2012-01-01

This guided inquiry activity was developed to help students "view" an equilibrium system from the particulate level and make connections to their macroscopic observations. Part I helps students observe a physical equilibrium system in which water is transferred between two larger containers. In Part II, students examine what happens to a chemical…

How To Learn More in Less Time.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shaughnessy, Michael F.

Designed to help poorly prepared students perform better in college and to help prepared students perform at higher levels, this paper presents a series of specific suggestions for students regarding study activities, course choice, thinking behavior, and time allocation. The suggestions include the following: (1) eliminate diversions during study…

Business as Usual? Not for These Middle-Grades Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Crawford, Heather; Wiest, Lynda

2011-01-01

A perpetual dilemma of schooling is how to help students develop skills needed for everyday life, including the work world. Quantitative literacy, also called numeracy, involves an ability to apply essential mathematics skills to authentic or near-authentic tasks. Carefully planned classroom activities can help students develop these important…

Using Myoglobin Denaturation to Help Biochemistry Students Understand Protein Structure

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Miao, Yilan; Thomas, Courtney L.

2017-01-01

Analyzing and understanding data directly from primary literature can be a daunting task for undergraduates. However, if information is put into context, students will be more successful when developing data analysis skills. A classroom activity is presented using protein denaturation to help undergraduate biochemistry students examine myoglobin…

Lesson on Demand. Lesson Plan.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Weaver, Sue

This lesson plan helps students understand the role consumer demand plays in the market system, i.e., how interactions in the marketplace help determine pricing. Students will participate in an activity that demonstrates the concepts of demand, demand schedule, demand curve, and the law of demand. The lesson plan provides student objectives;…

Cartoon Analysis of Peace Propaganda.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alexander, Mary, Ed.

1984-01-01

A cartoon for analysis and other learning activities is provided to help students study about peace propaganda, the nuclear freeze, and disarmament. A cartoon analysis worksheet, designed to help students analyze almost any political cartoon, is included. (RM)

Exploring the Effects of Active Learning on High School Students' Outcomes and Teachers' Perceptions of Biotechnology and Genetics Instruction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mueller, Ashley L.; Knobloch, Neil A.; Orvis, Kathryn S.

2015-01-01

Active learning can engage high school students to learn science, yet there is limited understanding if active learning can help students learn challenging science concepts such as genetics and biotechnology. This quasi-experimental study explored the effects of active learning compared to passive learning regarding high school students'…

Successful Techniques of Vocabulary. ERIC Topical Bibliography and Commentary.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Carl B., Ed.

Each teacher has a style of teaching that provides the most effective way to help students grasp the desired learning concepts. One point teachers agree on is that teaching vocabulary to children needs to be an active process that engages students in entertaining activities and helps them build a bridge between already known vocabulary and the new…

Learning and Teaching with a Computer Scanner

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Planinsic, G.; Gregorcic, B.; Etkina, E.

2014-01-01

This paper introduces the readers to simple inquiry-based activities (experiments with supporting questions) that one can do with a computer scanner to help students learn and apply the concepts of relative motion in 1 and 2D, vibrational motion and the Doppler effect. We also show how to use these activities to help students think like…

Into Adolescence: A Menu for Good Health. A Curriculum for Grades 5-8. Contemporary Health Series.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Laing, Susan J.

This module, oriented toward middle school students in grades 5-8, includes nine lessons designed to help students synthesize nutritional information and use it to improve their health. In lesson 1, students look at factors that influence food choices. Lesson 2 uses creative expression activities to help students learn about the role of nutrients.…

Lesson Plan.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Daniel, Lois; Cochran, Martha

1984-01-01

Activities to help sixth graders experience Greek culture are presented. In the first activity the students learn about the mythology and work and leisure of the ancient Greeks; the second activity involves students in cooking many Greek dishes. (RM)

Communities. Community Study Unit, Grade 1. Teacher Edition, Field Trip Guide for Teachers, and Student Book.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lee County School District, Ft. Myers, FL. Dept. of Environmental Education and Instructional Development Services.

This unit is designed to help first grade students understand the broad concept of community. The students experience a variety of in-class and field trip activities that will expose them to communities. The students observe and compare both natural and human-designed communities. Learning activities include pantomimes, listening activities,…

Clock Buddies: An Accessible, Engaging Problem-Solving Activity with Rich Mathematical Content

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Borkovitz, Debra K.; Haferd, Thomas

2017-01-01

Clock Buddies is our favorite first-day-of-class activity. It starts as a nonthreatening icebreaker activity that helps students learn one another's names, but it soon asks students to find their own strategies for solving a real-world scheduling problem. Even highly math phobic students work with others and succeed. Students gain insight from…

Student profiling on university co-curriculum activities using data visualization tools

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jamil, Jastini Mohd.; Shaharanee, Izwan Nizal Mohd

2017-11-01

Co-curricular activities are playing a vital role in the development of a holistic student. Co-curriculum can be described as an extension of the formal learning experiences in a course or academic program. There are many co-curriculum activities such as students' participation in sports, volunteerism, leadership, entrepreneurship, uniform body, student council, and other social events. The number of student involves in co-curriculum activities are large, thus creating an enormous volume of data including their demographic facts, academic performance and co-curriculum types. The task for discovering and analyzing these information becomes increasingly difficult and hard to comprehend. Data visualization offer a better ways in handling with large volume of information. The need for an understanding of these various co-curriculum activities and their effect towards student performance are essential. Visualizing these information can help related stakeholders to become aware of hidden and interesting information from large amount of data drowning in their student data. The main objective of this study is to provide a clearer understanding of the different trends hidden in the student co-curriculum activities data with related to their activities and academic performances. The data visualization software was used to help visualize the data extracted from the database.

A Bridge to Active Learning: A Summer Bridge Program Helps Students Maximize Their Active-Learning Experiences and the Active-Learning Experiences of Others

PubMed Central

Cooper, Katelyn M.; Ashley, Michael; Brownell, Sara E.

2017-01-01

National calls to improve student academic success in college have sparked the development of bridge programs designed to help students transition from high school to college. We designed a 2-week Summer Bridge program that taught introductory biology content in an active-learning way. Through a set of exploratory interviews, we unexpectedly identified that Bridge students had developed sophisticated views of active learning, even though this was not an explicit goal of the program. We conducted an additional set of semistructured interviews that focused on active learning and compared the interviews of Bridge students with those from non-Bridge students who had been eligible for but did not participate in the program. We used the constant comparative method to identify themes from the interviews. We found that Bridge students perceived that, because they knew how to approach active learning and viewed it as important, they benefited more from active learning in introductory biology than non-Bridge students. Specifically, Bridge students seemed to be more aware of their own learning gains from participating in active learning. Compared with the majority of non-Bridge students, the majority of Bridge students described using a greater variety of strategies to maximize their experiences in active learning. Finally, in contrast to non-Bridge students, Bridge students indicated that they take an equitable approach to group work. These findings suggest that we may be able to prime students to maximize their own and other’s experiences in active learning. PMID:28232588

Helping Young Children Understand Graphs: A Demonstration Study.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Freeland, Kent; Madden, Wendy

1990-01-01

Outlines a demonstration lesson showing third graders how to make and interpret graphs. Includes descriptions of purpose, vocabulary, and learning activities in which students graph numbers of students with dogs at home and analyze the contents of M&M candy packages by color. Argues process helps students understand large amounts of abstract…

Enhancing the Student Learning Experience in Software Engineering Project Courses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Marques, Maira; Ochoa, Sergio F.; Bastarrica, Maria Cecilia; Gutierrez, Francisco J.

2018-01-01

Carrying out real-world software projects in their academic studies helps students to understand what they will face in industry, and to experience first-hand the challenges involved when working collaboratively. Most of the instructional strategies used to help students take advantage of these activities focus on supporting agile programming,…

Interscholastic Sports, Extracurricular Activities, and the Law: Accommodating Students with Disabilities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Osborne, Allan G., Jr.; Russo, Charles J.

2011-01-01

In most school systems in the United States, interscholastic sporting events and other extracurricular activities help bring people together while enhancing opportunities for students to become integral parts of their communities. Because of the important role that extracurricular activities, especially sports, play in the lives of students,…

"JCE" Classroom Activity #111: Redox Reactions in Three Representations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nieves, Edgardo L. Ortiz; Barreto, Reizelie; Medina, Zuleika

2012-01-01

This activity introduces students to the concept of reduction-oxidation (redox) reactions. To help students obtain a thorough understanding of redox reactions, the concept is explored at three levels: macroscopic, submicroscopic, and symbolic. In this activity, students perform hands-on investigations of the three levels as they work at different…

Students' Satisfaction on Their Learning Process in Active Learning and Traditional Classrooms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hyun, Jung; Ediger, Ruth; Lee, Donghun

2017-01-01

Studies have shown Active Learning Classrooms [ALCs] help increase student engagement and improve student performance. However, remodeling all traditional classrooms to ALCs entails substantial financial burdens. Thus, an imperative question for institutions of higher education is whether active learning pedagogies can improve learning outcomes…

Basic Wind Tech Course - Lesson Plans and Activities

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Swapp, Andy

2011-07-01

The funds from this project were used to purchase tools and instrumentation to help replicate actual on-the-job wind energy scenarios which provided the students with the practical or applied components of wind energy jobs. This project enhanced the educational experiences provided for the students in terms of engineering and science components of wind energy by using electronics, control systems, and electro-mechanical instrumentation to help students learn standardized wind-specific craftsman skills. In addition the tools and instrumentation helped the students learn the safety necessary to work in the wind industry.

Using metacognitive strategies to help students learn in pretest and posttest review.

PubMed

Poorman, Susan G; Mastorovich, Melissa L

2008-01-01

The authors discuss the use of several metacognitive strategies that can help turn test reviews into an active learning experience. With these strategies, test reviews can provide students with valuable tools to enhance their thinking and help them better prepare for the high-level thinking test questions that are seen on nursing examinations.

Help! Active Student Learning and Error Remediation in an Online Calculus e-Help Community

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

van de Sande, Carla; Leinhardt, Gaea

2007-01-01

Free, open, online homework help sites appear to be extremely popular and exist for many school subjects. Students can anonymously post problems at their convenience and receive responses from forum members. This mode of tutoring may be especially critical for school subjects such as calculus that are intrinsically challenging and have high…

Helping Students To Persist in a Distance Education Program: The Role of the Teacher.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Care, W. Dean

Teachers can assume different roles in a distance education environment, but teachers should appreciate their importance in helping learners persist in a distance education activity. In order to discover what distance education students regarded as helpful teacher behaviors, a questionnaire was designed and mailed to 334 1993-94 graduates of the…

Listen, Protect, Connect--Model & Teach: Psychological First Aid (PFA) for Students and Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schreiber, M.; Gurwitch, R.; Wong, M.

2006-01-01

Just as teachers help connect students with appropriate academic and counseling services under normal circumstances, after a disaster they can help them return to school, stay in school, continue to learn, and return to their usual school-based activities. This pamphlet presents some steps for teachers to follow to help themselves and their…

Dancing with Words

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schwartz, Jeffrey

2004-01-01

The interdisciplinary collaboration is a type of subversive activity that helps the students and teachers to see beyond the traditional subject boundaries. A high school teacher's collaboration with the dance instructor helped students to understand and see Barbara Kingsolver's "Animal Dreams" in a new way.

The Memory Quilt: Heart-and-Hands Learning for Palliative Care.

PubMed

Flanagan, Patricia; DeMetro, Nancy

Nursing students' learning of adult and pediatric palliative care is a daunting experience. An effective initial teaching strategy using a Memory Quilt activity can improve nursing students' interpersonal and communication skills and help prepare them for end-of-life caring. These skills help students meet patient and family needs, as they transition to care settings.

Kids Are Consumers, Too! Real-World Reading and Language Arts.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fair, Jan; Melvin, Mary; Bantz, Carol; Vause, Kate

Designed to help youngsters with real-world learning, and with being a smart consumer, this book focuses on having students participate in decisions facing consumers every day. The book contends that this is the best way to help students think critically and solve problems. Activities in the book require students to make consumer decisions related…

Analyzing Forces on Amusement Park Rides with Mobile Devices

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vieyra, Rebecca E.; Vieyra, Chrystian

2014-01-01

Mobile device accelerometers are a simple and easy way for students to collect accurate and detailed data on an amusement park ride. The resulting data can be graphed to assist in the creation of force diagrams to help students explain their physical sensations while on the ride. This type of activity can help students overcome some of the…

Evaluation of the Use of a Virtual Patient on Student Competence and Confidence in Performing Simulated Clinic Visits.

PubMed

Taglieri, Catherine A; Crosby, Steven J; Zimmerman, Kristin; Schneider, Tulip; Patel, Dhiren K

2017-06-01

Objective. To assess the effect of incorporating virtual patient activities in a pharmacy skills lab on student competence and confidence when conducting real-time comprehensive clinic visits with mock patients. Methods. Students were randomly assigned to a control or intervention group. The control group completed the clinic visit prior to completing virtual patient activities. The intervention group completed the virtual patient activities prior to the clinic visit. Student proficiency was evaluated in the mock lab. All students completed additional exercises with the virtual patient and were subsequently assessed. Student impressions were assessed via a pre- and post-experience survey. Results. Student performance conducting clinic visits was higher in the intervention group compared to the control group. Overall student performance continued to improve in the subsequent module. There was no change in student confidence from pre- to post-experience. Student rating of the ease of use and realistic simulation of the virtual patient increased; however, student rating of the helpfulness of the virtual patient decreased. Despite student rating of the helpfulness of the virtual patient program, student performance improved. Conclusion. Virtual patient activities enhanced student performance during mock clinic visits. Students felt the virtual patient realistically simulated a real patient. Virtual patients may provide additional learning opportunities for students.

Student Perception of Metacognitive Activities in Entry-Level Science Courses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sandall, Leah; Mamo, Martha; Speth, Carol; Lee, Don; Kettler, Timothy

2014-01-01

A research study investigated student perception of the use of metacognitive activities in the classroom. The courses were large enrollment (n greater than 100) introductory Plant and Soil Sciences courses taught in the fall semester. The courses implemented activities such as concept sketches or conceptual modeling to help students develop their…

Applying Active Learning at the Graduate Level: Merger Issues at Newco.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Berger, Bruce K.

2002-01-01

Suggests that active learning can benefit students in public relations and integrated communication courses at the graduate level. Describes how three active learning approaches--research and field work, student accountabilities for learning, and student reflection and reflexive exercises--were used in a graduate class project to help a Fortune 50…

The Atlantic Canada-New England Region and Environment. A Learning Activity Packet.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Maine Univ., Orono. New England - Atlantic Provinces - Quebec Center.

In this Learning Activity Packet (LAP) students examine the geographic and ecological bases of the Eastern international region. The overall objective of activities is to help students comprehend the man-earth relationship concept. By studying this familiar relevant region students gain geographic knowledge and skills applicable to other areas.…

The effect of active learning on student characteristics in a human physiology course for nonmajors.

PubMed

Wilke, R Russell

2003-12-01

This study investigated the effect of active-learning strategies on college students' achievement, motivation, and self-efficacy in a human physiology course for nonmajors. Variables were studied via a quasi-experimental, Solomon four-group design on 141 students at a small west-Texas university. Treatment groups were taught using a continuum-based, active-learning model implemented over the course of a semester. Control groups were taught using traditional didactic lecture methods. To assess the effects of the continuum-based active learning strategies, students were administered a comprehensive physiology content exam, the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire, and attitude surveys. Factorial analyses indicated that the treatment groups acquired significantly more content knowledge and were significantly more self-efficacious than students in the control groups. There were no significant differences in motivation. Attitude surveys indicated that students in both the treatment and control groups demonstrated a positive attitude toward active learning, believed it helped (or would help) them to learn the material, and would choose an active learning course in the future.

PlayDoh and Toothpicks and Gummy Bears... OH MY, They're Models!

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kolandaivelu, K. P.; Wilson, M. W.; Glesener, G. B.

2017-12-01

Simple, everyday items found around the house are often used in geoscience lab activities. Gummy bears and silly putty can model the bending and breaking behaviour of rocks; shaking buildings during an earthquake can be modeled with some Jello, toothpicks, and marshmallows; PlayDoh can be used to demonstrate layers of sedimentary rocks; and even plumbing pipes filled with pebbles and playground sand become miniature physical models of aquifers. When performed correctly, these activities can help students visualize geoscience phenomena or increase students' motivation to pay attention in class, but how do these activities help students develop ways to think like a scientist? "Developing and using models" is one of the important science and engineering practices recommended in the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). In this presentation, we will demonstrate a variety of common geoscience lab activities using simple, everyday household items in order to describe ways instructors can help their students develop model-based reasoning skills. Specific areas of interest will be on identifying positive and negative attributes of a model, ways to evaluate the reliability of a model, and how a model can be revised to improve its outcome. We will also outline other kinds of models that can be generated from these lab activities, such as mathematical, graphical, and verbal models. Our goal is to encourage educators to focus more time on helping students develop model-based reasoning skills, which can be used in almost all aspects of everyday life.

Moving Language Around: Helping Students Become Aware of Language Structure.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hutson, Barbara A.

1980-01-01

Presents a perspective on the system of language levels and logical operations that effective language users employ. Offers a rational for teaching this language system. Suggests activities for "moving language around" to help students develop concepts about language structures. (RL)

Using Cultural Research Assignments To Help Business Students Become More Culturally Aware.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Winter, Janet K.; And Others

This paper provides some activities that can be used to acquaint business students with the cultural differences that might be encountered in international business situations. Activities described involve: (1) exposing students to cultural differences through the use of foreign art and literature; (2) requiring students to prepare a cultural…

Critical Inquiry across the Disciplines: Strategies for Student-Generated Problem Posing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nardone, Carroll Ferguson; Lee, Renee Gravois

2011-01-01

Problem posing is a higher-order, active-learning task that is important for students to develop. This article describes a series of interdisciplinary learning activities designed to help students strengthen their problem-posing skills, which requires that students become more responsible for their learning and that faculty move to a facilitator…

Politics through Action: Student Service and Activism in the '90s.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hirsch, Deborah

1993-01-01

Trends in college student activism and volunteer community service are examined. It is concluded that this generation of students is redefining social consciousness by focusing on practical and rational responses to immediate social issues. Colleges and universities are urged to help students reflect and build on volunteer experiences. (MSE)

Math Puzzlers: 25 Reproducible Puzzles, Games, and Activities that Boost the Math Skills and Up the Fun! Grades 2-5.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kimble-Ellis, Sonya

Puzzles, games, and activities provide perfect opportunities for students to work in groups, interact, communicate with each other, and discuss strategies. The activities, games, and puzzles contained in this book are designed to help students learn mathematics in a fun yet challenging way. The activities are designed to encourage students to…

Self-Efficacy for Coping with Barriers Helps Students Stay Physically Active during Transition to Their First Year at a University

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bray, Steven R.

2007-01-01

The present study examined undergraduate students' physical activity during transition from high school to first-year university. Students' (N = 127) self-efficacy for coping with barriers to physical activity was investigated both as a predictor of physical activity and mediator of the relationship between pretransition and first-year physical…

Look beyond Textbooks: Information Literacy for First-Year Science Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wong, Gabrielle K. W.

2011-01-01

This paper describes classroom activities to help students understand the publication cycle and the characteristics of major publication channels (textbooks, books, encyclopedias, and periodicals) for first-year physics students. When designing these activities, the author considered the intellectual development characteristics and the…

More than Solutions: Empowering Students to Think Strategically and Tactically

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Del Gandio, Jason

2017-01-01

Courses: Communication Activism; Public Advocacy; Social Movements; Public Speaking; Persuasion; Argumentation; Public Sphere. Objectives: This semester-long activity helps students implement a solutions--strategies--tactics framework into their advocacy work. More specifically, students learn to (1) designate, research, and assess the causes of…

"Heart Shots": a classroom activity to instigate active learning.

PubMed

Abraham, Reem Rachel; Vashe, Asha; Torke, Sharmila

2015-09-01

The present study aimed to provide undergraduate medical students at Melaka Manipal Medical College (Manipal Campus), Manipal University, in Karnataka, India, an opportunity to apply their knowledge in cardiovascular concepts to real-life situations. A group activity named "Heart Shots" was implemented for a batch of first-year undergraduate students (n = 105) at the end of a block (teaching unit). Students were divided into 10 groups each having 10-11 students. They were requested to make a video/PowerPoint presentation about the application of cardiovascular principles to real-life situations. The presentation was required to be of only pictures/photos and no text material, with a maximum duration of 7 min. More than 95% of students considered that the activity helped them to apply their knowledge in cardiovascular concepts to real-life situations and understand the relevance of physiology in medicine and to revise the topic. More than 90% of students agreed that the activity helped them to apply their creativity in improving their knowledge and to establish a link between concepts rather than learning them as isolated facts. Based on the feedback, we conclude that the activity was student centered and that it facilitated learning. Copyright © 2015 The American Physiological Society.

Helping Them Grow.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brodkin, Adele M.; And Others

1995-01-01

Three articles discuss how to help elementary students grow. The first explains how teachers can weave a broader safety net for children with chaotic lives. The second presents year-end cooperative games for testing students' communication skills. The third offers take-home summer activities for parents and children. (SM)

Teaching Television Watchers.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dunn, Judy Lee

1994-01-01

Presents activities to help teachers address the needs and behaviors of students raised on television; includes resources to help teachers use television productively in the classroom, a send-home reproducible on children and television violence, and notes on an interview with Shari Lewis and television tips for primary students. (SM)

Videotape Feedback. Make It More Effective.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jambor, Elizabeth A.; Weekes, Esther M.

1995-01-01

In physical education and athletics, teachers use video to help with instruction and demonstration. Interpersonal Process Recall lets students direct videotape viewing of their physical education activities so they can better comprehend their motor skill performance. Interactive discussions about the tapes help students evaluate their learning and…

Using targeted active-learning exercises and diagnostic question clusters to improve students' understanding of carbon cycling in ecosystems.

PubMed

Maskiewicz, April Cordero; Griscom, Heather Peckham; Welch, Nicole Turrill

2012-01-01

In this study, we used targeted active-learning activities to help students improve their ways of reasoning about carbon flow in ecosystems. The results of a validated ecology conceptual inventory (diagnostic question clusters [DQCs]) provided us with information about students' understanding of and reasoning about transformation of inorganic and organic carbon-containing compounds in biological systems. These results helped us identify specific active-learning exercises that would be responsive to students' existing knowledge. The effects of the active-learning interventions were then examined through analysis of students' pre- and postinstruction responses on the DQCs. The biology and non-biology majors participating in this study attended a range of institutions and the instructors varied in their use of active learning; one lecture-only comparison class was included. Changes in pre- to postinstruction scores on the DQCs showed that an instructor's teaching method had a highly significant effect on student reasoning following course instruction, especially for questions pertaining to cellular-level, carbon-transforming processes. We conclude that using targeted in-class activities had a beneficial effect on student learning regardless of major or class size, and argue that using diagnostic questions to identify effective learning activities is a valuable strategy for promoting learning, as gains from lecture-only classes were minimal.

Using Targeted Active-Learning Exercises and Diagnostic Question Clusters to Improve Students' Understanding of Carbon Cycling in Ecosystems

PubMed Central

Maskiewicz, April Cordero; Griscom, Heather Peckham; Welch, Nicole Turrill

2012-01-01

In this study, we used targeted active-learning activities to help students improve their ways of reasoning about carbon flow in ecosystems. The results of a validated ecology conceptual inventory (diagnostic question clusters [DQCs]) provided us with information about students' understanding of and reasoning about transformation of inorganic and organic carbon-containing compounds in biological systems. These results helped us identify specific active-learning exercises that would be responsive to students' existing knowledge. The effects of the active-learning interventions were then examined through analysis of students' pre- and postinstruction responses on the DQCs. The biology and non–biology majors participating in this study attended a range of institutions and the instructors varied in their use of active learning; one lecture-only comparison class was included. Changes in pre- to postinstruction scores on the DQCs showed that an instructor's teaching method had a highly significant effect on student reasoning following course instruction, especially for questions pertaining to cellular-level, carbon-transforming processes. We conclude that using targeted in-class activities had a beneficial effect on student learning regardless of major or class size, and argue that using diagnostic questions to identify effective learning activities is a valuable strategy for promoting learning, as gains from lecture-only classes were minimal. PMID:22383618

Helping Students Manage Their Energy: Taking Their Pulse with the Energy Audit

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Spreitzer, Gretchen M.; Grant, Traci

2012-01-01

This article introduces a tool to help students learn to better manage their energy. The tool asks students to assess their energy levels for each waking hour over at least 2 days in order to identify patterns of activities associated with high energy and with depleted energy. The article describes how to use the tool in the classroom by…

Island Watershed Activity.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Benson, Rod

2003-01-01

Describes a 90-minute "Island Watershed" activity to help earth science students understand the concept of the water cycle. Introduces a surface waters unit appropriate for students in grades 7-10. Includes watershed project guidelines. (Author/KHR)

Using Targeted Active-Learning Exercises and Diagnostic Question Clusters to Improve Students' Understanding of Carbon Cycling in Ecosystems

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Maskiewicz, April Cordero; Griscom, Heather Peckham; Welch, Nicole Turrill

2012-01-01

In this study, we used targeted active-learning activities to help students improve their ways of reasoning about carbon flow in ecosystems. The results of a validated ecology conceptual inventory (diagnostic question clusters [DQCs]) provided us with information about students' understanding of and reasoning about transformation of inorganic and…

Team Building through Wilderness Activities in Eighth Grade Special Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

West, June

The Outdoor Program is part of the special education program in a Northwest U.S. junior high school that combines wilderness activities with traditional classroom activities for students with behavior disorders. The goals of the program are to help the students learn to trust each other and the teachers, to teach students how to cooperate, and to…

Disclosure Day on Relativity: A Science Activity beyond the Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Aragoneses, Andres; Salan, M. Nuria; Hernandez-Fernandez, Antonio

2017-01-01

An important goal for students in engineering education is the ability to present and defend a project in front of a technical audience. We have designed an activity for helping students to work the independent learning and communication skills, while they are introduced in the dynamics of a conference. In this activity, students prepare and…

Pop-It Beads to Introduce Catalysis of Reaction Rate and Substrate Depletion Effects

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gehret, Austin U.

2017-01-01

A kinesthetic classroom activity was designed to help students understand enzyme activity and catalysis of reaction rate. Students served the role of enzymes by manipulating Pop-It Beads as the catalytic event. This activity illuminates the relationship between reaction rate and reaction progress by allowing students to experience first-hand the…

Student construction of small molecule models using Spartan Model to explore polarity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dale, Glenn Lamar

2006-12-01

This study compared the attitudes and the gains of knowledge concerning Lewis structures and polarity of molecules. The students performed a lab exercise in which they drew Lewis structures, constructed models of the molecules, determined the geometry of the molecules, and determined the polarity of the molecules. The control group students constructed models using physical ball-and-stick models. The treatment group students used Spartan Model to construct models. Students from a university and a community college participated in this study. Four lab classes at each school made up the treatment group. Five lab classes at the university and three lab classes at the community college made up the control group. The treatment group classes were selected based on available computer resources. All students in the study were given the Lab Pre Test, Lab Post Test, and the Lecture Post Test to assess the student's ability to answer questions pertaining to Lewis structures and polarity of molecules. An Attitudinal Survey assessed the attitudes of the students who participated in the study. Student interviews were performed to assess the student's attitudes towards the lab exercise. The interviews investigated attitudes about the modeling exercise, Lewis structures, and polarity of molecules. There were no significant differences in the performance of the treatment group when compared to the control group on the performance assessment instruments at the university or the community college. The treatment group students at the university had a more positive attitude about the lab activity. They believed that the lab activity helped them better understand the concepts of Lewis structure and molecular polarity. At the community college, the control group students had a more positive attitude about the lab activity. The students involved in the study believed that the lab activity helped them to understand the concepts of molecular geometry and polarity. The interviews of the treatment group students indicated that they strongly believed that the lab activity helped them better understand the concept of Lewis structures and of molecular polarity. As reflected in the interviews of the treatment group and the control group, the lab activity did not help the students be able to look at a Lewis structure and build a mental image of the molecule. The students believed the electrostatic potential plots generated by Spartan Model were very insightful into the concept of polarity. It gave them a visual representation of a difficult topic.

"Sticky Ions": A Student-Centered Activity Using Magnetic Models to Explore the Dissolving of Ionic Compounds

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ryan, Sheila; Herrington, Deborah G.

2014-01-01

Understanding what happens at the particulate level when ionic compounds dissolve in water is difficult for many students, yet this understanding is critical in explaining many macroscopic observations. This article describes a student-centered activity designed to help strengthen students' conceptual understanding of this process at the…

Helping Students Acquire Thinking Skills through Mathematics Instruction.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Van Devender, Evelyn M.

1992-01-01

Describes three activities that the teacher can employ to help students develop thinking skills through mathematics instruction: (1) memorization using the technique of chunking; (2) higher order thinking with magic squares; and (3) predicting games. Identifies eight facets of the teacher's role in promoting thinking skills. (MDH)

Teaching about Violence in America.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Campbell, Robert Allan

The paper maintains that a study of violence in American society can help junior and senior high school students understand individual rights and responsibilities, develop a fuller self-awareness, and increase their tolerance for the law. Teachers can work toward these objectives by designing activities which help students differentiate and…

Alaska Wildlife Week--Upper Elementary Teachers' Guide. Unit 7. Together, We Can Help Wildlife. April 23-29, 1989.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sigman, Marilyn, Ed.

Wildlife is often described as one of Alaska's most important and valuable resources. Helping wildlife can take many forms. In this educational packet, a variety of activities are included to help intermediate students understand which human activities help wildlife and which harm wildlife. In addition, suggestions on planning hands-on projects to…

Alaska Wildlife Week--Junior/Senior High School Teacher's Guide. Unit 7. Together, We Can Help Wildlife. April 23-29, 1989.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sigman, Marilyn, Ed.

Wildlife is often described as one of Alaska's most important and valuable resources. Helping wildlife can take many forms. In this educational packet, a variety of activities are included to help secondary school students understand which human activities help wildlife and which harm wildlife. In addition, suggestions on planning hands-on…

Exploring possible selves in a first-year physics foundation class: Engaging students by establishing relevance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bennett, Dawn; Roberts, Lynne; Creagh, Christine

2016-06-01

Students often complain that they cannot see the relevance of what they are being taught in foundation physics classes. While revising and adjusting the curriculum and teaching are important, this study suggests it might also be useful to help students view their learning in relation to their future career aspirations. This paper reports on a study conducted with first-year students enrolled in a compulsory foundation physics unit with a history of low pass rates. Working within a "possible selves" framework, activities were designed to help students position their learning in relation to possible future lives and careers. Two cohorts of students (N =93 ) engaged in an intensive workshop comprising multiple activities relating to self and career. Self-reflection worksheets were analyzed using content analysis. The results indicate that students experience immediate benefits from these activities through self-reflection on the current self, future possible professional selves, and the role of current studies in narrowing the gap between the two.

Activity Summaries as a Classroom Assessment Tool.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McGee, Steven; Kirby, Jennifer; Croft, Steven K.

This study explored the usefulness of a classroom assessment technique called the activity summary template. It is proposed that the activity summary template enables students to process and organize information learning during an investigation. This process will in turn help students to achieve greater learning outcomes. The activity summary…

Nebraska's Ag in the Classroom. Learning Activities.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nebraska Univ., Lincoln. Inst. of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

This publication contains 22 activities that have been developed to help teachers and students become more aware of, appreciate, and understand the food and fiber production system and its role in the economy and society. Teachers are intended to select activities appropriate to their students' abilities and interests. Each activity contains the…

Toward a Pedagogy of Materially Engaged Listening

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

LaVecchia, Christina M.

2017-01-01

As writing teachers increasingly engage students with audio media, it has become crucial to coach listening explicitly in the classroom, activities that students may otherwise approach passively. In this article I suggest that a rhetorical approach applicable to (or derived from) print texts is not enough to help students listen actively, and…

Prairie Stories

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Robertson, Amy; Blake, Kathryn

2011-01-01

Stories read aloud or written by students help science come alive and engage students as active participants in their learning. Students gain a sense of place by learning about their local ecosystem by listening to stories read aloud, doing prairie-related activities, and writing stories of their own. This article describes a prairie unit that…

It Takes a Virtual Community: Promoting Collaboration through Student Activities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Battista, Ludmila; Forrey, Carol; Stevenson, Carolyn

2008-01-01

Distance education provides many nontraditional students with the opportunity to pursue a college education not possible through traditional brick and mortar education. Although not meeting face-to-face, student activities help promote a stronger connection between the classroom and university community. This paper will discuss strategies for…

Critical Thinking Activities To Improve Writing Skills: Arguments A-1.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baker, Michael O.

Emphasizing real-life communication skills, this book offers cooperative activities to help teachers supplement their writing programs with easy-to-use critical thinking activities. The 16 activities in the book are suitable for grades 4 through 8, for gifted younger students, or as a remediation tool for older students. The activities expose…

A Framework for Teaching Social and Environmental Sustainability to Undergraduate Business Majors

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brumagim, Alan L.; Cann, Cynthia W.

2012-01-01

The authors outline an undergraduate exercise to help students more fully understand the environmental and social justice aspects of business sustainability activities. A simple hierarchical framework, based on Maslow's (1943) work, was utilized to help the students understand, analyze, and judge the vast amount of corporate sustainability…

Look into Waste.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Undy, Harry, Ed.

This booklet is designed to help British teachers introduce concepts of waste to secondary school students. The document focuses on various types of waste and pollution--air, land, water, and industrial--and suggests activities to help students understand and combat waste of natural and human resources. It is presented in 11 chapters. Six chapters…

The influence of achievement goals on the constructive activity of low achievers during collaborative problem solving.

PubMed

Gabriele, Anthony J

2007-03-01

Previous research on small-group learning has found that level of constructive activity (solving or explaining how to solve problems using ideas stated or implied in the explanation provided by a partner) was a better predictor of post-test achievement than either a student's prior achievement or the quality of help received (Webb, Troper, & Fall, 1995). The purpose of this study was to extend this research by examining the influence of additional factors, in particular, achievement goals and comprehension monitoring, on low achieving students' constructive activity after receiving help from a high achieving peer. Thirty-two low achieving upper elementary students from an urban school district in the mid-west of the United States were paired with high achieving partners. Videotape data from a previously reported study on peer collaboration were transcribed and reanalyzed. In that study, dyads were randomly assigned instructions designed to induce either a learning or performance goal and were videotaped as they worked together to solve a set of mathematical word problems. The following day, students were individually post-tested on problems similar to the ones worked on in pairs. Consistent with previous research, low achieving students' level of constructive activity predicted post-test performance. In addition, constructive activity was found to mediate the relationship between achievement goals and learning. However, achievement goals were not related to low achievers constructive use of help. Instead, achievement goals were related to low achievers' relative accuracy in comprehension monitoring, which in turn was related to level of constructive activity. The meaning of these results for understanding the processes by which low achievers learn from peer help and implications for classroom practice are discussed.

Student Responses to a Hands-On Kinesthetic Lecture Activity for Learning about the Oxygen Carrying Capacity of Blood

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Breckler, Jennifer; Yu, Justin R.

2011-01-01

This article describes a new hands-on, or "kinesthetic," activity for use in a physiology lecture hall to help students comprehend an important concept in cardiopulmonary physiology known as oxygen carrying capacity. One impetus for designing this activity was to address the needs of students who have a preference for kinesthetic…

Investigating Streams and Rivers. An Interdisciplinary Curriculum Guide for Use with Mitchell and Stapp's "Field Manual for Water Quality Monitoring."

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cromwell, Mare; And Others

This guide contains 12 activities designed to encourage secondary school student inquiry, investigation, and action regarding local streams and rivers. The activities are sequential and organized into three topic areas. The first section consists of three activities that help orient students to their local watercourse. Students map a local…

The Impact of Institutional Culture on Student Activism: A Multi-Case Study in Christian Higher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cole, Brian E.

2013-01-01

This study contributes to the description and meaning of student activism within the context of Christian college environments and cultures, and is interpreted through the sociological concept of symbolic interactionism. The purpose of this study is to help fill the void in the literature on student activism at Christian colleges and universities,…

An Activity for Learning to Find Percentiles

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cox, Richard G.

2016-01-01

This classroom activity is designed to help students practice calculating percentiles. The approach of the activity involves physical sorting and full classroom participation in each calculation. The design encourages a more engaged approach than simply having students make a calculation with numbers on a paper.

Students Active in Leadership.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brutcher, Robert

2001-01-01

Describes SAIL (Students Active in Leadership) as a school-based, youth-directed group. States that the program helps teenagers learn leadership skills by developing and implementing community service activities. SAIL finds partners with whom to collaborate among local businesses, government, and health associations, and these partners provide the…

Newspaper Activities for Young Consumers.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Greenup, Tess

Designed for intermediate and junior high level students, the handbook gives 11 lessons using newspaper activities for teaching consumer education. The activities help students (1) define consumer education terms and distinguish between wants and needs; (2) define the term "caveat emptor" and understand the concept of consumer…

How Earth Educators Can Help Students Develop a Holistic Understanding of Sustainability

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Curren, R. R.; Metzger, E. P.

2017-12-01

With their expert understanding of planetary systems, Earth educators play a pivotal role in helping students understand the scientific dimensions of solution-resistant ("wicked") challenges to sustainability that arise from complex interactions between intertwined and co-evolving natural and human systems. However, teaching the science of sustainability in isolation from consideration of human values and social dynamics leaves students with a fragmented understanding and obscures the underlying drivers of unsustainability. Geoscience instructors who wish to address sustainability in their courses may feel ill-equipped to engage students in investigation of the fundamental nature of sustainability and its social and ethical facets. This presentation will blend disciplinary perspectives from Earth system science, philosophy, psychology, and anthropology to: 1) outline a way to conceptualize sustainability that synthesizes scientific, social, and ethical perspectives and 2) provide an overview of resources and teaching strategies designed to help students connect science content to the socio-political dimensions of sustainability through activities and assignments that promote active learning, systems thinking, reflection, and collaborative problem-solving.

Warm and Cool Dinosaurs.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mannlein, Sally

2001-01-01

Presents an art activity in which first grade students draw dinosaurs in order to learn about the concept of warm and cool colors. Explains how the activity also helped the students learn about the concept of distance when drawing. (CMK)

Active Learning Classrooms and Educational Alliances: Changing Relationships to Improve Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baepler, Paul; Walker, J. D.

2014-01-01

This chapter explores the "educational alliance" among students and between students and instructors. We contend that this is a framework that can help us understand how active learning classrooms facilitate positive educational outcomes.

Structure and Form. Elementary Science Activity Series, Volume 2.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Blackwell, Frank F.

This book is number 2 of a series of elementary science books that presents a wealth of ideas for science activities for the elementary school teacher. Each activity includes a standard set of information designed to help teachers determine the activity's appropriateness for their students, plan its implementation, and help children focus on a…

Having students create short video clips to help transition from naïve conceptions about mechanics to true Newtonian physics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Corten-Gualtieri, Pascale; Ritter, Christian; Plumat, Jim; Keunings, Roland; Lebrun, Marcel; Raucent, Benoit

2016-07-01

Most students enter their first university physics course with a system of beliefs and intuitions which are often inconsistent with the Newtonian frame of reference. This article presents an experiment of collaborative learning aiming at helping first-year students in an engineering programme to transition from their naïve intuition about dynamics to the Newtonian way of thinking. In a first activity, students were asked to critically analyse the contents of two video clips from the point of view of Newtonian mechanics. In a second activity, students had to design and realise their own video clip to illustrate a given aspect of Newtonian mechanics. The preparation of the scenario for the second activity required looking up and assimilating scientific knowledge. The efficiency of the activity was assessed on an enhanced version of the statistical analysis method proposed by Hestenes and Halloun, which relies on a pre-test and a post-test to measure individual learning.

Using Student Work to Develop Teachers' Knowledge of Algebra

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Herbel-Eisenmann, Beth A.; Phillips, Elizabeth Difanis

2005-01-01

This article describes a set of learning activities that use algebraic problems and written student work to help preservice and in-service teachers understand students' algebraic thinking. (Contains 4 figures.)

Advanced Placement Economics. Macroeconomics: Student Activities.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Morton, John S.

This book is designed to help advanced placement students better understand macroeconomic concepts through various activities. The book contains 6 units with 64 activities, sample multiple-choice questions, sample short essay questions, and sample long essay questions. The units are entitled: (1) "Basic Economic Concepts"; (2) "Measuring Economic…

Place-based Learning About Climate with Elementary GLOBE

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hatheway, B.; Gardiner, L. S.; Harte, T.; Stanitski, D.; Taylor, J.

2017-12-01

Place-based education - helping students make connections between themselves, their community, and their local environment - is an important tool to help young learners understand their regional climate and start to learn about climate and environmental change. Elementary GLOBE storybooks and learning activities allow opportunities for place-based education instructional strategies about climate. In particular, two modules in the Elementary GLOBE unit - Seasons and Climate - provide opportunities for students to explore their local climate and environment. The storybooks and activities also make connections to other parts of elementary curriculum, such as arts, geography, and math. Over the long term, place-based education can also encourage students to be stewards of their local environment. A strong sense of place may help students to see themselves as stakeholders in their community and its resilience. In places that are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate and environmental change and the economic, social, and environmental tradeoffs of community decisions, helping young students developing a sense of place and to see the connection between Earth science, local community, and their lives can have a lasting impact on how a community evolves for decades to come. Elementary GLOBE was designed to help elementary teachers (i.e., grades K-4) integrate Earth system science topics into their curriculum as they teach literacy skills to students. This suite of instructional materials includes seven modules. Each module contains a science-based storybook and learning activities that support the science content addressed in the storybooks. Elementary GLOBE modules feature air quality, climate, clouds, Earth system, seasons, soil, and water. New eBooks allow students to read stories on computers or tablets, with the option of listening to each story with an audio recording. A new Elementary GLOBE Teacher Implementation Guide, published in 2017, provides educators with information and strategies how Elementary GLOBE modules can be effectively applied in classrooms, how Elementary GLOBE modules are aligned with national standards, and how student literacy and science inquiry skills can be strengthened while learning about the Earth system.

A Bridge to Active Learning: A Summer Bridge Program Helps Students Maximize Their Active-Learning Experiences and the Active-Learning Experiences of Others.

PubMed

Cooper, Katelyn M; Ashley, Michael; Brownell, Sara E

2017-01-01

National calls to improve student academic success in college have sparked the development of bridge programs designed to help students transition from high school to college. We designed a 2-week Summer Bridge program that taught introductory biology content in an active-learning way. Through a set of exploratory interviews, we unexpectedly identified that Bridge students had developed sophisticated views of active learning, even though this was not an explicit goal of the program. We conducted an additional set of semistructured interviews that focused on active learning and compared the interviews of Bridge students with those from non-Bridge students who had been eligible for but did not participate in the program. We used the constant comparative method to identify themes from the interviews. We found that Bridge students perceived that, because they knew how to approach active learning and viewed it as important, they benefited more from active learning in introductory biology than non-Bridge students. Specifically, Bridge students seemed to be more aware of their own learning gains from participating in active learning. Compared with the majority of non-Bridge students, the majority of Bridge students described using a greater variety of strategies to maximize their experiences in active learning. Finally, in contrast to non-Bridge students, Bridge students indicated that they take an equitable approach to group work. These findings suggest that we may be able to prime students to maximize their own and other's experiences in active learning. © 2017 K. M. Cooper et al. CBE—Life Sciences Education © 2017 The American Society for Cell Biology. This article is distributed by The American Society for Cell Biology under license from the author(s). It is available to the public under an Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike 3.0 Unported Creative Commons License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0).

Be the Volume: A Classroom Activity to Visualize Volume Estimation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mikhaylov, Jessica

2011-01-01

A hands-on activity can help multivariable calculus students visualize surfaces and understand volume estimation. This activity can be extended to include the concepts of Fubini's Theorem and the visualization of the curves resulting from cross-sections of the surface. This activity uses students as pillars and a sheet or tablecloth for the…

Let's Celebrate Autumn: Activities for Grades 4-8.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kern County Superintendent of Schools, Bakersfield, Ca. Div. of Instructional Services.

One of a series of activity guides, this publication offers a variety of learning activities and resource materials to help teachers and students celebrate special days and events in autumn. The activities and resources are especially designed to develop communications skills of students in grades 4-8; however, they are easily transferable to…

Providing Physical Activity for Students with Intellectual Disabilities: The Motivate, Adapt, and Play Program

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Davis, Kathy; Hodson, Patricia; Zhang, Guili; Boswell, Boni; Decker, Jim

2010-01-01

Research has shown that regular physical activity helps to prevent major health problems, such as heart disease, obesity, and diabetes. However, little research has been conducted on classroom-based physical activity programs for students with disabilities. In North Carolina, the Healthy Active Children Policy was implemented in 2006, requiring…

Using Student-Generated Comic Books in the Classroom.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Morrison, Timothy G.; Bryan, Gregory; Chilcoat, George W.

2002-01-01

Suggests having students create comic books, particularly as a culminating activity to present their learning at the conclusion of a unit. Describes how comic-book design can be used to help students develop their writing, comprehension, and research skills in a cross-curricular activity. Concludes that by creating and sharing their own comic…

The Blind Spot: Re-Educating Ourselves about Visual Images

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Farkas, N.; Donnelly, K. M.; Henriksen, P. N.; Ramsier, R. D.

2004-01-01

A simple blind spot activity has been devised to help students discard misconceptions about image formation by lenses. Our hands-on experiment, in which students determine the location and size of their blind spots, is suitable for various age groups at different educational levels. The activity provides an opportunity to teach students how to…

Case Studies Every Day. Using "The Dallas Morning News" in Law-Related Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Garrett, Judith; Yarbro, Judy

Intended to help teachers of law-related education direct student's critical thinking by examining case studies in everyday newspapers, this booklet contains seven activities suitable for use with intermediate and secondary students. By examining daily newspapers and participating in the activities, students (1) determine ways in which the law…

More than Just Chemistry: The Impact of a Collaborative Participant Structure on Student Perceptions of Science

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Patchen, Terri; Smithenry, Dennis W.

2015-01-01

Researchers have theorized that integrating authentic science activities into classrooms will help students learn how working scientists collaboratively construct knowledge, but few empirical studies have examined students' experiences with these types of activities. Utilizing data from a comparative, mixed-methods study, we considered how…

Threatened and Endangered Species: Tour Packet.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Coats, Victoria; Samia, Cory

This resource unit contains a teacher information packet and a middle school student activity packet to be used in creating a threatened and endangered species unit. The packet of student activities is designed to help maximize a field trip to the zoo and build on students' zoo experience in the classroom. The teacher information packet covers the…

Trans-ACTIONS: Activities for Involving Students with Books.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Los Angeles City Schools, CA. Div. of Instructional Planning and Services.

Suggestions are given for over 50 activities which secondary students at many levels can use with fiction or non-fiction to provide opportunities to read, relate, reflect, and record their thoughts about a book. The primary goal is to help students gain insight into the literary elements that prompt their responses. Stated objectives for each…

Contradictions between and within School and University Activity Systems Helping to Explain Students' Difficulty with Advanced Mathematics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jooganah, Kamila; Williams, Julian S.

2016-01-01

This article explores how contradictions, as framed by activity theory (Engeström, 1987), can explain first-year undergraduate students' experiences of learning advanced mathematics. Analysing qualitative interview and observational data of students and lecturers based in one university mathematics department, we argue that contradictions between…

Fostering Students' Creativity through Van Hiele's 5 Phase-Based Tangram Activities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Siew, Nyet Moi; Chong, Chin Lu

2014-01-01

The aim of this study was to determine whether Van Hiele's 5 phase-based tangrams activities could help to foster creativity among Grade Three primary school students. Students' creativity was investigated in terms of Torrance's Figural Test of creative thinking: Fluency, Originality, Elaboration, Abstractness of title, and Resistance to a…

Supplement for Curriculum Guide for Science: Vietnamese-Speaking Students, Kindergarten-Upper Two. Field Test.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chicago Board of Education, IL.

This supplement to the Chicago public schools' science curriculum guide is for use with Vietnamese-speaking students and is designed to help students make the transition to science learning in English. English-Vietnamese vocabulary lists, independent learning activities (in Vietnamese), and teaching aids (cultural activities such as songs,…

Fraction Flags: Learning from Children to Help Children Learn.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kieren, Tom; And Others

1996-01-01

Describes "fraction flags", an activity through which fraction concepts can be explored. The activity was invented by 2 12-year-old students and this article is presented with emphasis on the students' viewpoint. It begins with an overview of the fractions unit and presents vignettes of students exploring the fraction flags. (AIM)

Video-recorded simulated patient interactions: can they help develop clinical and communication skills in today's learning environment?

PubMed

Seif, Gretchen A; Brown, Debora

2013-01-01

It is difficult to provide real-world learning experiences for students to master clinical and communication skills. The purpose of this paper is to describe a novel instructional method using self- and peer-assessment, reflection, and technology to help students develop effective interpersonal and clinical skills. The teaching method is described by the constructivist learning theory and incorporates the use of educational technology. The learning activities were incorporated into the pre-clinical didactic curriculum. The students participated in two video-recording assignments and performed self-assessments on each and had a peer-assessment on the second video-recording. The learning activity was evaluated through the self- and peer-assessments and an instructor-designed survey. This evaluation identified several themes related to the assignment, student performance, clinical behaviors and establishing rapport. Overall the students perceived that the learning activities assisted in the development of clinical and communication skills prior to direct patient care. The use of video recordings of a simulated history and examination is a unique learning activity for preclinical PT students in the development of clinical and communication skills.

Critical Thinking Activities To Improve Writing Skills: Descriptive Mysteries A-1.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Albertus, Karen; And Others

Emphasizing real-life communication skills, this book offers cooperative activities to help teachers supplement their writing programs with easy-to-use critical thinking activities. The activities in the book are suitable for grades 4 through 8, for gifted younger students, or as a remediation tool for older students. The activities in the book…

The Dynamics of DNA Sequencing.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Morvillo, Nancy

1997-01-01

Describes a paper-and-pencil activity that helps students understand DNA sequencing and expands student understanding of DNA structure, replication, and gel electrophoresis. Appropriate for advanced biology students who are familiar with the Sanger method. (DDR)

Selected Screen for Engaging Students in Projectile Motion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dramae, A.; Toedtanya, K.; Wuttiprom, S.

2017-09-01

Connecting physics concepts to activities that are interesting to students or what they encounter in everyday life will help students build a strong foundation. When there is an interesting activity for the student, it will result in the student responding, engaging, and enthusiasm in learning. Learning activities that are based on what students are interested in and regularly experience will enable students to understand the long and memorable experience. Both of these will enhance the student’s learning experience. One of the activities that can be described in this research used the learning activity through movies, which is the application of the basic motion projectile for students to understand the characteristics of such movement. It also aims to further develop critical thinking skills of learners.

Time on Your Hands: Modeling Time

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Finson, Kevin; Beaver, John

2007-01-01

Building physical models relative to a concept can be an important activity to help students develop and manipulate abstract ideas and mental models that often prove difficult to grasp. One such concept is "time". A method for helping students understand the cyclical nature of time involves the construction of a Time Zone Calculator through a…

Teaching in the Digital Age: Using the Internet to Increase Student Engagement and Understanding. Second Edition

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nelson, Kristen J.

2007-01-01

This book provides a framework to help teachers connect brain-compatible learning, multiple intelligences, and the Internet to help students learn and understand critical concepts and skills. Educators will find internet-based activities that feature interpersonal exchange, problem-solving, and information gathering and analysis, plus…

Learning Logs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Heuser, Daniel

2005-01-01

Just what do children get out of inquiry? Good inquiry activities help students hone their inquiry abilities and teach them about the nature of science. But inquiry is also a way to teach science content, and teachers need to know if this instruction is helping children gain these important ideas. So, how do teachers know what students are…

Microbe Phobia and Kitchen Microbiology.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Williams, Robert P.; Gillen, Alan L.

1991-01-01

The authors present an exercise designed to help students overcome the misconception that most microbes make people sick. The activity helps students of all ages understand the important benefits of microbes such as in making bread, soy sauce, cheese, and wine. The role of microorganisms in processing cocoa and coffee and growing plants is also…

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks: Using a Common Read to Transform a Learning Community

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Virtue, Emily; Wells, Gayle; MacKusick, Carol; Murphy-Nugen, Amy; Rose, Amy

2018-01-01

First-year seminars and learning communities (LC) have been used to help increase retention, provide continuity, and support students as they transition to the university setting. Another high impact educational practice--common intellectual experiences (CIE)--includes student activities centered on a theme to help facilitate learning, increase…

Let's Celebrate! A World of Healthy Foods. Second Edition.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hibbs, Sharon, Ed.

This guide was developed to help students in West Virginia learn healthy eating habits and attitudes, primarily by preparing and eating food. The guide suggests activities, recipes and resources to help students: (1) enjoy a variety of nutritious foods; (2) feel competent about trying unfamiliar foods; (3) understand cultural influences on food…

Beyond the Page: Students as Actor-Readers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Felske, Claudia Klein

2005-01-01

Claudia Klein Felske, a high school English teacher, has created a vital dramatic experience in the classroom with the help of a guest workshop leader. The three activities, such as how to read William Shakespeare, Metaphor Theater and character cacophony, which helped students to experience the intensity of language and discover ramifications of…

Sea Turtles and Strategies for Language Skills.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tippins, Deborah; And Others

1993-01-01

Describes teaching strategies, including science activities, for challenging students' misconceptions about turtles and helping limited-English-proficiency students enhance their language proficiency. (PR)

Your teaching strategy matters: how engagement impacts application in health information literacy instruction.

PubMed

Johnson, Heather A; Barrett, Laura

2017-01-01

The purpose of this study was to compare two pedagogical methods, active learning and passive instruction, to determine which is more useful in helping students to achieve the learning outcomes in a one-hour research skills instructional session. Two groups of high school students attended an instructional session to learn about consumer health resources and strategies to enhance their searching skills. The first group received passive instruction, and the second engaged in active learning. We assessed both groups' learning using 2 methods with differing complexity. A total of 59 students attended the instructional sessions (passive instruction, n=28; active learning, n=31). We found that the active learning group scored more favorably in four assessment categories. Active learning may help students engage with and develop a meaningful understanding of several resources in a single session. Moreover, when using a complex teaching strategy, librarians should be mindful to gauge learning using an equally complex assessment method.

Your teaching strategy matters: how engagement impacts application in health information literacy instruction *

PubMed Central

Johnson, Heather A.; Barrett, Laura

2017-01-01

Objective The purpose of this study was to compare two pedagogical methods, active learning and passive instruction, to determine which is more useful in helping students to achieve the learning outcomes in a one-hour research skills instructional session. Methods Two groups of high school students attended an instructional session to learn about consumer health resources and strategies to enhance their searching skills. The first group received passive instruction, and the second engaged in active learning. We assessed both groups’ learning using 2 methods with differing complexity. A total of 59 students attended the instructional sessions (passive instruction, n=28; active learning, n=31). Results We found that the active learning group scored more favorably in four assessment categories. Conclusions Active learning may help students engage with and develop a meaningful understanding of several resources in a single session. Moreover, when using a complex teaching strategy, librarians should be mindful to gauge learning using an equally complex assessment method. PMID:28096745

Experiencing Misgendered Pronouns: A Classroom Activity to Encourage Empathy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

MacNamara, Jessica; Glann, Sarah; Durlak, Paul

2017-01-01

How can teachers help students understand the importance of gender pronouns for transgender and gender-nonconforming people? This article presents a gender pronoun reversal activity that simulates the experience of being verbally misgendered. Students followed up on the activity by posting reflections on an online class discussion board. The…

Agricultural Education Science Activity--Nos. GGEB 1-2.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ohio State Univ., Columbus. Agricultural Curriculum Materials Service.

This packet contains two science learning activities that can be used in agricultural education courses. The first activity, "Using Ethanol as a Solvent," is intended to help students describe the characteristics of a solvent, to enhance student observational skills dealing with physical changes, and to demonstrate the acid or alkaline…

Writing-to-Learn Activities to Provoke Deeper Learning in Calculus

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jaafar, Reem

2016-01-01

For students with little experience in mathematical thinking and conceptualization, writing-to-learn activities (WTL) can be particularly effective in promoting discovery and understanding. For community college students embarking on a first calculus course in particular, writing activities can help facilitate the transition from an "apply…

PALS: Parent Activities for Learning Basic Skills.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

South Carolina State Dept. of Education, Columbia.

Developed for K-3 teachers to send home with their students, this collection of learning activities and games is offered to help reinforce students' language arts and mathematics skills and to enhance parental involvement. Suggestions to the teacher include sending home only those pages containing activities for skills currently being studied and…

A Randomized Crossover Design to Assess Learning Impact and Student Preference for Active and Passive Online Learning Modules.

PubMed

Prunuske, Amy J; Henn, Lisa; Brearley, Ann M; Prunuske, Jacob

Medical education increasingly involves online learning experiences to facilitate the standardization of curriculum across time and space. In class, delivering material by lecture is less effective at promoting student learning than engaging students in active learning experience and it is unclear whether this difference also exists online. We sought to evaluate medical student preferences for online lecture or online active learning formats and the impact of format on short- and long-term learning gains. Students participated online in either lecture or constructivist learning activities in a first year neurologic sciences course at a US medical school. In 2012, students selected which format to complete and in 2013, students were randomly assigned in a crossover fashion to the modules. In the first iteration, students strongly preferred the lecture modules and valued being told "what they need to know" rather than figuring it out independently. In the crossover iteration, learning gains and knowledge retention were found to be equivalent regardless of format, and students uniformly demonstrated a strong preference for the lecture format, which also on average took less time to complete. When given a choice for online modules, students prefer passive lecture rather than completing constructivist activities, and in the time-limited environment of medical school, this choice results in similar performance on multiple-choice examinations with less time invested. Instructors need to look more carefully at whether assessments and learning strategies are helping students to obtain self-directed learning skills and to consider strategies to help students learn to value active learning in an online environment.

Students Score!

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harris-Frederick, Cynthia

2000-01-01

Describes how one teacher used peer review to help students understand state content standards. Students held one another accountable for the basics, then she assessed the core content of their work. To get students thinking about standards-based learning, she used a pizza activity. Next, students created rubrics for assessing book reports and…

Helping Children Understand Disabilities.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zakariya, Sally Banks

1978-01-01

The program described uses simulation activities; exposure to aids and appliances; guest speakers; books, movies, slides, and videotapes; and class discussion to help elementary students understand disabilities. (IRT)

Electromagnets 1: Turn on the Power. Science in a Box.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Whitman, Betsy Blizard

1992-01-01

The article presents inexpensive activities to teach elementary school students about electromagnets. Students learn to make an electromagnet with a battery, nail, and wire, then different activities help them explore the difference between permanent magnets and electromagnets. (SM)

How a Dragon Gets Its Wings.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harrell, Pamela Esprivalo

2001-01-01

Describes a series of activities that help students form accurate conceptions of meiosis and how its process and purpose differ greatly from mitosis. Discusses the concept of crossing over. Uses a small plastic egg to engage students in a fertilization activity. (SAH)

Creation and implementation of a flipped jigsaw activity to stimulate interest in biochemistry among medical students.

PubMed

Williams, Charlene; Perlis, Susan; Gaughan, John; Phadtare, Sangita

2018-05-06

Learner-centered pedagogical methods that are based on clinical application of basic science concepts through active learning and problem solving are shown to be effective for improving knowledge retention. As the clinical relevance of biochemistry is not always apparent to health-profession students, effective teaching of medical biochemistry should highlight the implications of biochemical concepts in pathology, minimize memorization, and make the concepts memorable for long-term retention. Here, we report the creation and successful implementation of a flipped jigsaw activity that was developed to stimulate interest in learning biochemistry among medical students. The activity combined the elements of a flipped classroom for learning concepts followed by a jigsaw activity to retrieve these concepts by solving clinical cases, answering case-based questions, and creating concept maps. The students' reception of the activity was very positive. They commented that the activity provided them an opportunity to review and synthesize information, helped to gage their learning by applying this information and work with peers. Students' improved performance especially for answering the comprehension-based questions correctly in the postquiz as well as the depth of information included in the postquiz concept maps suggested that the activity helped them to understand how different clinical scenarios develop owing to deviations in basic biochemical pathways. Although this activity was created for medical students, the format of this activity can also be useful for other health-professional students as well as undergraduate and graduate students. © 2018 by The International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 2018. © 2018 The International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

Helpful and Hindering Factors in Psychodrama Field Training: A Longitudinal Mixed Methods Study of Student Development.

PubMed

Azoulay, Bracha; Orkibi, Hod

2018-01-01

Although the literature indicates that students in mental health professions start to form their professional identity and competence in graduate school, there are few studies on the in-training experience of creative arts therapies students. This mixed methods study examined how five first-year students in a psychodrama master's degree program in Israel experienced their field training, with the aim of identifying the factors likely to promote or hinder the development of their professional identity and sense of professional ability. Longitudinal data were collected weekly throughout the 20-week field training experience. The students reported qualitatively on helpful and hindering factors and were assessed quantitatively on questionnaires measuring professional identity, perceived demands-abilities fit, client involvement, and therapy session evaluations. A thematic analysis of the students' reports indicated that a clear and defined setting and structure, observing the instructor as a role model, actively leading parts of the session, and observing fellow students were all helpful factors. The hindering factors included role confusion, issues related to coping with client resistance and disciplinary problems, as well as school end-of-year activities that disrupted the continuity of therapy. The quantitative results indicated that students' professional identity did not significantly change over the year, whereas a U-shaped curve trajectory characterized the changes in demands-abilities fit and other measures. Students began their field training with an overstated sense of ability that soon declined and later increased. These findings provide indications of which helping and hindering factors should be maximized and minimized, to enhance students' field training.

Three-M in Word Problem Solving

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hajra, Sayonita Ghosh; Kofman, Victoria

2018-01-01

We describe three activities that help undergraduates (pre-service teachers) to develop scientific vocabulary on measurable attributes and units of measurement. Measurable attributes are important features in understanding a word problem and solving the problem. These activities help students comprehend word problems better by identifying…

Learning and teaching with a computer scanner

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Planinsic, G.; Gregorcic, B.; Etkina, E.

2014-09-01

This paper introduces the readers to simple inquiry-based activities (experiments with supporting questions) that one can do with a computer scanner to help students learn and apply the concepts of relative motion in 1 and 2D, vibrational motion and the Doppler effect. We also show how to use these activities to help students think like scientists. They will conduct simple experiments, construct different explanations for their observations, test their explanations in new experiments and represent their ideas in multiple ways.

Towards a preventive strategy for complaints of arm, neck and/or shoulder (CANS): the role of help seeking behaviour.

PubMed

Bruls, Vivian E J; Jansen, Nicole W H; de Bie, Rob A; Bastiaenen, Caroline H G; Kant, IJmert

2016-11-28

When developing an effective early preventive strategy for employees and students with CANS (Complaints of Arm, Neck or Shoulder, not caused by acute trauma or systemic disease), insight in help seeking behaviour and knowledge of factors associated with help seeking behaviour within the target population, is a prerequisite. The aim of this study was to examine whether perceived hindrance is associated with help seeking behaviour, specifically in employees and students identified with CANS. Additionally, the associations of factors related to functioning and participation, work-environment and demographics with help seeking behaviour were explored in these groups. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among employees and students of two universities in the South of the Netherlands. The questionnaire included questions to assess (1) demographics, work/study and activity related factors (2) experience of CANS (3) perceived hindrance (4) help seeking behaviour. A subpopulation of the survey, consisting of those employees and students with self-reported CANS, received additional questionnaires to examine the impact of (1) participant characteristics (2) complaint and health related variables (3) functioning and participation (4) work-environment and social support, on help seeking behaviour. 37.3% of the employees and 41.4% of the students reported CANS. Of these, respectively 43.3% and 45.5%, did not seek help and had no intention to seek help either. Employees and students who had not sought help reported less hindrance, less perceived disabilities and shorter duration of complaints, compared those who did seek help. Employees and students within this group who had also no intention to seek help, perceived fewer disabilities and reported shorter duration of complaints. The absence of help seeking behaviour in respondents with CANS is a bottleneck for implementation of preventive strategies. In employees and students with CANS, help seeking behaviour is primarily determined by factors related to experienced hindrance. Our findings emphasize the need to tailor preventive strategies, in order to optimize screening and participation in early interventions for CANS.

Write! Write! Write! Ready-to-Use Writing Process Activities for Grades 4-8.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Behrman, Carol H.

This handbook contains over 265 reproducible writing process activities that help make writing fun for students in grades 4-8. The handbook provides stimulating activities to give students the directed practice they need to learn to write clearly and competently. Designed for minimal teacher input, activities are complete with directions geared to…

Teachers' Understanding of Students' Attitudes and Values toward Physical Activity in Physical Education Dropout Rates and Adolescent Obesity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Landolfi, Emilio

2014-01-01

Structured interviews were used to explore 10th grade teachers' understanding of students' attitudes and values toward physical education and physical activity as a variable in students' probability of dropping physical education and adolescent obesity. When asked how school-based physical education could help combat the problem of students…

Preparing Students for Democratic Citizenship in a Multicultural Society: Engaging Diversity through Project Mosaik

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zúñiga, Ximena; Nelson Laird, Thomas F.; Mitchell, Tania D.

2015-01-01

This study examines whether participation in a diversity initiative, Project MosaiK, helped prepare students to engage and actively address social justice issues in their residence halls. After controlling for background characteristics, findings suggest that the more students participated in Project MosaiK activities, the more likely they were to…

Assisting in the Medical Laboratory. Instructor's Guide, Students' Manual, and Student Learning Activities.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fair, Helena J.

The instructor's guide, the first of three documents in this package, is for a course to help students who are investigating the activities within a hospital, clinic, or physician's office. The material is designed to relate training experience to information studied in the classroom. The course is intended for individualized study and is…

Consumer Economics. Teacher Guidebook and Student Activity Book. Adult Basic Education Project REAL: Relevant Education for Adult Learners.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Edgar, S. Keith

This packet contains both a teacher's guide and a student activity book designed to help adult students acquire consumer information. Both booklets cover the following topics: bank accounts (checking accounts, savings accounts, other banking services), budgeting money, undersanding and using credit, comparative shopping, fraudulent persuasion, and…

Using Word Clouds for Fast, Formative Assessment of Students' Short Written Responses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brooks, Bill J.; Gilbuena, Debra M.; Krause, Stephen J.; Koretsky, Milo D.

2014-01-01

Active learning in class helps students develop deeper understanding of chemical engineering principles. While the use of multiple-choice ConcepTests is clearly effective, we advocate for including student writing in learning activities as well. In this article, we demonstrate that word clouds can provide a quick analytical technique to assess…

Assisting in Radiology/Imaging. Instructor's Guide, Student's Manual, and Student Learning Activities.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fair, Helena J.

The instructor's guide, the first of three documents in this package, is designed for a course to help students who are investigating the activities within a radiology department or considering any of the imaging technologies as a career. The material is designed to relate training experience to information studied in the classroom. This…

High-School Students Believe School Physics Helps in Developing Logical but Not Creative Thinking: Active Learning Can Change This Idea

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Marušic, Mirko; Sliško, Josip

2014-01-01

This study is based on two exploratory questions with the aim of determining the relative effectiveness of two different student activities, called "Reading, Presenting and Questioning" (RPQ) and "Experimenting and Discussing" (ED), in changing students' perceptions and attitudes about the impact of physics learning on the…

Let's Talk about Student Presentations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Doree, Suzanne; Jardine, Richard; Linton, Thomas

2007-01-01

This article offers our ideas on why it is important to teach our students how to speak about mathematics and some practical resources for incorporating speaking activities, helping students prepare, evaluating student presentations, and getting your department to talk about student presentations. The ideas in this article were compiled when the…

Clubs Reach Urban Middle Level Students.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hale, Rosalind P.

1993-01-01

When busing limits number of afternoon activities and students do not seem interested anyway, principals must look for opportunities during day to involve students. One inner-city middle-school principal helped teachers initiate program of morning clubs and assemblies to increase student self-esteem and encourage student and parent involvement…

Hispanic/Latino College Student Involvement in Student Organization Leadership Roles

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McKinney, Barry Slade

2009-01-01

The study examined attributes associated with Hispanic/Latino college student involvement in student organization leadership roles. The study helped identify attributes that active and involved Hispanic/Latino students felt were most important to them and their leadership roles. The roles that peer influence, role model influence, extraversion,…

Enhancing Student-Student Online Interaction: Exploring the Study Buddy Peer Review Activity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Madland, Colin; Richards, Griff

2016-01-01

The study buddy is a learning strategy employed in a graduate distance course to promote informal peer reviewing of assignments before submission. This strategy promotes student-student interaction and helps break the social isolation of distance learning. Given the concern by Arum and Roksa (2011) that student-student interaction may be…

Consumer Mathematics. Teacher's Guide [and Student Guide]. Parallel Alternative Strategies for Students (PASS).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Walford, Sylvia B.; Thomas, Portia R.

This teacher's guide and student guide are designed to accompany a consumer mathematics textbook that contains supplemental readings, activities, and methods adapted for secondary students who have disabilities and other students with diverse learning needs. The materials are designed to help these students succeed in regular education content…

Physical Science. Teacher's Guide [and Student Guide]. Parallel Alternative Strategies for Students (PASS).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Danner, Greg, Ed.; Fresen, Sue, Ed.

This teacher's guide and student guide unit contains supplemental readings, activities, and methods adapted for secondary students who have disabilities and other students with diverse learning needs. The materials are designed to help these students succeed in regular education content courses and include simplified text and smaller units of…

Teacher’s Stimulus Helps Students Achieve Mathematics Reasoning and Problem Solving Competences

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hidayah, Isti; Pujiastuti, Emi; Chrisna, Jeanet Eva

2017-04-01

The students’ problem-solving ability in mathematics learning still becomes a challenge for teachers, especially in primary education. The scientific approach, with its activities including observing, asking, collecting information/experimenting/trying, associating/analysing information/reasoning, communicating/presenting/ networking is expected to be able to help students to achieve their competence of reasoning and problem-solving. The Missouri Mathematics Project learning by using student worksheet and manipulative (classical and group) have helped students achieved problem-solving competence. The implementation of scientific approach in the activities of observing, experimenting, and communicating are good. However, the questioning and associating activities are still less promoted. The result of observation towards four meetings of learning by using teaching aids shows that the expected activity which did not emerge during the learning is “students ask questions from the factual thing to hypothetical thing, starting with guidance from teacher until they can do by themselves”. The result of analysis towards theoretical background and research result conclude that the students’ asking and thinking abilities can be developed gradually by delivering stimuli in the form of tasks which have been designed by the teacher. The task could be a problem or a clue; then the students determine things such as: “what the question?”, “facts from pictures/text/graphs/tables”, “find the hidden question”, what’s extra?”, “what’s missing?”, “what’s wrong?”, alternatively, “make up the problem.

Interactive Distance Education: Improvisation Helps Bridge the Gap.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yucha, Carolyn B.

1996-01-01

Describes distance learning through the use of interactive duplex video and audio. Improvisation techniques force active participation by students. Addresses faculty concerns about the interrelationships between instructor and students and among students in distance education environments. (MKR)

What are science teacher's ideas about the universe?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Novotný, Jan; Svobodová, Jindřiška

2017-01-01

The new cosmological discoveries over the past two decades have a great impact on physics. We have prepared a new university course The Introduction to Cosmology available for students without deeper math background. The results of research study and the cosmology lecturers' experiences in two years are presented. We have prepared a questionnaire and the case study to find out how students think about the Universe, how they can accept cosmology theoretical ideas. Then we use it for design follow-up activities that help students to improve their understanding. We have observed the students' views on the presented science concept and on the nature of scientific knowledge. We have prepared a questionnaire to find out how students can accept theoretical ideas. This survey was designed especially for future and contemporary science teachers. Then we use the obtained results for design follow-up activities that help students to improve their understanding. Finally the most frequented cosmology misconceptions are discussed.

In the Service of Others: How Volunteering Is Integral to the Tribal College Experience

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Talahongva, Patty

2016-01-01

Today, the spirit of volunteering is very much alive at every tribal college and university (TCU). From fundraisers for food pantries to educational activities that help fellow students, TCUs help forge reciprocity among students and staff. Volunteerism is integral to the tribal college experience. Volunteerism at three tribal colleges--Cankdeska…

How Does the "Digital Generation" Get Help on Their Mathematics Homework?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

van de Sande, Carla; Boggess, May; Hart-Weber, Catherine

2013-01-01

Homework is a daily activity for at least twelve years of most students' school experience, and every assignment requires the time, energy, and emotional engagement of all those involved. Traditionally, students seeking homework help could refer to their class notes and textbooks, or ask their friends, tutors, and, perhaps, as last resort, their…

Applying NCTE/IRA Standards in Classroom Journalism Projects: Activities and Scenarios.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bowen, Candace Perkins; Tantillo, Susan Hathaway

Whether an educator teaches journalism, English, or language arts, this guide will help him/her help middle school and high school students get the most from journalism study and practice informed by English language arts standards. The guide is organized into 12 chapters, each focusing on how the kinds of student journalism work advocated by the…

Ethnography for Teachers' Professional Development: Japanese Approach of Investigation on Classroom Activities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Matoba, Masami; Sarkar Arani Mohammed Reza

2006-01-01

In this paper, we examine how journal and ethnography field notes in Jugyou Kenkyu (lesson study) help teachers to understand the diverse range of talents and abilities of their students. Especially, we focus on how ethnography field note and reflective papers (karate) help teachers to change their assumptions about student learning. The data…

Lasers. Technology Learning Activity. Teacher Edition. Technology Education Series.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Oklahoma State Dept. of Vocational and Technical Education, Stillwater. Curriculum and Instructional Materials Center.

This document contains the materials required for presenting an 8-day competency-based technology learning activity (TLA) designed to introduce students in grades 6-10 to advances and career opportunities in the field of laser technology. The guide uses a series of hands-on exploratory experiences into which activities to help students develop…

Students as Change Agents in the Community: Developing Active Citizenship at Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Akin, Sibel; Calik, Basak; Engin-Demir, Cennet

2017-01-01

Promoting active citizenship is seen as invaluable for educational practices in schools particularly in existing social, political, economic, and cultural context of Turkish society. The present study is part of a European Union project that aimed to help students develop knowledge, skills, attitudes and values to actively participate in…

A Hands-On Activity Incorporating the Threefold Representation on Limiting Reactant

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gonza´lez-Sa´nchez, Ange´lica M.; Ortiz-Nieves, Edgardo L.; Medina, Zuleikra

2014-01-01

Many students share the common belief that the limiting reactant in a chemical reaction is the reactant in the smallest quantity of material. To help students overcome this difficulty a hands-on activity for the limiting reactant concept was developed. The activity incorporates the three levels of representation (macroscopic, submicroscopic, and…

Food as Social Justice: Critical Ethnography as a Lens for Communication Activism

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Louis, Ross

2016-01-01

Courses: Public Speaking. Objectives: This semester-long service-learning activity examines access to affordable healthy food as a social justice issue, using critical ethnography as a framework to help students understand the link between activism and public speaking skills. After completing the project, students will be able to: (1) develop a…

Robotics-Control Technology. Technology Learning Activity. Teacher Edition. Technology Education Series.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Oklahoma State Dept. of Vocational and Technical Education, Stillwater. Curriculum and Instructional Materials Center.

This document contains the materials required for presenting an 8-day competency-based technology learning activity (TLA) designed to introduce students in grades 6-10 to advances and career opportunities in the field of robotics-control technology. The guide uses hands-on exploratory experiences into which activities to help students develop…

What's Under Your Feet? Activity Book. Earth Science for Everyone.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rubin, Penni; Robbins, Eleanora I.

This profusely illustrated activity book helps students understand systems and cycles, how years change the look of the Earth, and how students can protect resources. The sections (and activities) in this book are: (1) The Earth (Introduction--View, Soil & Dirt); (2) Forces (Plate Tectonics, Earthquakes, Mountain Building, Erosion, Volcanoes,…

Active Responding in Content Classrooms.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Davey, Beth

1989-01-01

Describes how Multiple Response Techniques (MRTs) can be used before, during, and after reading to help students better comprehend content material. Argues that MRTs enhance comprehension by engaging all students, focusing on students' strengths, training students in reflectivity and self-monitoring, and allowing the teacher quick evaluation of…

Conducting Museum Education Activities within the Context of Developing a Nature Culture in Primary School Students: MTA Natural History Museum Example

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dilli, Rukiye

2016-01-01

The present study, aiming to develop nature culture in primary school students and to help them to become acquainted with their close environment, is a quasi-experimental study. Museum education activities were conducted with the study group which consisted of 128 fourth-grade primary school students. At the end of the study, the students gained…

High school chemistry students' learning of the elements, structure, and periodicity of the periodic table: Contributions of inquiry-based activities and exemplary graphics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roddy, Knight Phares, Jr.

The main research question of this study was: How do selected high school chemistry students' understandings of the elements, structure, and periodicity of the Periodic Table change as they participate in a unit study consisting of inquiry-based activities emphasizing construction of innovative science graphics? The research question was answered using a multiple case study/mixed model design which employed elements of both qualitative and quantitative methodologies during data collection and analyses. The unit study was conducted over a six-week period with 11th -grade students enrolled in a chemistry class. A purposive sample of six students from the class was selected to participate in interviews and concept map coconstruction (Wandersee & Abrams, 1993) periodically across the study. The progress of the selected students of the case study was compared to the progress of the class as a whole. The students of the case study were also compared to a group of high school chemistry students at a comparative school. The results show that the students from both schools left traditional instruction on the periodic table (lecture and textbook activities) with a very limited understanding of the topic. It also revealed that the inquiry-based, visual approach of the unit study helped students make significant conceptual progress in their understanding of the periodic table. The pictorial periodic table (which features photographs of the elements), used in conjunction with the graphic technique of data mapping, enhanced students understanding of the patterns of the physical properties of the elements on the periodic table. The graphic technique of compound mapping helped students learn reactivity patterns between types and groups of elements on the periodic table. The recreation of the periodic table with element cards created from the pictorial periodic table helped students progress in their understanding of periodicity and its key concepts. The Periodic Table Literacy Rubric (PTLR) proved to be a valuable tool for assessing students' conceptual progress, and helped to identify a critical juncture in the learning of periodicity. In addition, the PTLR rubric's historical-conceptual design demonstrates how the history of science can be used to inform today's science teaching.

Helping students mathematical construction on square and rectangle’s area by using Sarong motive chess

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zuliana, Eka; Setyawan, Fariz; Veloo, Arsaythamby

2017-12-01

The aim of this study is developing the learning trajectory to construct students’ understanding of the concept of the area of square and rectangle by using Sarong Motive Chess. This research is a design research which is consists of three stages. The stages are preparing for the experiment, designing experiment, and making a retrospective analysis. The activities started by the activity of using sarong motive chess as the manipulative measurement unit. The Sarong motive chess helps students to understand the concept of area of square and rectangle. In the formal stage of cognitive level, students estimate the area of square and rectangle by determining the square unit at the surface area of sarong through many ways. The result of this study concludes that Sarong motive chess can be used for mathematics learning process. It helps the students to construct the concept of a square and rectangle’s area. This study produces learning trajectory to construct the concept of a square and rectangle’s area by using Sarong motive chess, especially for elementary school students.

Using Family Science Day Events to Inspire Future Scientists

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brevik, Corinne

2015-04-01

Dickinson State University organizes four Family Science Day events each fall to increase student engagement in the sciences. Offered on Saturday afternoons, each event focuses on a different science-related theme. Families can attend these events free of charge, and the kids participate in a large-variety of hands-on activities which center around the event's theme. Previous themes include The Amazing Telescope, Night of the Titanic, Dinosaur Prophecy, and Space Exploration. These events are amazing opportunities to show young children how much fun science can be. Many of the kids come from schools where science is neither interactive nor engaging. The activities help the children learn that science is a process of discovery that helps us better understand the world around us. University students staff all of the activity booths at these events, and this has proven to be a very valuable experience for them as well. Some of the students who help are majoring in a science field, and for them, the experience teaches public communication. They learn to break complicated concepts down into simpler terms that young kids can understand. Other students who help with these events are not science majors but may be taking a science course as part of their college curriculum. For these students, the experience reinforces various concepts that they are learning in their science class. For many of them, it also opens their eyes to the idea that science can be engaging. Some of them even discover that they have a true gift for teaching.

Acting Atoms.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Farin, Susan Archie

1997-01-01

Describes a fun game in which students act as electrons, protons, and neutrons. This activity is designed to help students develop a concrete understanding of the abstract concept of atomic structure. (DKM)

Geography, Culture, History, Politics of Latin America. Revised.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dangle, James; Esler, Jon

This curriculum guide provides activities to help students understand Latin America. A foundation for analyzing the interdependence of world nations develops critical thinking, and problem solving skills. Activities emphasize research, reading, writing, and speaking skills. Detailed lesson plans and accompanying reproducible student handouts are…

Understanding Instructions.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Milburn, Val

This guide is intended to help adult basic education (ABE) teachers teach their students to understand instructions in their daily lives. The 25 learning activities included all develop students' skills in the area of following directions by using basic situations drawn from everyday life. The following activities are included: sequencing pictures…

Learning To Remember: Building Memory Cues into a Geology Lesson.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

King-Friedrichs, Jeanne; Browne, Daniel

2001-01-01

Presents five guidelines for helping students retrieve declarative memories in the context of geology activities. Based on research findings on brain function from the fields of neuroscience and psychology, the activities provide opportunities for students to practice using cues to enhance memory. (DLH)

(Role) Playing Politics in an Environmental Chemistry Lecture Course

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smythe, Meredith A.; Higgins, Daniel A.

2007-01-01

Participation of environmental chemistry students in mock congressional hearings is described, as a means of helping them better develop their speaking and debating skills. The activity brings active learning principles into the classroom and greatly increases student participation in an otherwise traditional lecture course.

In pursuit of a holistic learning environment: the impact of music in the medical physiology classroom.

PubMed

Modell, Harold I; DeMiero, Frank G; Rose, Louise

2009-03-01

A holistic learning environment is one that nurtures all aspects of students' learning. The environment is safe, supportive, and provides opportunities to help students deal with nonacademic as well as academic factors that impact their learning. Creation of such an environment requires the establishment of a supportive learning community. For a variety of reasons, establishing such a learning community of first-year medical students can be challenging. This communication presents one approach to meeting this challenge in a medical school Human Physiology course. Steps were taken at the beginning of the course to create the community, and activities designed to reinforce these efforts were incorporated into the course as it progressed. Two pilot studies were conducted to test the hypothesis that providing students with a participatory music experience may help to promote a holistic learning environment by helping them restore a sense of balance to their emotional well-being as well as reinforce a sense of community in the classroom. Student response to these activities indicated that these efforts provided emotional support during stressful periods during the quarter, helped promote a feeling of safety within the environment, and re-energized the class during long class sessions. This project illustrates that each instructor, within the confines of his/her own classroom, can make a significant contribution to achieving a holistic learning environment for his/her students.

Doing the Math: Supporting Student Justifications

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

James, Carolyn; Philiben, Lyn; Knievel, Molly

2016-01-01

Teachers have found that engaging students in justification can help students deepen and retain mathematical knowledge, gain a greater sense of ownership over the material, and improve communication and representation skills (Staples, Bartlo, and Thanheiser 2012). Student engagement in a justification activity can also lead to more equitable…

Students' Perceptions of Their Connectedness in the Community College Basic Public Speaking Course

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Glaser, Hollis F.; Bingham, Shereen

2009-01-01

This study explores what classroom behaviors and activities in the basic speech course contribute to student connectedness. The results indicate that student encouragement, humor, honesty, interactive exercises and individual speeches, can help student bonding and motivation, and impacts their overall college experience.

Initial Evaluation of Active Minds: A Student Organization Dedicated to Reducing the Stigma of Mental Illness

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McKinney, Kathleen G.

2009-01-01

This study examined whether a new student organization, Active Minds, aimed at increasing awareness of "mental illness" and reducing stigma had an impact on students' stigma and willingness to seek psychological help. Three classes were recruited to become involved in the organization. In a pretest/posttest design, stigma and willingness to seek…

Community Resources. Teacher Guidebook and Student Activity Book. Adult Basic Education Project REAL: Relevant Education for Adult Learners.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Edgar, S. Keith

This packet contains both a teacher's guide and a student activity book designed to help adult students locate and use community resources. Both booklets cover the following topics: the public library, Social Security, postal services, use of the telephone and the telephone directory, the newspaper, the Cooperative Extension Service, reference…

Challenging Science and Literacy Activities for K-9 Students - The Cricket Chronicles: Student Edition

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Matthews, Catherine E.

2006-01-01

This is an extensive integrated unit of study focused on that common and familiar insect-the cricket. In this edition, students are provided with more than 30 activities on crickets, which will help them learn science content and skills including: (1) Taxonomy; (2) Anatomy; (3) Ecology; (4) Mark and recapture techniques for estimating population…

Alcohol Use and Strenuous Physical Activity in College Students: A Longitudinal Test of 2 Explanatory Models of Health Behavior

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Davis, Heather A.; Riley, Elizabeth N.; Smith, Gregory T.; Milich, Richard; Burris, Jessica L.

2017-01-01

Objective: To help clarify the effect of gender on the bidirectional relationship between alcohol use and strenuous physical activity in college students. Participants: Five hundred twenty-four (52% female) college students recruited in August 2008 and 2009 and followed up in April 2009 and April 2011, respectively. Methods: Participants reported…

Infusing a Global Perspective into the Study of Agriculture: Student Activities Volume II.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Martin, Robert A., Ed.

These student activities are designed to be used in a variety of places in the curriculum to provide a global perspective for students as they study agriculture. This document is not a unit of instruction; rather, teachers are encouraged to study the materials and decide which will be helpful in adding a global perspective to the learning…

Making the Economic Concept of Scarcity Oh-so-Sweet: An Activity for the K-12 Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Marks, Melanie; Davis, Cheryl

2006-01-01

The authors outline an innovative activity that helps teachers make the abstract concepts of scarcity and allocation concrete in the K-12 classroom. Students evaluate the scarcity of chocolate and often determine, incorrectly, that the candy is not scarce because there is enough for each student to have one piece. After students reveal their…

Prepping the Brain: Easy and Effective Ways to Get Students Ready for Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Crystal Springs Books, 2008

2008-01-01

Teachers do not have to be neuroscientists to design brain-friendly lessons for their students- and they do not have to change their curriculum either. This resource is packed with strategies and activities that teachers will refer to often as they help their students: (1) build background knowledge; (2) Activate prior knowledge; (3) process and…

Teaching Global Awareness Using the Media. Grades 6-12, Global Awareness Series.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lamy, Steven L.; And Others

This teaching guide on global awareness contains 15 media-related activities for students in grades 6-12. The objective is to help students see how the media affect their opinions and the roles the media plays in world affairs. The activities are divided into five sections. The first section contains a general survey of the students' knowledge of…

Bridging the Gap Between Scientists and Classrooms: Scientist Engagement in the Expedition Earth and Beyond Program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Graff, P. V.; Stefanov, W. L.; Willis, K. J.; Runco, S.

2012-01-01

Teachers in today s classrooms need to find creative ways to connect students with science, technology, engineering, mathematics (STEM) experts. These STEM experts can serve as role models and help students think about potential future STEM careers. They can also help reinforce academic knowledge and skills. The cost of transportation restricts teachers ability to take students on field trips exposing them to outside experts and unique learning environments. Additionally, arranging to bring in guest speakers to the classroom seems to happen infrequently, especially in schools in rural areas. The Expedition Earth and Beyond (EEAB) Program [1], facilitated by the Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science (ARES) Directorate Education Program at the NASA Johnson Space Center has created a way to enable teachers to connect their students with STEM experts virtually. These virtual connections not only help engage students with role models, but are also designed to help teachers address concepts and content standards they are required to teach. Through EEAB, scientists are able to actively engage with students across the nation in multiple ways. They can work with student teams as mentors, participate in virtual student team science presentations, or connect with students through Classroom Connection Distance Learning (DL) Events.

Empowering Rhetoric: Black Students Writing Black Panthers.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pough, Gwendolyn D.

2002-01-01

Examines Black student responses to Black Panther Party documents and how those documents moved the students toward change. Maintains that by allowing the classroom to function as a public space which students can discuss the issues that matter to them, teachers can help to foster and encourage student activism and ultimately their empowerment.…

The Clone Factory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stoddard, Beryl

2005-01-01

Have humans been cloned? Is it possible? Immediate interest is sparked when students are asked these questions. In response to their curiosity, the clone factory activity was developed to help them understand the process of cloning. In this activity, students reenact the cloning process, in a very simplified simulation. After completing the…

Exploring Insulation with Ice Hands

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Taylor, Neil; Taylor, Subhashni; Littledyke, Michael

2017-01-01

Students often hold misconceptions about insulation, largely because they put on clothes to keep themselves warm--at least in winter in the cooler regions of Australia. The following activity is designed to identify students' misconceptions about insulation and provide an engaging, evidence-based activity to help address these misconceptions using…

Readiness for Solving Story Problems.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dunlap, William F.

1982-01-01

Readiness activities are described which are designed to help learning disabled (LD) students learn to perform computations in story problems. Activities proceed from concrete objects to numbers and involve the students in devising story problems. The language experience approach is incorporated with the enactive, iconic, and symbolic levels of…

Kaua'i: Streams and Estuaries.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hawkins, John, Ed.; Murakami, Colleen, Ed.

Designed to help teachers develop students' awareness and understanding of some of Hawaii's endangered aquatic resources, this module contains activities and instructional suggestions for use with intermediate as well as high school students. The module is divided into two sections which explore the streams and estuaries of Kauai. Activities in…

Low Budget Biology: Genetics Unit.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wartski, Bert; Wartski, Lynn Marie

Some concepts in genetics are difficult for many students to understand. This document provides hands-on, cost efficient, fun activities for students to help them better understand abstract concepts in genetics. Each activity includes: purpose, introduction, materials, procedures, results and conclusion. Some of the topics explored are: (1)…

Grandparents' Day.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Instructor, 2001

2001-01-01

Presents three activities to help elementary students make connections across the generations. Activities include: interviewing grandparents about the toys they played with and how they spent their time; collecting grandparents' words of wisdom and putting them into a book; and gathering the many names students call their grandparents to use in a…

Energy Activities for Junior High Social Studies.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Minnesota State Energy Agency, St. Paul.

The document contains seven learning activities for junior high students on the energy situation. Objectives are to help students gain understanding and knowledge about the relationships between humans and their social and physical environments; solve problems and clarify issues; examine personal beliefs and values; and recognize the relationships…

Photographs and Committees: Activities That Help Students Discover Permutations and Combinations.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Szydlik, Jennifer Earles

2000-01-01

Presents problem situations that support students when discovering the multiplication principle, permutations, combinations, Pascal's triangle, and relationships among those objects in a concrete context. (ASK)

Design, Analysis and User Acceptance of Architectural Design Education in Learning System Based on Knowledge Management Theory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wu, Yun-Wu; Lin, Yu-An; Wen, Ming-Hui; Perng, Yeng-Hong; Hsu, I-Ting

2016-01-01

The major purpose of this study is to develop an architectural design knowledge management learning system with corresponding learning activities to help the students have meaningful learning and improve their design capability in their learning process. Firstly, the system can help the students to obtain and share useful knowledge. Secondly,…

The Bottom Line: An Exercise to Help Students Understand How Social Inequality Is Actively Constructed

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Abelev, Melissa; Vincent, M. Bess; Haney, Timothy J.

2008-01-01

One of the important misconceptions in the American view of poverty is that people are poor because they do not work. This article presents an exercise, the "bottom line," which helps dispel students' misconceptions about the working poor. Through extensive primary-data collection and assembling a budget for low-skilled workers, the exercise: (1)…

The Power of Problem Solving: Practical Ideas and Teaching Strategies for Any K-8 Subject Area.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sorenson, Juanita S.; Buckmaster, Lynn R.; Francis, Mary Kay; Knauf, Karen M.

Based on the belief that giving students opportunities to think and solve problems independently is the best way to help them enjoy learning, this book provides guidelines and learning activities to help students in grades kindergarten through 8 to solve problems in all subject matter areas of the curriculum. Chapter 1 provides a rationale for…

Investigating Functions with a Ferris Wheel

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Johnson, Heather Lynn; Hornbein, Peter; Azeem, Sumbal

2016-01-01

The authors provide a dynamic Ferris wheel computer activity that teachers can use as an instructional tool to help students investigate functions. They use a student's work to illustrate how students can use relationships between quantities to further their thinking about functions.

Social Adjustment of At-Risk Technology Education Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ernst, Jeremy V.; Moye, Johnny J.

2013-01-01

Individual technology education students' subgroup dynamic informs progressions of research while apprising technology teacher educators and classroom technology education teachers of intricate differences between students. Recognition of these differences help educators realize that classroom structure, instruction, and activities must be…

Education: Mutualistic Interactions between Scientists and Children.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Condon, Marty

1991-01-01

A project that introduced scientists to students and engaged students in creative scientific activities is described. Students were asked to help scientists identify patterns on the wing of a species of fruit fly. A combined research/education program is recommended. (KR)

Associations of Weight Status, Social Factors, and Active Travel among College Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bopp, Melissa; Behrens, Timothy K.; Velecina, Rachel

2014-01-01

Background: Active travel (AT) is associated with various health benefits and may help prevent the decline in physical activity during college years. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship of several factors with AT to campus by weight status. Methods: Students at a large northeastern US campus completed an online…

Illinois Natural Heritage Conservation/Education Kit II. Special Theme: Forest Ecology and Management.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stone, Sally F.

This instructional guide contains 16 activities designed to help teachers familiarize their students with the forest resources of Illinois. Each activity is ready to be copied and given to students. Topics of the activities, which vary in format, include: an overview of past and present Illinois forests; organization and mechanics of a forest…

Before-School Running/Walking Club and Student Physical Activity Levels: An Efficacy Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stylianou, Michalis; van der Mars, Hans; Kulinna, Pamela Hodges; Adams, Marc A.; Mahar, Matthew; Amazeen, Eric

2016-01-01

Purpose: Before-school programs, one of the least studied student-related comprehensive school physical activity program (CSPAP) components, may be a promising strategy to help youth meet the physical activity (PA) guidelines. This study's purpose was to examine: (a) how much PA children accrued during a before-school running/walking club and…

The Scholarly Activity Predictor Model among Counseling Psychology Doctoral Students: A Modification and Extension

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Huber, Daniel M.

2010-01-01

The purpose of the current study was to help understand scholarly activity better among counseling psychology doctoral students. Two new variables were added to the previously created predictor model of scholarly activity: advisory working alliance and research competence. Three path analytic models were designed in the current study: (1) a…

The Art and Science Connection. Hands-On Activities for Primary Students.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tolley, Kimberley

Most people think that the artist and the scientist live in two totally different worlds. However, art and science are only two different ways of understanding and knowing the world. To help primary students make a connection between art and science, a collection of hands-on activities have been developed. By engaging in these activities that…

Why is "S" a Biased Estimate of [sigma]?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sanqui, Jose Almer T.; Arnholt, Alan T.

2011-01-01

This article describes a simulation activity that can be used to help students see that the estimator "S" is a biased estimator of [sigma]. The activity can be implemented using either a statistical package such as R, Minitab, or a Web applet. In the activity, the students investigate and compare the bias of "S" when sampling from different…

Open Minds to Equality: A Source Book of Learning Activities to Affirm Diversity and Promote Equity. Third Edition

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schniedewind, Nancy; Davidson, Ellen

2006-01-01

"Open Minds to Equality" is an educator's sourcebook of activities to help students understand and change inequalities based on: race, gender, class, age, language, sexual orientation, physical/mental ability, and religion. The activities promote respect for diversity and interpersonal equality among students, fostering a classroom that is…

Pi in the Sky: Hands-on Mathematical Activities for Teaching Astronomy.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pethoud, Robert

This book of activities was designed to provide students with the opportunity to create mental models of concepts in astronomy while using simple, homemade tools. In addition, these sequential, hands-on activities are to help students see how scientific knowledge is obtained. The introduction describes the rationale for the book and describes the…

The Art and Science Connection: Hands-on Activities for Intermediate Students.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tolley, Kimberley

Most people think that the artist and the scientist live in two totally different worlds. However, art and science are only two different ways of understanding and knowing the world. To help intermediate students make a connection between art and science, a collection of hands-on activities have been developed. By engaging in these activities that…

The Green Pages Environmental Education Activities K-12: Gardens for Young Growing Lives.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Larson, Jan

1997-01-01

Describes several gardening activities that can be kept simple or used as a foundation for more in-depth projects. Activities include setting up an indoor garden spot, making compost which helps students understand the terms "decompose" and "compost", watching plants drink in which students measure water movement in plants, making herb gardens,…

Brothers Grimm. [Lesson Plan].

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Discovery Communications, Inc., Bethesda, MD.

Based on Grimm's fairy tales, this lesson plan presents activities designed to help students understand that fairy tales connect them to earlier generations, help them think about present situations, that magic figures prominently in fairy tales, and that fairy tales can inspire readers to create original works of art. The main activity in the…

Federal Student Aid Handbook with Active Index, 2015-2016

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Federal Student Aid, US Department of Education, 2016

2016-01-01

This publication is intended for financial aid administrators and counselors who help students begin the aid process--filing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®), verifying information, and making corrections and other changes to the information reported on the FAFSA. The Federal Student Aid Handbook consists of the Application…

Help Students Become Wise Energy Consumers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Massiha, G. H.; Hebert, Herbert A.; Rawat, Kuldeep S.

2007-01-01

The authors of this article introduce students in their department's construction course to a variety of energy-saving practices and processes. They describe activities that could give students an opportunity to apply design methodology in the creative pursuit of a solution to an open-ended problem. An introductory lecture gives students the…

Venus Phasing.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Riddle, Bob

1997-01-01

Presents a science activity designed to introduce students to the geocentric and heliocentric models of the universe. Helps students discover why phase changes on Venus knocked Earth out of the center of the universe. (DKM)

Making Social Studies Meaningful to Elementary Students.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Klein, Susan

1982-01-01

Describes a unit on Ancient Greece designed to make social studies meaningful to fourth and fifth graders. Individual projects and group activities helped students learn about ancient Greek culture. (AM)

Reforming pathology teaching in medical college by peer-assisted learning and student-oriented interest building activities: A pilot study.

PubMed

Grover, Sumit; Sood, Neena; Chaudhary, Anurag

2017-01-01

Peer-assisted learning (PAL) is a teaching-learning method in which students act as peer teachers and help other students to learn while also themselves learning by teaching. PAL through modified interest building activities (MIBAs) is seldom tried in teaching pathology in medical colleges. This study aimed to evaluate the usefulness of peer teaching using MIBA, obtain feedback from students, and compare different activities with each other and with traditional teaching-learning methods. An interventional pilot study was conducted in 2 months on the 2nd MBBS undergraduates learning pathology at a medical college in North India. Students acted as peer teachers and performed different MIBAs including role plays, demonstration of pathogenesis through props, student-led seminars such as PowerPoint teaching, blackboard teaching, multiple choice question seminars, case-based learning (CBL) exercises, and quizzes before teaching sessions. Feedback was obtained through structured questionnaires on a 5-point Likert scale. Paired t-test was used to compare traditional teaching with MIBAs, and Friedman test was used to compare among different MIBAs. Students found ease of understanding and the interaction and involvement of students as the most important benefits of PAL. MIBAs increased voluntary participation, coordination, teamwork, shared responsibility, and group dynamics among students. Quiz sessions followed by PowerPoint seminars and prop demonstrations received highest mean scores from students on most of the parameters. Quizzes, blackboard teaching, prop activities, and CBL helped students understand topics better and generated interest. Learners advocated for making MIBAs and PAL compulsory for future students. PAL complemented by MIBAs may be adopted to make teaching-learning more interesting and effective through the active involvement and participation of students.

Are students' impressions of improved learning through active learning methods reflected by improved test scores?

PubMed

Everly, Marcee C

2013-02-01

To report the transformation from lecture to more active learning methods in a maternity nursing course and to evaluate whether student perception of improved learning through active-learning methods is supported by improved test scores. The process of transforming a course into an active-learning model of teaching is described. A voluntary mid-semester survey for student acceptance of the new teaching method was conducted. Course examination results, from both a standardized exam and a cumulative final exam, among students who received lecture in the classroom and students who had active learning activities in the classroom were compared. Active learning activities were very acceptable to students. The majority of students reported learning more from having active-learning activities in the classroom rather than lecture-only and this belief was supported by improved test scores. Students who had active learning activities in the classroom scored significantly higher on a standardized assessment test than students who received lecture only. The findings support the use of student reflection to evaluate the effectiveness of active-learning methods and help validate the use of student reflection of improved learning in other research projects. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Teaching Science: Seat Belt Science.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Leyden, Michael B.

1994-01-01

Describes activities that will help students understand how car seat belts work, the limited reaction time available to passengers in an automobile accident, and the force of impact in a car collision. These activities will provide students with hands-on experiences that demonstrate the importance of always wearing seat belts while in an…

Freedom Quilts: Mathematics on the Underground Railroad

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Neumann, Maureen D.

2005-01-01

A mathematics activity is presented which is a lesson frequently taught to upper elementary school students. It helps the students to see the connection of mathematics with a real-world activity, appreciate the mathematical knowledge required of quilt makers, reinforce their knowledge of the geometrical properties of different shapes and bring…

Modeling Protein Domain Function

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baker, William P.; Jones, Carleton "Buck"; Hull, Elizabeth

2007-01-01

This simple but effective laboratory exercise helps students understand the concept of protein domain function. They use foam beads, Styrofoam craft balls, and pipe cleaners to explore how domains within protein active sites interact to form a functional protein. The activity allows students to gain content mastery and an understanding of the…

Super Send-Offs for All Ages.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Haskvitz, Alan; And Others

1994-01-01

Several activities to help teachers focus students' attention on learning at the end of the year include quiz games, mystery boxes, map games, videotapes, gift making, author birthday parties, yard sales, ice cream science, and summer safety activities. Younger students can create murals, play editing games, and enjoy special ceremonies. (SM)

More than One "Right" Answer

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Loper, Suzanna; Baker, Josey

2009-01-01

In this article, the authors present a sequence of activities from a curriculum about light for third and fourth graders that supports students in learning to disagree like scientists. This sequence of activities helps students discuss reasons for the discrepancies in their data, use the language of argumentation in classroom discourse, and get a…

Educating the Consumer of Television: An Interactive Approach.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Splaine, John; Splaine, Pam

Incorporating skills and procedures which students can use in many areas of the curriculum, this book, and accompanying "teacher's guide," provides interactive activities that are fun and that help students in grades 4 through 12 become critical viewers of television. The book provides homework activities that turn the normally wasted…

Integrating Science, Mathematics, and Sociology in an Inquiry-Based Study of Changing Population Density.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schlenker, Richard M.; Schlenker, Karl R.

2000-01-01

Presents a five-activity sequence designed to help students understand the effects of population doubling. Activities consider the effects of population doubling on human interactions, drinking water supplies, and food supply. Students also develop graphs of data and write research papers. (WRM)

Performance in Physiology Evaluation: Possible Improvement by Active Learning Strategies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Montrezor, Luís H.

2016-01-01

The evaluation process is complex and extremely important in the teaching/learning process. Evaluations are constantly employed in the classroom to assist students in the learning process and to help teachers improve the teaching process. The use of active methodologies encourages students to participate in the learning process, encourages…

Jump into Action

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ball, Stephen; Cohen, Ann; Meyer, Margaret

2012-01-01

Jump Into Action (JIA) is a school-based team-taught program to help fifth-grade students make healthy food choices and be more active. The JIA team (physical education teacher, classroom teacher, school nurse, and parent) work together to provide a supportive environment as students set goals to improve food choices and increase activity.…

Mythology, Archaeology, Architecture. Learning Works Enrichment Series.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sylvester, Diane; Wiemann, Mary

The activities in this book have been selected especially for gifted students in grades 4 through 8. They are designed to challenge and help students develop and apply higher-level thinking skills. The activities have been grouped by subject matter into mythology, archaeology, and architecture. The mythology section includes Chinese, Eskimo,…

The Stock Market Game, an Educator's Guide. Elementary School Edition [Grades 6-8].

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

New York City Board of Education, Brooklyn, NY. Div. of Curriculum and Instruction.

Helping students learn about taking responsibility for the planning and shaping of their personal financial futures is this 13-lesson teaching unit's goal. Each lesson includes performance objectives, materials, motivational activities, development, and enrichment activities. Concepts are taught through worksheets, stories, and games. Students are…

Hands-On Whole Science. Pass the Beetles, Please.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kepler, Lynne

1992-01-01

Several hands-on whole science activities help elementary students learn about animals' diets and how they affect other animals. One activity involves identifying animals as carnivores, herbivores, or omnivores. Another has students construct food chains. Two across-the-curriculum ideas involve naming carnivores and preparing imaginary menus for…

Intuitive Analysis of Variance-- A Formative Assessment Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Trumpower, David

2013-01-01

This article describes an assessment activity that can show students how much they intuitively understand about statistics, but also alert them to common misunderstandings. How the activity can be used formatively to help improve students' conceptual understanding of analysis of variance is discussed. (Contains 1 figure and 1 table.)

Scientific Discoveries the Year I Was Born

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cherif, Abour

2012-01-01

The author has successfully used a learning activity titled "The Year I Was Born" to motivate students to conduct historical research and present key scientific discoveries from their birth year. The activity promotes writing, helps students enhance their scientific literacy, and also improves their attitude toward the learning of science. As one…

Classification of Student Affective Responses to Teaching Films.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Haller, Charles R.

To help teachers assess students' affective responses to teaching films, a scale as established and displayed graphically under which reactions may be rated as positive/active, positive/passive, negative/active, and negative/passive. Procedure in using the scale is explained and a "film reaction sheet" provided. Suggested ways of utilizing the…

The American Revolution: The Declaration and Beyond. [Lesson Plan].

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kasper, Paula

Based on Thomas Paine's pamphlet "Common Sense," this lesson plan presents activities designed to help students understand that as the American Revolution approached, writers created highly persuasive documents calling for separation from England. The main activity in the lesson involves students in writing a persuasive essay. It includes…

An Arts Activities Approach: Counseling the Gifted, Creative, and Talented.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kenny, Adele

1987-01-01

The visual arts can be employed as a counseling vehicle for gifted, creative, and talented students. Color, image proportion, subject matter, and texture in student art facilitate assessment and guidance. Craft, drawing, painting, photography, printing, design, and sculpture activities which could help in this process are briefly described. (CB)

Exploring Technology Education. Second Edition. Teacher Guide.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Murray, Steve

This color-coded guide was developed to help teachers provide middle school and junior high students with an activity-oriented approach to learning and thinking about technology. Through the instruction and the activities, students are shown how the different systems interrelate, how they influence everyday life, and how they combine in a…

Make an Earthquake: Ground Shaking!

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Savasci, Funda

2011-01-01

The main purposes of this activity are to help students explore possible factors affecting the extent of the damage of earthquakes and learn the ways to reduce earthquake damages. In these inquiry-based activities, students have opportunities to develop science process skills and to build an understanding of the relationship among science,…

"Michael Jackson World Tour:" Maps and Globes--Latitude and Longitude.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Benscoter, Gloria Dee

1988-01-01

Presents a mapping activity which helps students understand the purpose of latitude and longitude lines. Gives students an opportunity to use longitude and latitude in a meaningful way by asking them to plan a world concert tour for a rock star. Includes a reproducible activity page. (LS)

Teaching about Population Growth.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Otero, George G., Jr., Comp.

This teaching guide contains 20 activities on population growth for students in grades 6-12. The purpose is to help students gain the skills, knowledge, and understanding of population dynamics so that they can make rational decisions and take responsible action regarding population matters and public policy. Activities are organized around the…

Hands-On Whole Science. What Rots?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Markle, Sandra

1991-01-01

Presents activities on the science of garbage to help elementary students learn to save the earth. A rotting experiment teaches students what happens to apple slices sealed in plastic or buried in damp soil. Other activities include reading stories on the subject and conducting classroom composting or toxic materials projects. (SM)

The Science Teacher: Fall 2007

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Long, Steve

2007-11-01

This article reviews chemistry-related articles published in The Science Teacher from January through Summer 2007. Topics featured in these articles include a student activity simulating HPLC separation, inexpensive inquiry activities using film canisters, learning history as student role-play of scientists in the evolution of atomic theory, testing for radon in homes, and using writing to help high school and elementary students learn about gas laws.

Does a Combination of Metaphor and Pairing Activity Help Programming Performance of Students with Different Self-Regulated Learning Level?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hui, Tie Hui; Umar, Irfan Naufal

2011-01-01

This study aims to investigate the effects of metaphors and pairing activity on programming performance of students with different self-regulated-learning (SRL) level. A total of 84 computing students were involved in this seven-week study, and they were randomly assigned either to a group that received a combination of metaphor and pair…

Research and Teaching: Examining the Effectiveness of a Postexam Review Activity to Promote Self-Regulation in Introductory Biology Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Andaya, Gillian; Hrabak, Victoria D.; Reyes, Sarah T.; Diaz, Rafael E.; McDonald, Kelly K.

2017-01-01

A postexam review activity was implemented in an introductory biology course to help students learn from their mistakes and strengthen reasoning and self-regulatory skills. The goal of this study was to design and test a strategy to measure the effectiveness of the postexam review using student performance and attitudinal measures. We evaluated…

Forum: The Lecture and Student Learning. Lecture and Active Learning as a Dialectical Tension

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mallin, Irwin

2017-01-01

Lecture remains a valuable tool in the student learning toolbox--one that at its best helps students unpack what they read for class, place course material in context, and see how a subject matter expert solves problems. It may be useful to think of lecture and active learning as a dialectical tension satisfied by the interactive lecture. Just as…

Of Molecules and Models.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brinner, Bonnie

1992-01-01

Presents an activity in which models help students visualize both the DNA process and transcription. After constructing DNA, RNA messenger, and RNA transfer molecules; students model cells, protein synthesis, codons, and RNA movement. (MDH)

Earth Science in the News.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jackson, Julia A.; Paty, Alma Hale

2000-01-01

Offers two activities to help students explore the geosciences during Earth Science Week. Uses a fossil collection simulation that has students digging through strata of newspaper. Presents an interdisciplinary research project that has students investigate the fossils, minerals, and rocks of their home state. (ASK)

Rethinking the Research Paper in the Writing Center.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McDonald, James C.

1994-01-01

Discusses the problems presented to writing center tutors by traditional research paper assignments. Recounts typical definitions of student research papers according to current-traditional rhetoric. Advocates writing centers helping students transform research papers into meaning-making activities in which students construct knowledge. (HB)

Intercultural Business Communication, International Students, and Experiential Learning.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cheney, Rebecca S.

2001-01-01

Outlines the relevance of experiential learning to the teaching of intercultural business communication. Offers several examples of activities offering structured interactions between United States and international students, which help students apply principles of intercultural business communication to a given situation. Discusses several…

Students Own Their Introductory Chemistry Experience: Becoming an Element for a Semester

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fautch, Jessica M.; Foresman, James B.

2017-01-01

Introductory science courses serve a population of students in the major (i.e., chemistry) as well as those students outside the discipline (i.e., premed, biology, engineering). In an effort to help this diverse population of students connect personally with the content of the course, we sought ways to include student-centered activities, provide…

How Schools Address Students' Mental Health and Drug and Alcohol Concerns and Problems: Lessons from Student Assistance Programs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fertman, Carl I.; Tarasevich, Susan L.

2004-01-01

Conversations with school superintendents, board members, principals, teachers, counselors, and nurses about their students' social and emotional health show how actively they are working to help students confront difficult issues. Topping the list of issues are drug and alcohol use and abuse, depression, and violence among students. Equally…

Glucose metabolism from mouth to muscle: a student experiment to teach glucose metabolism during exercise and rest.

PubMed

Engeroff, Tobias; Fleckenstein, Johannes; Banzer, Winfried

2017-03-01

We developed an experiment to help students understand basic regulation of postabsorptive and postprandial glucose metabolism and the availability of energy sources for physical activity in the fed and fasted state. Within a practical session, teams of two or three students (1 subject and 1 or 2 investigators) performed one of three different trials: 1) inactive, in which subjects ingested a glucose solution (75 g in 300 ml of water) and rested in the seated position until the end of the trial; 2) prior activity, in which the subject performed 15 min of walking before glucose ingestion and a subsequent resting phase; and 3) postactivity, in which the subject ingested glucose solution, walked (15 min), and rested afterwards. Glucose levels were drawn before trials (fasting value), immediately after glucose ingestion (0 min), and 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 40, 50, and 60 min thereafter. Students analyzed glucose values and worked on 12 tasks. Students evaluated the usefulness of the experiment; 54.2% of students found the experiment useful to enable them to gain a further understanding of the learning objectives and to clarify items, and 44.1% indicated that the experiment was necessary to enable them to understand the learning objectives. For 6.8% the experiment was not necessary but helpful to check what they had learned, and 3.4% found that the experiment was not necessary. The present article shows the great value of experiments within practical courses to help students gain knowledge of energy metabolism. Using an active learning strategy, students outworked complex physiological tasks and improved beneficial communication and interaction between students with different skill sets and problem-solving strategies. Copyright © 2017 the American Physiological Society.

Development of active learning modules in pharmacology for small group teaching.

PubMed

Tripathi, Raakhi K; Sarkate, Pankaj V; Jalgaonkar, Sharmila V; Rege, Nirmala N

2015-01-01

Current teaching in pharmacology in undergraduate medical curriculum in India is primarily drug centered and stresses imparting factual knowledge rather than on pharmacotherapeutic skills. These skills would be better developed through active learning by the students. Hence modules that will encourage active learning were developed and compared with traditional methods within the Seth GS Medical College, Mumbai. After Institutional Review Board approval, 90 second year undergraduate medical students who consented were randomized into six sub-groups, each with 15 students. Pre-test was administered. The three sub-groups were taught a topic using active learning modules (active learning groups), which included problems on case scenarios, critical appraisal of prescriptions and drug identification. The remaining three sub-groups were taught the same topic in a conventional tutorial mode (tutorial learning groups). There was crossover for the second topic. Performance was assessed using post-test. Questionnaires with Likert-scaled items were used to assess feedback on teaching technique, student interaction and group dynamics. The active and tutorial learning groups differed significantly in their post-test scores (11.3 ± 1.9 and 15.9 ± 2.7, respectively, P < 0.05). In students' feedback, 69/90 students had perceived the active learning session as interactive (vs. 37/90 students in tutorial group) and enhanced their understanding vs. 56/90 in tutorial group), aroused intellectual curiosity (47/90 students of active learning group vs. 30/90 in tutorial group) and provoked self-learning (41/90 active learning group vs. 14/90 in tutorial group). Sixty-four students in the active learning group felt that questioning each other helped in understanding the topic, which was the experience of 25/90 students in tutorial group. Nevertheless, students (55/90) preferred tutorial mode of learning to help them score better in their examinations. In this study, students preferred an active learning environment, though to pass examinations, they preferred the tutorial mode of teaching. Further efforts are required to explore the effects on learning of introducing similar modules for other topics.

Rocks: A Concrete Activity That Introduces Normal Distribution, Sampling Error, Central Limit Theorem and True Score Theory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Van Duzer, Eric

2011-01-01

This report introduces a short, hands-on activity that addresses a key challenge in teaching quantitative methods to students who lack confidence or experience with statistical analysis. Used near the beginning of the course, this activity helps students develop an intuitive insight regarding a number of abstract concepts which are key to…

Illinois Natural Heritage Conservation/Education Kit III. Special Theme: Prairie and Open Habitats Ecology and Management.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stone, Sally F.

This instructional guide contains 15 activities and exercises designed to help teachers familiarize their students with prairie and open habitat resources of Illinois. Each activity or exercise is ready to be copied and given to students. Activities include: (1) making a marsh hawk model; (2) building a prairie ecosystem; (3) investigating food…

The Development of Science Activities via On-Line Peer Assessment: The Role of Scientific Epistemological Views

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tsai, Chin-Chung; Liang, Jyh-Chong

2009-01-01

This study implemented an online peer assessment learning module to help 36 college students with the major of pre-school education to develop science activities for future instruction. Each student was asked to submit a science activity project for pre-school children, and then experienced three rounds of peer assessment. The effects of the…

Rain Forest: The Latest Information and Hands-on Activities To Explore Animals, Plants, and Geography. Grades 2-5.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bernard, Robin

This book contains information and activities to help make the study of rainforests an exciting exploration for teachers and students. Students explore the animals, plants, and geography of the rainforest by completing hands-on activities from various disciplines. This book contains five units: (1) "Living Layers"; (2) "Animals, Animals, Animals";…

Tools for Activating Materials and Tasks in the English Language Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rosenberg, Rick

2009-01-01

Most teachers have seen the reactions students can have to tasks and activities that they do not find engaging: the glassy or rolling eyes, the unfocused behavior, and the cries of "Not again!" This article provides practical techniques that the author's students have helped him learn over the years to better "activate" materials and tasks in the…

Problem-Based Learning in Physics: The Power of Students Teaching Students.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Duch, Barbara J.

1996-01-01

Describes an honors general physics course designed to demonstrate to students that physics is vital to their understanding of physiology, medicine, the human body, rehabilitation, and other health fields. Presents evidence that indicates that active group learning and connections to real-world applications help students learn physics and apply…

To Guard School Students against Narcotics and Substance Abuse.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kazakov, L.; Kolesov, D.

1993-01-01

Reports that a questionnaire of students and parents indicates most parents and teachers lack knowledge about drug use and abuse among Russian school students. Maintains that students in families with a history of alcoholism and substance abuse are at high risk of becoming drug abusers. Presents a series of classroom activities to help students…

College and Careers Project, 1993-96. Final Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fixman, Carol S.

The College and Careers Project sought to increase college attendance of at-risk students in the Philadelphia public high schools and to help students link their college and career planning. Over a three-year period, 48 students from 4 high schools participated. Students took part in college preparatory and career awareness activities throughout…

To Decrease the Negative Behavior of High School Students by Increasing Pro-Social Behavior.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cabeza, Catherine

This practicum was designed to reduce the instances of negative behavior exhibited by students in a special education setting. Various interventions were initiated and implemented, such as engaging students in conflict resolution workshops, involving student in extracurricular activities so as to help them use leisure time constructively, and…

[2010-2011 Federal Student Aid Handbook with Active Index

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Federal Student Aid, US Department of Education, 2011

2011-01-01

This publication is intended for financial aid administrators and counselors who help students begin the aid process--filing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), verifying information, and making corrections and other changes to the information reported on the FAFSA. The Federal Student Aid Handbook consists of the Application and…

Separation Anxiety: An in-Class Game Designed to Help Students Discover Chromatography

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Samide, Michael J.

2008-01-01

An in-class activity has been developed to assist students in discovering chromatographic separations. Designed on the basis of plate theory, the game has students use instructor-provided partition coefficients to establish equilibrium for two different items between a stationary and mobile phase. As students work through equilibration and mobile…

Encouraging Students to Read Mathematics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shepherd, Mary D.

2005-01-01

It is generally agreed that the ability to read mathematics is an important skill--one that few of our students possess. A number of people have published some suggestions for helping students learn to read their mathematics textbooks. What these have in common is suggestions for getting students more active while reading. Using these resources as…

Learning LeaderShop Develops Students, Builds Group Unity.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Twale, Darla; Fogle, Rick

1986-01-01

Workshops that help students develop leadership are offered twice a year by the Office of Student Activities at the University of Pittsburgh. Soon after the 12 programming committee chairs and the student coordinator are selected in December, they meet with advisory staff in a local hotel for a training workshop, the first session of the…

Be Advised

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

O'Banion, Terry

2012-01-01

The purpose of academic advising is to help students select a program of study to meet life and vocational goals. As such, academic advising is a central activity in the process of education. Academic advising occurs at least once each term for every student in the college; few student support functions occur as often or affect so many students.…

Lesson Imaging in Math and Science: Anticipating Student Ideas and Questions for Deeper STEM Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stephan, Michelle; Pugalee, David; Cline, Julie; Cline, Chris

2016-01-01

Help turn students into problem solvers. With lesson imaging, teachers anticipate how chosen activities will unfold in real time--what solutions, questions, and misconceptions students might have and how teachers can promote deeper reasoning. When lesson imaging occurs before instruction, students achieve lesson objectives more naturally and…

Resources in Technology and Engineering: A Journey to Increase Student Engagement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Akers, Ruth

2017-01-01

Increasing student achievement is a fundamental concern for many school districts and teachers. Providing students with engaging, blended STEM educational experiences may help them understand how scientists and engineers solve problems. The purpose of this article is to share teaching strategies and student activities that will not only increase…

Students Taking Charge: Inside the Learner-Active, Technology-Infused Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sulla, Nancy

2011-01-01

Teachers and administrators who recognize the needs of today's society and students, and their impact on teaching and learning, can use this book to create student-centered classrooms that make technology a vital part of their lessons. Filled with practical examples and step-by-step guidelines, "Students Taking Charge" will help educators design…

Four Ways Boards Can Help Students Succeed

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kuh, George D.

2011-01-01

Are students learning what they need to know to thrive in the 21st century? Boards can answer that question positively by ensuring that students are engaged in the kind of activities that encourage critical thinking, problem solving, and other important skills. In this article, the author discusses why student engagement matters and describes the…

Street Smarts: Activities That Help Teenagers Take Care of Themselves.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kirby, Michael

Because growing up has become the art of survival for many young people, a professionally conducted course in street smarts can help them identify problems, understand consequences, and make good decisions. The information and activities contained in this text can teach students how to take care of themselves when confronted with challenges. It…

Asset Mapping: A Tool to Enhance Your CSPAP Efforts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Allar, Ishonté; Bulger, Sean

2018-01-01

Comprehensive school physical activity programs (CSPAPs) are one way to help students achieve most, if not all, of the recommended 60 minutes of daily moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). Early in the process, one can use asset mapping to help enhance CSPAP efforts. Asset maps provide a valuable opportunity to identify potential partners…

Striking a Balance

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Martin, Susan Ferguson; Green, Andre

2012-01-01

Learning centers can help teachers assess students' content knowledge without penalizing them for language barriers. With the increasing number of English language learners (ELLs) in classrooms, the emphasis on mastery of content and inclusion of all students in class discussions and activities will provide all students a chance for scientific…

Working Model Hearts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brock, David

2009-01-01

Despite student interest, the heart is often a poorly understood topic in biology. To help students understand this vital organ's physiology, the author created this investigation activity involving the mammalian heart and its role in the circulatory system. Students design, build, and demonstrate working artificial "hearts" to exhibit what they…

Learning Science Process Through Data Exploration and Writing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Prothero, W. A.

2007-12-01

One of the most effective ways of teaching science process is to have students take part in the same activities that practicing scientists engage in. These activities include studying the current research in the field, discussing ideas with colleagues, formulating a research problem, making a proposal defining the problem and plan of attack, presenting and writing about the results of the study, and critically reviewing the work of others. An inquiry curriculum can use these activities to guide the scaffolding of assignments and learning experiences that help students learn science process. At UCSB, students in a large general education oceanography class use real Earth data to study plate tectonics, the Indian Monsoon, climate change, and the health of the world fisheries. The end product for each subject has been a science paper based on Earth data. Over a period of approximately 15 years, the scaffolding of activities to prepare each student for the written assignments has been modified and improved, in response to student feedback and their success with the assignments. I have found that the following resources and sequence of activities help the oceanography students write good science papers. 1. Lecture: motivation and the opportunity for feedback and questions. 2. Textbook: background information. It is also possible to get the information from the internet, but unless the scope of reading is strictly defined, students don't know when to stop reading and become unhappy. 3. Online assignments: automatically graded assignments that force the student to keep up with reading. 4. Questions of the day: in-class handouts, with diagrams that the students either complete, or answer questions about. They are handed in and tallied, but not graded. They also inform the instructor of misconceptions. 5. Thought questions: student answers are posted on a threaded discussion list, and are due prior to lecture. The answers provide instructor feedback and guide the lecture. Students see their peers' answers only after entering their own. They can then improve their own answer ("Just In Time Teaching"). 6. Laboratory section activities: these introduce students to the course software, especially the data browsers, and the meaning of the data for the next writing assignment. For each meeting, a group inquiry activity results in a short class presentation by each group. This informs the teaching assistant (who teaches the lab section) of student understanding of the material, helps students become comfortable with the software, and supports students helping each other. 7. Written assignments. The assignments each require an approximately 1100-1600 word paper that includes abstract, introduction, data, interpretation, summary, and references. Images are captured from the data browser and included in the paper. The writing technology has evolved from papers handed in and graded by hand, to fully online hand-in and grading, to calibrated peer review, which was incorporated in the 2005 course. Calibrated peer review has the advantage that students see and evaluate their peers' papers. About 20% of the papers are graded by the instructor, resulting in a much lower instructor grading workload. Also, I suspect that a greater number of very short writing assignments in response to thought questions or min- inquiries might be an effective modification. The new "Learning With Data Workshop" will support many of the inquiry activities described here.

Rainy-Day Hike.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Science Activities, 1995

1995-01-01

Presents a Project WET water education activity. Students are introduced to the concept of watersheds by collecting data about water flowing over their school grounds. Helps students understand that they live and attend school within a watershed. (LZ)

The composing process in technical communications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hertz, V. L.

1981-01-01

The theoretical construct under which technical writing exercises operate and results from a survey distributed to a random sample of teachers of technical writing are described. The survey, part of a study to develop materials that did not stress prescriptive formats, drew on diverse elements in report writing to enhance writing as a process. Areas of agreement and disagreement related to problem solving, paper evaluation, and individualizing instruction were surveyed. Areas of concern in contemplating the composition process include: (1) the need to create an environment that helps students want to succeed, (2) the role of peer group activity in helping some students who might not respond through lecture or individual study, and (3) encouraging growth in abilities and helping motivate students' interest in writing projects through relevant assignments or simulations students perceive as relevant.

Helpful and Hindering Factors in Psychodrama Field Training: A Longitudinal Mixed Methods Study of Student Development

PubMed Central

Azoulay, Bracha; Orkibi, Hod

2018-01-01

Although the literature indicates that students in mental health professions start to form their professional identity and competence in graduate school, there are few studies on the in-training experience of creative arts therapies students. This mixed methods study examined how five first-year students in a psychodrama master’s degree program in Israel experienced their field training, with the aim of identifying the factors likely to promote or hinder the development of their professional identity and sense of professional ability. Longitudinal data were collected weekly throughout the 20-week field training experience. The students reported qualitatively on helpful and hindering factors and were assessed quantitatively on questionnaires measuring professional identity, perceived demands-abilities fit, client involvement, and therapy session evaluations. A thematic analysis of the students’ reports indicated that a clear and defined setting and structure, observing the instructor as a role model, actively leading parts of the session, and observing fellow students were all helpful factors. The hindering factors included role confusion, issues related to coping with client resistance and disciplinary problems, as well as school end-of-year activities that disrupted the continuity of therapy. The quantitative results indicated that students’ professional identity did not significantly change over the year, whereas a U-shaped curve trajectory characterized the changes in demands-abilities fit and other measures. Students began their field training with an overstated sense of ability that soon declined and later increased. These findings provide indications of which helping and hindering factors should be maximized and minimized, to enhance students’ field training. PMID:29515504

Mastery inspired activities to help at risk students

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stelzer, Tim; Gladding, Gary; Gutmann, Brianne; Lundsgaard, Morten; Schroeder, Noah

2016-03-01

Introductory physics is a roadblock for many aspiring engineers at the University of Illinois. The overall attrition rate in our introductory mechanics and E&M courses is approximately 15%, however that rate doubles for some under-represented populations. We introduced a set of online activities designed to provide students both an accurate assessment of their current understanding, and the resources to improve their performance. This talk will describe the design of these activities, and their impact on student attitude and understanding.

Implementation of a longitudinal mentored scholarly project: an approach at two medical schools.

PubMed

Boninger, Michael; Troen, Philip; Green, Emily; Borkan, Jeffrey; Lance-Jones, Cynthia; Humphrey, Allen; Gruppuso, Philip; Kant, Peter; McGee, James; Willochell, Michael; Schor, Nina; Kanter, Steven L; Levine, Arthur S

2010-03-01

An increasing number of medical schools have implemented or are considering implementing scholarly activity programs as part of their undergraduate medical curricula. The goal of these programs is to foster students' analytical skills, enhance their self-directed learning and their oral and written communication skills, and ultimately to train better physicians. In this article, the authors describe the approach to implementing scholarly activities at a school that requires this activity and at a school where it is elective. Both programs have dealt with significant challenges including orienting students to a complex activity that is fundamentally different than traditional medical school courses and clerkships, helping both students and their mentors understand how to "stay on track" and complete work, especially during the third and fourth years, and educating students and mentors about the responsible conduct of research, especially involving human participants. Both schools have found the implementation process to be evolutionary, requiring experience before faculty could significantly improve processes. A required scholarly activity has highlighted the need for information technology (IT) support, including Web-based document storage and student updates, as well as automatic e-mails alerting supervisory individuals to student activity. Directors of the elective program have found difficulty with both ensuring uniform outcomes across different areas of study and leadership changes in a process that has been largely student-driven. Both programs have found that teamwork, regular meetings, and close communication have helped with implementation. Schools considering the establishment of a scholarly activity should consider these factors when designing programs.

Students' perceptions of a blended learning pharmacy seminar course in a Caribbean school of pharmacy.

PubMed

Extavour, Rian Marie; Allison, Gillian L

2018-04-01

Blended learning (BL) integrates face-to-face and online instructional methods, with applications in pharmacy education. This study aimed to assess pharmacy students' perceptions of BL in a pharmacy seminar course at The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine campus, Trinidad and Tobago. Topics based on the use of medicines and public health were presented by student groups during live seminars, supplemented with online activities. An online survey of students' perceptions was administered at the end of the course. The usefulness of learning resources and course activities were assessed using 5-point Likert-like scales (1 = not helpful to 5 = very helpful). The effectiveness of the instructor, blended delivery, time value, and development of critical-thinking were rated on a 5-point Likert scale for agreement (1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree). Topics that were most instructive and additional topics of interest were also identified. Approximately 51% of students (37/72) completed the questionnaire; 73% were female and mean age was 24 years. The learning resources and most course activities were generally helpful (median = 4) in facilitating learning. There was strong agreement (median = 5) on the ease of navigating the online platform, and instructor encouraging interest in pharmacy issues. Students agreed (median = 4) that the course facilitated critical thinking, the BL approach was effective, and the time spent was worthwhile. The most instructive topics included medication errors, antibiotic resistance, and medicines in children and the elderly. BL in pharmacy seminars is a valuable approach to engage students learning about pharmacy and public health. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Online activities to optimize in person learning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stelzer, Tim

Students' unprecedented access to content on the web is providing a unique opportunity to transform the role lectures in education, moving the focus from content delivery to helping students synthesize the content into knowledge. We have introduced a variety of activities to facilitate this transformation at the University of Illinois, including web-based preflight assessments of student understanding before lecture, peer instruction (clickers) to assess and facilitate student understanding during lecture, and web-based multimedia pre-lectures designed to provide students with content before lecture. In this talk I will discuss the pedagogical motivation for introducing these activities, and the impact they have had at the University of Illinois. .

Improving students' understanding by using on-going education research to refine active learning activities in a first-year electronics course

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peter Mazzolini, Alexander; Arthur Daniel, Scott

2016-05-01

Interactive Lecture Demonstrations (ILDs) have been used across introductory university physics as a successful active learning (AL) strategy to improve students' conceptual understanding. We have developed ILDs for more complex topics in our first-year electronics course. In 2006 we began developing ILDs to improve students' conceptual understanding of Operational Amplifiers (OAs) and negative feedback in amplification circuits. The ILDs were used after traditional lecture instruction to help students consolidate their understanding. We developed a diagnostic test, to be administered to students both before and after the ILDs, as a measure of how effective the ILDs were in improving students' understanding.

Studies and Suggestions on Prewriting Activities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zheng, Shigao; Dai, Weiping

2012-01-01

This paper studies and suggests the need for writing instruction by which students can experience writing as a creative process in exploring and communicating meaning. The prewriting activities generate ideas which can encourage a free flow of thoughts and help students discover both what they want to say and how to say it on paper. Through the…

Science Curriculum Guide. Grade 8. Bulletin 1989, No. 78.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alabama State Dept. of Education, Montgomery.

The purpose of this curriculum guide is to help teachers implement the Alabama Course of Study: Science. The major emphasis of the guide is to provide student-oriented, hands-on activities that engage students in "sciencing" behaviors. This guide has two major components, the table of contents and the activities. The table of contents…

Newton's First Law: A Learning Cycle Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McCarthy, Deborah

2005-01-01

To demonstrate how Newton's first law of motion applies to students' everyday lives, the author developed a learning cycle series of activities on inertia. The discrepant event at the heart of these activities is sure to elicit wide-eyed stares and puzzled looks from students, but also promote critical thinking and help bring an abstract concept…

Web 2.0 in the Mathematics Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McCoy, Leah P.

2014-01-01

A key characteristic of successful mathematics teachers is that they are able to provide varied activities that promote student learning and assessment. Web 2.0 applications can provide an assortment of tools to help produce creative activities. A Web 2.0 tool enables the student to enter data and create multimedia products using text, graphics,…

I Wonder. Science Worksheets for the Primary Grades.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Daniel, Charlie; Daniel, Becky

Designed to use simple materials that can be found in almost any household, this document provides elementary teachers and students with activities and worksheets that deal with basic scientific concepts. The activities are intended to help students form and test their own hypotheses. Each topic in the booklet is addressed through a simple…

Activities for Students: Biology as a Source for Algebra Equations--The Heart

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Horak, Virginia M.

2005-01-01

The high school course that integrated first year algebra with an introductory environmental biology/anatomy and physiology course, in order to solve algebra problems is discussed. Lessons and activities for the course were taken by identifying the areas where mathematics and biology content intervenes may help students understand biology concepts…

Science Curriculum Guide. Kindergarten. Bulletin 1989, No. 70.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alabama State Dept. of Education, Montgomery.

The purpose of this curriculum guide is to help teachers implement the Alabama Course of Study: Science. The major emphasis of the guide is to provide student-oriented, hands-on activities that engage students in "sciencing" behaviors. This guide has two major components, the table of contents and the activities. The table of contents…

Developing a Psychology Undergraduate Research Community in a New University

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roberts, Patricia; Ertubey, Candan; McMurray, Isabella; Robertson, Ian

2012-01-01

Psychology is a science-based discipline in which research is inextricably embedded in teaching and learning activities. Educators use different methods to help students in their learning of the nature of research and the practical skills required to conduct research, with students playing either a passive or more active role in the learning…

Science Curriculum Guide. Grade 5. Bulletin 1989, No. 75.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alabama State Dept. of Education, Montgomery.

The purpose of this curriculum guide is to help teachers implement the Alabama Course of Study: Science. The major emphasis of the guide is to provide student-oriented, hands-on activities that engage students in "sciencing" behaviors. This guide has two major components, the table of contents and the activities. The table of contents…

A Multi-Modal Active Learning Experience for Teaching Social Categorization

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schwarzmueller, April

2011-01-01

This article details a multi-modal active learning experience to help students understand elements of social categorization. Each student in a group dynamics course observed two groups in conflict and identified examples of in-group bias, double-standard thinking, out-group homogeneity bias, law of small numbers, group attribution error, ultimate…

Brain Stretchers, Book 1.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Anderson, Carolyn; Haller, Jackie

This collection of activities is designed to help students develop critical thinking skills. The activities are non-graded and can be used from upper elementary to high school. Reading levels vary from no reading required to very little reading required and can be used effectively with students who are poor readers, bilingual, or at a special…

Brain Stretchers, Book 2.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Anderson, Carolyn; Haller, Jackie

This collection of activities is designed to help students develop critical thinking skills. The activities are non-graded and can be used from upper elementary to high school. The reading levels vary from no reading required to very little reading required and can be used effectively with students who are poor readers, bilingual, or at a special…

A Demonstration of the Analysis of Variance Using Physical Movement and Space

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Owen, William J.; Siakaluk, Paul D.

2011-01-01

Classroom demonstrations help students better understand challenging concepts. This article introduces an activity that demonstrates the basic concepts involved in analysis of variance (ANOVA). Students who physically participated in the activity had a better understanding of ANOVA concepts (i.e., higher scores on an exam question answered 2…

Cognitive and Social Aspects of Engagement in Active Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Koretsky, Milo

2017-01-01

This article reports analysis of students' written reflections as to what helps them learn in an active learning environment. Eight hundred and twenty seven responses from 403 students in four different studio courses over two years were analyzed. An emergent coding scheme identified 55% of the responses as associated with cognitive processes…

Inertial Mass

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

King, Kenneth P.

2007-01-01

The inertial balance is one device that can help students to quantify the quality of inertia--a body's resistance to a change in movement--in more generally understood terms of mass. In this hands-on activity, students use the inertial balance to develop a more quantitative idea of what mass means in an inertial sense. The activity also helps…

Science Curriculum Guide. Grade 2. Bulletin 1989, No. 72.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alabama State Dept. of Education, Montgomery.

The purpose of this curriculum guide is to help teachers implement the Alabama Course of Study: Science. The major emphasis of the guide is to provide student-oriented, hands-on activities that engage students in "sciencing" behaviors. This guide has to major components, the table of contents and the activities. The table of contents…

Science Curriculum Guide. Grade 1. Bulletin 1989, No. 71.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alabama State Dept. of Education, Montgomery.

The purpose of this curriculum guide is to help teachers implement the Alabama Course of Study: Science. The major emphasis of the guide is to provide student-oriented, hands-on activities that engage students in "sciencing" behaviors. This guide has to major components, the table of contents and the activities. The table of contents…

Setting the Stage for Physical Activity for Secondary Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ciccomascolo, Lori; Riebe, Deborah

2006-01-01

Despite the positive long-term physiological and psychological effects of exercise, many young adults between the ages of 12 and 21 years do not participate in regular physical activity. With the time constraints and other challenges in teaching and assessing students, physical educators need realistic strategies that will help in their efforts to…

Minds-on and Hands-on Activity: Improving Instruction in Science for All Students. Presidential Address, 1995.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Andre, Thomas

1997-01-01

Reviews evidence on gender inequities in science education and gender differences in "ways of knowing" and argues that making science instruction more effective can promote greater equity. Describes a conceptual change approach to science instruction that explicitly activates students' preexisting conceptions and misconceptions and helps students…

Science Curriculum Guide. Grade 3. Bulletin 1989, No. 73.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alabama State Dept. of Education, Montgomery.

The purpose of this curriculum guide is to help teachers implement the Alabama Course of Study: Science. The major emphasis of the guide is to provide student-oriented, hands-on activities that engage students in "sciencing" behaviors. This guide has two major components, the table of contents and the activities. The table of contents…

Self-Assessment in the REAP Tutor: Knowledge, Interest, Motivation, & Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dela Rosa, Kevin; Eskenazi, Maxine

2013-01-01

Self-assessment questionnaires have long been used in tutoring systems to help researchers measure and evaluate various aspects of a student's performance during learning activities. In this paper, we chronicle the efforts made in the REAP project, a language tutor developed to teach vocabulary to ESL students through reading activities, to…

Using Informal Inferential Reasoning to Develop Formal Concepts: Analyzing an Activity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Weinberg, Aaron; Wiesner, Emilie; Pfaff, Thomas J.

2010-01-01

Inferential reasoning is a central component of statistics. Researchers have suggested that students should develop an informal understanding of the ideas that underlie inference before learning the concepts formally. This paper presents a hands-on activity that is designed to help students in an introductory statistics course draw informal…

Engaging in Dramatic Activities in English as a Foreign Language Classes at the University Level

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Algarra Carrasco, Victoria

2012-01-01

In this article, we discuss how, through dramatic activities, fiction and reality can work together to help the English as a Foreign language learner communicate in a more personal and meaningful way. The kind of activities proposed are designed to help engender a space where students can personally engage with each other in an atmosphere that is…

Latino/a and Black Students and Mathematics. The Students at the Center Series

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gutierrez, Rochelle; Irving, Sonya E.

2012-01-01

Using new perspectives on mathematics as a cultural and social activity and new research on learning outside the school, the authors ask readers to rethink the problem of mathematical achievement for all students, and for Latino/a and black students in particular. The paper argues that doing so will help those students connect how they learn in…

Teaching through Trade Books: Becoming a Citizen Scientist

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Royce, Christine Anne

2017-01-01

Engaging students in elementary science is often done within the confines of the classroom. Citizen science projects, however, bring students, families, teachers, and communities together to help scientists with their research. Students become active participants in real research, use their three-dimensional understanding of science, and…

Middle Grades Research: Not Yet Mature, but No Longer a Child.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mac Iver, Douglas J.; Epstein, Joyce L.

1993-01-01

Summarizes research on middle level schools and students that contributes to ongoing debates concerning grade span, school size, grouping of students, departmentalization, curriculum, instruction, advisory groups, interdisciplinary teaming, school-transition activities, extra-help programs, and student evaluation practices in the middle grades.…

Visualizing Dispersion Interactions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gottschalk, Elinor; Venkataraman, Bhawani

2014-01-01

An animation and accompanying activity has been developed to help students visualize how dispersion interactions arise. The animation uses the gecko's ability to walk on vertical surfaces to illustrate how dispersion interactions play a role in macroscale outcomes. Assessment of student learning reveals that students were able to develop…

Student Mental Health in California's K-12 Schools: School Principal Reports of Common Problems and Activities to Address Them.

PubMed

Kaufman, Julia H; Seelam, Rachana; Woodbridge, Michelle W; Sontag-Padilla, Lisa; Osilla, Karen Chan; Stein, Bradley D

2016-01-29

Reports results of a survey of K-12 principals to take inventory of student mental health and wellness needs and the types of programs schools are most often implementing to help students in California's public schools.

The trilayer approach of teaching physiology, pathophysiology, and pharmacology concepts in a first-year pharmacy course: the TLAT model.

PubMed

Islam, Mohammed A; Sabnis, Gauri; Farris, Fred

2017-09-01

This paper describes the development, implementation, and students' perceptions of a new trilayer approach of teaching (TLAT). The TLAT model involved blending lecture, in-class group activities, and out-of-class assignments on selected content areas and was implemented initially in a first-year integrated pharmacy course. Course contents were either delivered by traditional lectures or by the TLAT. A survey instrument was distributed by SurveyMonkey to determine students' perceptions of the TLAT model. Descriptive statistics were used for data analysis. Students' performance in a total of 225 examination and quiz questions was analyzed to evaluate whether the TLAT model improved students' learning. Students' ( n = 98) performance scores for TLAT-based and lecture-based questions were 83.3 ± 10.2 and 79.5 ± 14.0, respectively ( P < 0.05). Ninety-three percent of students believed that in-class group activities enhanced conceptual understanding of course materials, helped them take responsibility of their own learning, and enhanced their overall learning experiences. More than 80% of respondents felt that solving cases and developing concept maps helped them sharpen creative and critical thinking skills. In addition, 90% of the respondents indicated that the homework throughout the semester helped them stay up to date and focused with the progress of the course. The use of the TLAT model led to an improvement in student learning of complex concepts. Moreover, the results suggest that this model improves students' self-reliance and attitudes toward learning. Our findings should serve as an impetus for inclusion of diverse active learning strategies in pharmacy education. Copyright © 2017 the American Physiological Society.

Diagnosing students' misconceptions in algebra: results from an experimental pilot study.

PubMed

Russell, Michael; O'Dwyer, Laura M; Miranda, Helena

2009-05-01

Computer-based diagnostic assessment systems hold potential to help teachers identify sources of poor performance and to connect teachers and students to learning activities designed to help advance students' conceptual understandings. The present article presents findings from a study that examined how students' performance in algebra and their overcoming of common algebraic misconceptions were affected by the use of a diagnostic assessment system that focused on important algebra concepts. This study used a four-group randomized cluster trial design in which teachers were assigned randomly to one of four groups: a "business as usual" control group, a partial intervention group that was provided with access to diagnostic tests results, a partial intervention group that was provided with access to the learning activities, and a full intervention group that was given access to the test results and learning activities. Data were collected from 905 students (6th-12th grade) nested within 44 teachers. We used hierarchical linear modeling techniques to compare the effects of full, partial, and no (control) intervention on students' algebraic ability and misconceptions. The analyses indicate that full intervention had a net positive effect on ability and misconception measures.

The Impact of a Positive Self-Image on Students.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Melvin, Opal B.

1983-01-01

Describing self image as a cumulative process, learned from one's environment and relationships with others, the author lists specific classroom activities and behaviors whereby teachers can help students change their self concepts. (SK)

Microcomputer Typewriting in Business Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schmidt, B. June; Stewart, Jeffrey R.

1983-01-01

Describes a research project on the role of the instructor in managing microcomputer typewriting instruction. The teachers selected software, familiarized students with the equipment, provided support, monitored progress, helped students establish goals, and provided instructional activities. (JOW)

Teaching Our Town in Our Town

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Haberling, Jennifer A.; White, Brian

2004-01-01

Teachers from a high school and university collaborated to analyze the obstacles students encountered while understanding the theatre play "Our Town". A description on the activities undertaken to help students approach and appreciate the play is presented.

Natural Selection Is a Sorting Process: What Does that Mean?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Price, Rebecca M.

2013-01-01

To learn why natural selection acts only on existing variation, students categorize processes as either creative or sorting. This activity helps students confront the misconception that adaptations evolve because species need them.

Science in a Box. Magnets IV: Magnet Earth.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Blizard, Elizabeth B.

1992-01-01

Presents low-cost learning activities to help teach elementary students about the earth's magnetic field. One project has students make a model of the earth's magnetic field. Another has them experiment with magnetism. (SM)

Blue Hole, Little Miami River.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thoman, Carol

1986-01-01

Students in grades 10-12 are introduced to a romantic-realist approach to landscape painting using masterpiece by Robert S. Duncanson. The activity helps students consider the decisions artists make in choosing how they will interpret nature. (RM)

Teaching Day-by-Day: A Cornucopia of Activities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Teaching Pre K-8, 2005

2005-01-01

This article presents teacher's guide to daily activities for the month of November. The activities help PreK-12 educators to enhance student development. Topics for this month's activities include literacy, language, math, science, and healthy habits.

Chinese baccalaureate nursing students' readiness for self-directed learning.

PubMed

Yuan, Hao Bin; Williams, Beverly A; Fang, Jin Bo; Pang, Dong

2012-05-01

This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted with 536 Chinese nursing students to explore students' readiness for self-directed learning (SDL). The Self-Directed Learning Readiness (SDLR) Scale for nursing education (Chinese translation version) was used. The value of the content validity index tested by five experts was 0.915. A measure of internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha) was 0.925 on the total scale. Students possessed readiness for SDL with a mean score of 157.72 (S.D.=15.08, 62.3% in high level, and 37.7% in low level). The attributes of Chinese students, such as a strong sense of responsibility and perseverance, due diligence and rigorous self-discipline, enable students to take the initiative and responsibility for their own learning. The existing variation in students' readiness for SDL is helpful in identifying student characteristics that might be used to modify learning activities for these students. Senior students had higher scores for SDLR than junior students. This finding likely reflects the maturational process of developing self-directedness. Promoting SDL skills is a challenging process for faculty members and students. It is helpful if nurse educators assess the learning styles and preferences of their students in order to determine the level of SDL activities to include from year to year in the curriculum. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Geometry and Algebra: The Future Flight Equation. A Lesson Guide with Activities in Mathematics, Science, and Technology. NASA CONNECT.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Hampton, VA. Langley Research Center.

This activity, part of the NASA CONNECT Series, is designed to help students in grades 6-8 learn how NASA engineers develop experimental aircraft. It consists of an overview of the program, details of the hands-on activity, a series of blackline master student worksheets, teacher materials, and a guide to further resources. (MM)

Students' Attitudes to Information in the Press: Critical Reading of a Newspaper Article With Scientific Content

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oliveras, B.; Márquez, C.; Sanmartí, N.

2014-08-01

This research analyses what happens when a critical reading activity based on a press article dealing with an energy-related problem is implemented with two groups of students of 13-14 years old and 16-17 years old in the same school (a total of 117 students). Specifically, the research analyses the students' profiles from the standpoint of their attitudes to the information given in the news story and the use they make of it when writing an argumentative text. It also analyses the difficulties the students have when it comes to applying their knowledge about energy in a real-life context. Lastly, some strategies are suggested for helping students to critically analyse the scientific content of a newspaper article. Three reader profiles were identified (the credulous reader, the ideological reader and the critical reader). No significant differences were found in reading profiles in terms of age or scientific knowledge. The findings show that the activity helped to link science learning in school with facts relating to an actual context, particularly in the case of students with more science knowledge.

Acting Like a Physicist: Student Approach Study to Experimental Design

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Karelina, Anna; Etkina, Eugenia

2007-01-01

National studies of science education have unanimously concluded that preparing our students for the demands of the 21st century workplace is one of the major goals. This paper describes a study of student activities in introductory college physics labs, which were designed to help students acquire abilities that are valuable in the workplace. In…

Project Real World: Economic Living Skills for High School Students. Module I, The Canadian Marketplace and You.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Federal/Provincial Consumer Education and Plain Language Task Force (Canada).

Project Real World, a self-contained, activity-based Canadian consumer science program, provides students with systematic instruction in economic living skills. It gives students in grades 10-12 an orientation to the economic realities and opportunities in society. The program helps students function effectively within the rapidly changing…

Disrupting Complacency: Helping Students Find Their Voices through Inquiry, Literature, and Technology

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Seglem, Robyn; Bonner, Sarah

2016-01-01

This article highlights an inquiry project in an eighth-grade ELA class in a rural middle school. Using the novel "Monster" by Walter Dean Myers, we encouraged students to form questions relating the text to the larger world. To begin the unit, students participated in three anchor activities over a three-week period. Students blogged…

Project Real World: Economic Living Skills for High School Students. Module IV, Entrepreneurship and the World of Work.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Federal/Provincial Consumer Education and Plain Language Task Force (Canada).

Project Real World, a self-contained, activity-based Canadian consumer science program, provides students with systematic instruction in economic living skills. It gives students in grades 10-12 an orientation to the economic realities and opportunities in society. The program helps students understand the marketplace; manage resources; apply…

University Student and Teacher Perceptions of Teacher Roles in Promoting Autonomous Language Learning with Technology outside the Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lai, Chun; Yeung, Yuk; Hu, Jingjing

2016-01-01

Helping students to become autonomous learners, who actively utilize technologies for learning outside the classroom, is important for successful language learning. Teachers, as significant social agents who shape students' intellectual and social experiences, have a critical role to play. This study examined students' and teachers' perceptions of…

Project Real World: Economic Living Skills for High School Students. Module V, Citizen Participation in Canada's Market-Based Society.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Federal/Provincial Consumer Education and Plain Language Task Force (Canada).

Project Real World, a self-contained, activity-based Canadian consumer science program, provides students with systematic instruction in economic living skills. It gives students in grades 10-12 an orientation to the economic realities and opportunities in society. The program helps students understand the marketplace; manage resources; apply…

Linking Counselor Activities and Students' College Readiness: How They Matter for Disadvantaged Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fitzpatrick, Daniel; Schneider, Barbara

2016-01-01

Students' college readiness has important links with their access to and success in postsecondary education. College readiness measures appear to be malleable based on high school counselors' work. Unfortunately, the research-to-date provides only minimal guidance for what high school counselors should actually do in order to help their students.…

Project Real World: Economic Living Skills for High School Students. Module II, Your Economic Decisions and You.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Federal/Provincial Consumer Education and Plain Language Task Force (Canada).

Project Real World, a self-contained, activity-based Canadian consumer science program, provides students with systematic instruction in economic living skills. It gives students in grades 10-12 an orientation to the economic realities and opportunities in society. The program helps students function effectively within the rapidly changing…

Spelling for Writing: Student Activity Book. Level 5.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Peet, Howard

The Level 5 activity book is designed to help children learn that writing messages and stories will help them see the value of learning to spell. The workbook's program is based on the ideas that accurate spelling contributes to the clarity of written messages; spelling accuracy shows attention to detail, sending a positive message to teachers and…

Enhancing active learning in microbiology through case based learning: experiences from an Indian medical school.

PubMed

Ciraj, A M; Vinod, P; Ramnarayan, K

2010-01-01

Case-based learning (CBL) is an interactive student-centered exploration of real life situations. This paper describes the use of CBL as an educational strategy for promoting active learning in microbiology. CBL was introduced in the microbiology curriculum for the second year medical students after an orientation program for faculty and students. After intervention, the average student scores in CBL topics were compared with scores obtained in lecture topics. An attempt was also made to find the effect of CBL on the academic performance. Student and faculty perception on CBL were also recorded. In a cross sectional survey conducted to assess the effectiveness of CBL, students responded that, apart from helping them acquire substantive knowledge in microbiology, CBL sessions enhanced their analytic, collaborative, and communication skills. The block examination scores in CBL topics were significantly higher than those obtained for lecture topics. Faculty rated the process to be highly effective in stimulating student interest and long term retention of microbiology knowledge. The student scores were significantly higher in the group that used CBL, compared to the group that had not used CBL as a learning strategy. Our experience indicated that CBL sessions enhanced active learning in microbiology. More frequent use of CBL sessions would not only help the student gain requisite knowledge in microbiology but also enhance their analytic and communication skills.

Enhancing Students' Written Mathematical Arguments

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lepak, Jerilynn

2014-01-01

Writing in mathematics is complex. The purpose of this article is to share how one teacher, Ms. Hill, used peer-review activities involving rubrics to explicitly communicate mathematical resources that students could draw from when justifying a claim. She found that helping students understand which type of statements could be used in…

Constructivist Meta-Practices: When Students Design Activities, Lead Others, and Assess Peers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bright, David S.; Caza, Arran; Turesky, Elizabeth Fisher; Putzel, Roger; Nelson, Eric; Luechtefeld, Ray

2016-01-01

New educators may feel overwhelmed by the options available for engaging students through classroom participation. However, it may be helpful to recognize that participatory pedagogical systems often have constructivist roots. Adopting a constructivist perspective, our paper considers three meta-practices that encourage student participation:…

Making Science Relevant

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Eick, Charles; Deutsch, Bill; Fuller, Jennifer; Scott, Fletcher

2008-01-01

Science teachers are always looking for ways to demonstrate the relevance of science to students. By connecting science learning to important societal issues, teachers can motivate students to both enjoy and engage in relevant science (Bennet, Lubben, and Hogarth 2007). To develop that connection, teachers can help students take an active role in…

Methods & Strategies: Teaching in Real Time

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Miranda, Rommel J.; Hermann, Ronald S.

2015-01-01

Any assessment activity can help student learning if it provides information that both teachers and students can use as feedback in assessing themselves. However, such assessment only becomes "formative" assessment when teachers actually use the feedback to adapt their teaching to meet the learning needs of students. This column provides…

Using POGIL to Help Students Learn to Program

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hu, Helen H.; Shepherd, Tricia D.

2013-01-01

POGIL has been successfully implemented in a scientific computing course to teach science students how to program in Python. Following POGIL guidelines, the authors have developed guided inquiry activities that lead student teams to discover and understand programming concepts. With each iteration of the scientific computing course, the authors…

Global Climates--Past, Present, and Future. Activities for Integrated Science Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Henderson, Sandra, Ed.; And Others

Designed for integration into existing science curriculum for grades 8-10, this curriculum uses a current environmental issue, climate change, as a vehicle for teaching science education. Instructional goals include: (1) familiarize students with scientific methods; (2) help students understand the role of uncertainty; (3) encourage students to…

Student Scientist Partnerships: Shrewd Maneuvers.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tinker, Robert F.

1997-01-01

Explores student-scientist partnerships (SSPs) that help students gain a unique understanding of both the content and the process of science. Discusses the potential of SSPs, the range of SSP activities, a strategy for national impact, the educational importance of SSPs, the research importance of SSPs, and technology as a facilitator. (JRH)

Dialogizing Response in the Writing Classroom: Students Answer Back.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gay, Pamela

1998-01-01

Notes that while informed teachers of writing have moved toward more dialogic approaches, they still have colonial tendencies when responding to student writing. Suggests an activity that invites students to talk back to the teacher-reader as a means of helping them move more effectively toward revision. (PA)

Breaking the Bread of Life.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mineo, Thomas M.; Royce, Christine A.

2000-01-01

Describes Bishop Hannan High School's (Pennsylvania) retreat program, in which students learn to develop a spiritual element in their lives. Discusses the theme, "The Bread of Life," and how the process of baking bread for communion helped unite and nourish students. Reports that, through a variety of fellowship activities, students gained a sense…

Improving Student Understanding of Spatial Ecology Statistics

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hopkins, Robert, II; Alberts, Halley

2015-01-01

This activity is designed as a primer to teaching population dispersion analysis. The aim is to help improve students' spatial thinking and their understanding of how spatial statistic equations work. Students use simulated data to develop their own statistic and apply that equation to experimental behavioral data for Gambusia affinis (western…

They All Have Something To Say: Helping Learning Disabled Students Write.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schwartz, Shirley S.; MacArthur, Charles A.

1990-01-01

A process approach to writing instruction with learning-disabled students is presented, in which students are guided through the processes of planning, drafting, and revising text. The model emphasizes the interaction of the teacher and learner through such activities as conferences, prompting, modeling, peer collaboration, and dialogues about…

Helping Students-Connect Functions and Their Representations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moore-Russo, Deborah; Golzy, John B.

2005-01-01

The description about the changed instruction to encourage student exploration of the graphical and then the algebraic representations of functions is presented, which enables the students to understand how the graph, equation, and table of a function are related. The activity addresses both the Learning Principle and the Connection standard and…

Consumer Socialization: Children's Saving and Spending.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cohen, Stewart

1994-01-01

Provides examples of age-appropriate saving and spending activities that teachers can encourage in students to help them develop wise consumer behaviors. Suggests that younger children can save money in piggy banks or savings accounts, and older students can utilize checking accounts and mutual funds. All students can donate unneeded possessions…

Prairie Restoration Project: Alternatives for Identifying Gifted Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Salisbury, Katie E.; Rule, Audrey C.; Vander Zanden, Sarah M.

2016-01-01

An authentic, challenging curriculum engaged middle school students from an urban district in exploratory work related to restoring a small prairie at the school. Integrated science-literacy-arts activities were coupled with a system of thinking skills that helped students view issues from different perspectives. Impassioned guest speakers and an…

School Psychology Awareness Week: Making Connections for Student Success

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cowan, Katherine C.; Vaillancourt, Kelly

2012-01-01

This article talks about the School Psychology Awareness Week, November 14-18, 2011 that involved school psychologists from around the country and in Washington, District of Columbia, helping students, educators, and policy makers make connections that can improve outcomes for students and families. Activities built on the theme, "Every Link…

Archaeology of Early Colonial Life. Teaching with Primary Sources Series, Volume 13.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

West, Jean

This kit, for grades 5 and up, helps students master the content of Colonial American history and develops students' historiographic and upper level thinking skills. The documents and activities included in this volume allow students to become "historical detectives," peeling back the layers, deciphering archaic lettering, reassembling…

"The Role's the Thing": The Power of Persona in Shakespeare.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burnett, Rebecca E.; Foster, Elizabeth

1993-01-01

Suggests that using personas helps students to engage as active learners in their study of William Shakespeare. Describes how students can assume an invisible metaphoric mask in their writing about a play. Argues that the persona approach aids students in recognizing Shakespeare's relevance for their lives. (HB)

2011-2012 FSA Handbook with Active Index

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Federal Student Aid, US Department of Education, 2012

2012-01-01

This publication is intended for financial aid administrators and counselors who help students begin the aid process--filing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), verifying information, and making corrections and other changes to the information reported on the FAFSA. The Federal Student Aid Handbook consists of the Application and…

Domain-Specific Measurement of Students' Self-Regulated Learning Processes.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schunk, Dale H.

This article discusses the assessment of self-regulated learning processes as students acquire cognitive skills in specific academic domains. Domain-specific assessment is useful for understanding student learning and for planning instructional activities that help to promote it. Although much psychological research has used general measures of…

The Primary Theme Club. Home & Family.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Instructor, 1996

1996-01-01

This cross-curricular primary unit helps teachers and students get to know one another. Students collect information about their families, then create bulletin boards, class albums, graphs, and art projects. One activity is for students to invite their families into the classroom to share their projects and feast on traditional family foods. (SM)

Paper Towers: Building Students' Understandings of Technological Design

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Minogue, James; Guentensberger, Todd

2006-01-01

One set of ideas at the core of the National Science Education Standards (NSES) Science and Technology Standards is that of engaging middle school students in activities that help them develop their understandings of technological design. More precisely, students should be able to identify appropriate problems for technological design, design a…

Developing and Teaching Ethical Decision Making Skills.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Robinson, John

1991-01-01

Student leaders and campus activities professionals can use a variety of techniques to help college students develop skill in ethical decision making, including teaching about the decision-making process, guiding students through decisions with a series of questions, playing ethics games, exploring assumptions, and best of all, role modeling. (MSE)

The Invisible Minority: Preparing Teachers to Meet the Needs of Gay and Lesbian Youth.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mathison, Carla

1998-01-01

Teacher educators can help prepare future educators to teach homosexual students by creating safe environments for homosexual students, providing positive role models, selecting relevant curriculum and activities, providing information and training for faculty, securing relevant library holdings, and conducting research on homosexual students.…

Exploring Nature through a New Lens

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Deaton, Cynthia; Hardin, Catherine

2014-01-01

One way to encourage students to interact with science content and materials is to make science relevant and meaningful. By focusing on the school yard as the context for science lessons and activities, teachers can incorporate students' interest in learning outdoors and help students make connections between science content discussed in…

Effects of Help Options in a Multimedia Listening Environment on L2 Vocabulary Acquisition

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mohsen, Mohammed Ali

2016-01-01

Several types of help options have been incorporated into reading and listening comprehension activities to aid second language (L2) vocabulary acquisition. Textbook authors, teachers, and sometimes even students may pick and choose which help options they wish to use. In this paper, I investigate the effects of two help options in a multimedia…

Activities Joining Learning Objectives to Assessments in Introductory Astronomy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Palen, Stacy E.; Larson, Ana M.

2015-01-01

In recent years, accreditation boards and other governing bodies have been pushing hard for explicit learning goals and quantitative measures of assessment for general education courses such as Astronomy 101. This added assessment burden can be problematic, especially for harried adjuncts teaching multiple courses at multiple institutions. It would be helpful to have a field-tested set of combined hands-on activities and assessment tools that help instructors meet these assessment requirements. The authors have produced just such a set. We have been using hands-on activities in our classrooms for more than 15 years. These activities require no special equipment or preparation and can be completed within an hour by most students working in groups of two or three. The sections of each activity are arranged in steps, guiding the students from initial knowledge-level questions or practice to a final evaluation or synthesis of what they have just accomplished. Students thus get practice thinking at higher cognitive levels. A recent addition to these activities is the inclusion of formalized learning objectives and accompanying pre- and post-activity questions. The pre-activity questions address common misconceptions, relate familiar analogous terrestrial examples to the activity, and act as a brief refresher meta-concepts like scale factors, measurements, and basic mathematics review. The post-activity questions review the most important concepts introduced in the activity. We present a number of examples as well as a summary as to how we have initiated their use in a large lecture setting of 300 students, in smaller classrooms of 15 students, and in a community college online course.

"The Heart That Trusts Another Is Stronger than Anything."

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Witkin, Mitzi

1992-01-01

Describes how an English teacher incorporates the native languages of her internationally born students into her English lessons. Relates how these activities helped foreign students feel accepted into the class and their new environment. (PRA)

A Clone of Your Own.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bilodeau, Kirsten

1997-01-01

Describes an activity used at the Washington Park Arboretum that helps students understand cloning through plant propagation. Students also learn how to make a pot from recycled newspapers and how to make soil that is appropriate for the plants. (DDR)

From Torch to Toe.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harbaugh, Mary

1984-01-01

Students and teachers are responsible for helping in the restoration of the Statue of Liberty through contributions and school fund-raising activities. Interesting details on the progress of the restoration process are offered for teachers to share with students. (DF)

Students Learn by Doing: Teaching about Rules of Thumb.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cude, Brenda J.

1990-01-01

Identifies situation in which consumers are likely to substitute rules of thumb for research, reviews rules of thumb often used as substitutes, and identifies teaching activities to help students learn when substitution is appropriate. (JOW)

Insects: An Interdisciplinary Unit

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Leger, Heather

2007-01-01

The author talks about an interdisciplinary unit on insects, and presents activities that can help students practice communication skills (interpersonal, interpretive, and presentational) and learn about insects with hands-on activities.

Engaging Youth in Climate Change Issues with Family Science Day Activities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brevik, Corinne E.; Brevik, Eric C.; Steffan, Joshua J.

2016-04-01

Dickinson State University organizes four Family Science Day events each fall during the months of September, October, November, and December. Activities are geared toward elementary-aged children to increase student engagement in the sciences. Offered on Saturday afternoons, each event focuses on a different science-related theme. Families can attend these events free of charge, and the kids participate in a large variety of hands-on activities that center around the event's theme. This year, the November event focused on climate change, including an emphasis on the roles soil plays in the climate system. The timing of this topic was carefully chosen. 2015 has been declared the International Year of Soil by the United Nations, and the Soil Science Society of America theme for the month of November was Soils and Climate. This public outreach event was an amazing opportunity to help the youth in our community learn about climate change in a fun, interactive environment. Climate changes in the past, present, and future were emphasized. Activities including the Farming Game, painting with soils, taking Jello "cores", creating a cloud in a jar, and making a glacier in a bag helped children learn how science is a process of discovery that allows them to better understand the world they live in. In addition to the hands-on activities, a planetarium show focused on climate change was also offered during the event, surrounding the kids and their parents in a fully immersive, 360-degree show that allowed them to personally observe phenomena that are otherwise difficult to visualize. All of the activities at the Family Science Day event were staffed by university students, and this proved to be a very valuable experience for them as well. Some of the students who helped are majoring in a science field, and for them, the experience taught public communication. They learned to break complicated concepts down into simpler terms that young kids could understand. Education students who participated learned how to communicate science concepts to children, and students in other majors who helped with this event gained experiences that reinforced various concepts they had learned in their general education science courses.

Consumer Law-Related Education Materials (Grades 4-7). Okeechobee County.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Allen, Rodney F., Ed.; Landry, Russell H., Ed.

These teacher-developed learning activities for grades 4-7 deal with consumer law-related topics. The self-contained activities are organized into five sections. Section one contains a role-playing card game that helps students examine rules and feelings. For example, one role-playing situation involves a confrontation between a student and a bus…

Cultural Sight and Insight: Dealing with Diverse Viewpoints and Values. GPE Humanities Series.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Gary R.

Intended to provide students in grades 6-12 with a global perspective, these ready-to-use activities deal with the concept of cultural differences. The materials can fit into courses dealing with cultures, American cultural diversity, and human relations. There are five parts. The activities in part 1 will help sensitize students to a…

From Monty Python to Total Recall: A Feature Film Activity for the Cognitive Psychology Course.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Conner, David B.

1996-01-01

Describes a college psychology course activity designed to help students define the parameters of cognitive psychology. Students selected a feature film and a journal article that represented some aspect of cognitive psychology. They then wrote a paper discussing the theoretical and empirical connections between the sources and the topic. (MJP)

A Context-Aware Ubiquitous Learning Approach for Providing Instant Learning Support in Personal Computer Assembly Activities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hsu, Ching-Kun; Hwang, Gwo-Jen

2014-01-01

Personal computer assembly courses have been recognized as being essential in helping students understand computer structure as well as the functionality of each computer component. In this study, a context-aware ubiquitous learning approach is proposed for providing instant assistance to individual students in the learning activity of a…

Interrogating History: Promoting Student Activism Using Children's Literature and the Full Circling Process

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Long, Trisha Wies

2017-01-01

Adolescents are often disengaged in the learning process, being more focused on social media and self-interest than classroom content. Full circling is a process that can be used to help students collaboratively engage in learning and actively reflect on historical events--especially those that are under reported in history books. In the present…

Kids Food CyberClub. Teacher's Guide. First Edition.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Belyea, Monica

This guide is designed to help teachers educate students to be healthier now and in the future. It presents fun, learner-centered activities about nutrition, food, hunger, and food sources. It offers an overview of each section of the Kids Food CyberClub web site, and classroom activities teachers can use to expand on information students will…

"Chromoseratops Meiosus": A Simple, Two-Phase Exercise to Represent the Connection between Meiosis & Increased Genetic Diversity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Eliyahu, Dorit

2014-01-01

I present an activity to help students make the connection between meiosis and genetic variation. The students model meiosis in the first phase of the activity, and by that process they produce gametes of a fictitious reptilobird species, "Chromoseratops meiosus." Later on, they will "mate" their gametes and produce a zygote…

Developing Students' Listening Metacognitive Strategies Using Online Videotext Self-Dictation-Generation Learning Activity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chang, Ching; Chang, Chih-Kai

2014-01-01

The study is based on the use of a flexible learning framework to help students improve information processes underlying strategy instruction in EFL listening. By exploiting the online videotext self-dictation-generation (video-SDG) learning activity implemented on the YouTube caption manager platform, the learning cycle was emphasized to promote…

Acid Rain: A Teacher's Guide. Activities for Grades 4 to 12.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Wildlife Federation, Washington, DC.

This guide on acid rain for elementary and secondary students is divided into three study areas: (1) What Causes Acid Rain; (2) What Problems Acid Rain Has Created; (3) How You and Your Students Can Help Combat Acid Rain. Each section presents background information and a series of lessons pertaining to the section topic. Activities include…

Native American Career Education Unit. Putting Your Money to Work.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Far West Lab. for Educational Research and Development, San Francisco, CA.

One of twelve instructional units in the Native American Career Education (NACE) program, this unit is intended to help Indian junior high school students understand how to manage money resources, both on a personal level and in the world of work. In five activities, students do exercises and small group activities in which they consider how money…

Keiko, Killer Whale. [Lesson Plan].

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Discovery Communications, Inc., Bethesda, MD.

This lesson plan presents activities designed to help students understand that Keiko, the killer whale, lived for a long time in an aquarium and had to be taught to live independently; and that computer users can get updates on how Keiko is doing. The main activity of the lesson involves middle school students working in small groups to produce a…

Global Warming & the Greenhouse Effect. Grades 7-10. Teacher's Guide. Great Explorations in Math and Science (GEMS).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hocking, Colin; And Others

This series of educational activities is intended to help teachers communicate basic scientific concepts related to global warming and the greenhouse effect to students grades 7-10. Seven sessions provide laboratory activities, simulations, and discussions that can be used to improve student understanding of a number of important scientific…

Illinois Natural Heritage Conservation/Education Kit IV. Special Theme: Wetland Ecology and Management.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stone, Sally F.

This instructional guide contains 19 activities and exercises designed to help teachers familiarize their students with the wetland resources of Illinois. Each activity or exercise is ready to be copied and given to students. They include: (1) making a largemouth bass model; (2) building a wetland ecosystem; (3) investigating problems that…

Model PET Scan Activity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Strunk, Amber; Gazdovich, Jennifer; Redouté, Oriane; Reverte, Juan Manuel; Shelley, Samantha; Todorova, Vesela

2018-05-01

This paper provides a brief introduction to antimatter and how it, along with other modern physics topics, is utilized in positron emission tomography (PET) scans. It further describes a hands-on activity for students to help them gain an understanding of how PET scans assist in detecting cancer. Modern physics topics provide an exciting way to introduce students to current applications of physics.

Using Authentic Data to Facilitate Comparative Planetology & Student-led Classroom Investigations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Graff, Paige; Runco, Susan

2014-01-01

This session will engage participants in a hands-on activity that uses stunning NASA imagery from space to help participants gain an understanding of how scientists use Earth to gain a better understanding of other planetary bodies in the solar system. Participants will make observations, develop identification criteria, and use evidence to justify inferences made about processes sculpting the surface of different planetary worlds. Participants will also "build" a comparative planetology feature wall that will facilitate a comparative view of major geologic processes and features across the inner solar system. This session will highlight additional comparative planetology activities and demonstrate how the use of authentic data and imagery can help facilitate student-led research in the classroom, helping teachers address the Next Generation Science Standards.

The blind spot: re-educating ourselves about visual images

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Farkas, N.; Donnelly, K. M.; Henriksen, P. N.; Ramsier, R. D.

2004-05-01

A simple blind spot activity has been devised to help students discard misconceptions about image formation by lenses. Our hands-on experiment, in which students determine the location and size of their blind spots, is suitable for various age groups at different educational levels. The activity provides an opportunity to teach students how to measure objects indirectly using triangles and encourages them to think about the number of measurements needed to gain confidence in a value. It also gives teachers another interesting experiment in which to discuss the nature of uncertainties and how to deal with them. Student responses to the activity, performed with pre-engineering students and non-science majors, are discussed.

Teaching Plate Tectonic Concepts using GeoMapApp Learning Activities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goodwillie, A. M.; Kluge, S.

2012-12-01

GeoMapApp Learning Activities ( http://serc.carleton.edu/geomapapp/collection.html ) can help educators to expose undergraduate students to a range of earth science concepts using high-quality data sets in an easy-to-use map-based interface called GeoMapApp. GeoMapApp Learning Activities require students to interact with and analyse research-quality geoscience data as a means to explore and enhance their understanding of underlying content and concepts. Each activity is freely available through the SERC-Carleton web site and offers step-by-step student instructions and answer sheets. Also provided are annotated educator versions of the worksheets that include teaching tips, additional content and suggestions for further work. The activities can be used "off-the-shelf". Or, since the educator may require flexibility to tailor the activities, the documents are provided in Word format for easy modification. Examples of activities include one on the concept of seafloor spreading that requires students to analyse global seafloor crustal age data to calculate spreading rates in different ocean basins. Another activity has students explore hot spots using radiometric age dating of rocks along the Hawaiian-Emperor seamount chain. A third focusses upon the interactive use of contours and profiles to help students visualise 3-D topography on 2-D computer screens. A fourth activity provides a study of mass wasting as revealed through geomorphological evidence. The step-by-step instructions and guided inquiry approach reduce the need for teacher intervention whilst boosting the time that students can spend on productive exploration and learning. The activities can be used, for example, in a classroom lab with the educator present and as self-paced assignments in an out-of-class setting. GeoMapApp Learning Activities are funded through the NSF GeoEd program and are aimed at students in the introductory undergraduate, community college and high school levels. The activities are based upon GeoMapApp (http://www.geomapapp.org), a free map-based data exploration and visualisation tool that allows students to access a wide range of geoscience data in a virtual lab-like environment.

Involving postgraduate's students in undergraduate small group teaching promotes active learning in both

PubMed Central

Kalra, Ruchi; Modi, Jyoti Nath; Vyas, Rashmi

2015-01-01

Background: Lecture is a common traditional method for teaching, but it may not stimulate higher order thinking and students may also be hesitant to express and interact. The postgraduate (PG) students are less involved with undergraduate (UG) teaching. Team based small group active learning method can contribute to better learning experience. Aim: To-promote active learning skills among the UG students using small group teaching methods involving PG students as facilitators to impart hands-on supervised training in teaching and managerial skills. Methodology: After Institutional approval under faculty supervision 92 UGs and 8 PGs participated in 6 small group sessions utilizing the jigsaw technique. Feedback was collected from both. Observations: Undergraduate Feedback (Percentage of Students Agreed): Learning in small groups was a good experience as it helped in better understanding of the subject (72%), students explored multiple reading resources (79%), they were actively involved in self-learning (88%), students reported initial apprehension of performance (71%), identified their learning gaps (86%), team enhanced their learning process (71%), informal learning in place of lecture was a welcome change (86%), it improved their communication skills (82%), small group learning can be useful for future self-learning (75%). Postgraduate Feedback: Majority performed facilitation for first time, perceived their performance as good (75%), it was helpful in self-learning (100%), felt confident of managing students in small groups (100%), as facilitator they improved their teaching skills, found it more useful and better identified own learning gaps (87.5%). Conclusions: Learning in small groups adopting team based approach involving both UGs and PGs promoted active learning in both and enhanced the teaching skills of the PGs. PMID:26380201

Competency and an active learning program in undergraduate nursing education.

PubMed

Shin, Hyunsook; Sok, Sohyune; Hyun, Kyung Sun; Kim, Mi Ja

2015-03-01

To evaluate the effect of an active learning program on competency of senior students. Active learning strategies have been used to help students achieve desired nursing competency, but their effectiveness has not been systematically examined. A descriptive, cross-sectional comparative design was used. Two cohort group comparisons using t-test were made: one in an active learning group and the other in a traditional learning group. A total of 147 senior nursing students near graduation participated in this study: 73 in 2010 and 74 in 2013. The active learning program incorporated high-fidelity simulation, situation-based case studies, standardized patients, audio-video playback, reflective activities and technology such as a SmartPad-based program. The overall scores of the nursing competency in the active group were significantly higher than those in the traditional group. Of five overall subdomains, the scores of the special and general clinical performance competency, critical thinking and human understanding were significantly higher in the active group than in the traditional group. Importance-performance analysis showed that all five subdomains of the active group clustered in the high importance and high performance quadrant, indicating significantly better achievements. In contrast, the students in the traditional group showed scattered patterns in three quadrants, excluding the low importance and low performance quadrants. This pattern indicates that the traditional learning method did not yield the high performance in most important areas. The findings of this study suggest that an active learning strategy is useful for helping undergraduate students to gain competency. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Inquiry-based Laboratory Activities on Drugs Analysis for High School Chemistry Learning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rahmawati, I.; Sholichin, H.; Arifin, M.

2017-09-01

Laboratory activity is an important part of chemistry learning, but cookbook instructions is still commonly used. However, the activity with that way do not improve students thinking skill, especially students creativity. This study aims to improve high school students creativity through inquiry-based laboratory on drugs analysis activity. Acid-base titration is used to be method for drugs analysis involving a color changing indicator. The following tools were used to assess the activity achievement: creative thinking test on acid base titration, creative attitude and action observation sheets, questionnaire of inquiry-based lab activities, and interviews. The results showed that the inquiry-based laboratory activity improving students creative thinking, creative attitude and creative action. The students reacted positively to this teaching strategy as demonstrated by results from questionnaire responses and interviews. This result is expected to help teachers to overcome the shortcomings in other laboratory learning.

Growth of Islam. Seventh Grade Activity. Schools of California Online Resources for Education (SCORE): Connecting California's Classrooms to the World.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Houson, Judy

This seventh grade activity asks students to gather data that will help them understand and appreciate the Islamic way of life and to learn to feel comfortable living with a Muslim family in Syria during the second semester of the school year. The activity states each student will be interviewed by a Fulbright official, expected to keep a…

Student Activities to Accompany the People on Market Street Film Series--A Series of Seven Economics Films Distributed by the Walt Disney Educational Media Company.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Watts, Michael, Ed.

Designed to help students in grades 9-12 understand economic terms, fundamental economic principles of the free enterprise system, and economic forces that influence activities in everyone's life, this teacher's guide provides over 50 reproducible activity sheets on the following topics: (1) scarcity and planning, (2) cost, (3) demand, (4) supply,…

The Yellow, Blue and Red Book. A Collection of Short-Term Activities Developed by and for Teachers K-6, to Help Expand Students' Awareness of Traditional Sex Role Stereotyping.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Highline Public Schools, Seattle, WA.

This teacher's guide contains short-term activities aimed at expanding K-6 grade students' awareness of attitudes concerning traditional sex-role stereotyping. Subject areas are language arts, social studies, career education, mathematics, and physical education. Activities are divided into 10-20 minute, 20-40 minute, and 40 minute plus…

Resources for Designing, Selecting and Teaching with Visualizations in the Geoscience Classroom

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kirk, K. B.; Manduca, C. A.; Ormand, C. J.; McDaris, J. R.

2009-12-01

Geoscience is a highly visual field, and effective use of visualizations can enhance student learning, appeal to students’ emotions and help them acquire skills for interpreting visual information. The On the Cutting Edge website, “Teaching Geoscience with Visualizations” presents information of interest to faculty who are teaching with visualizations, as well as those who are designing visualizations. The website contains best practices for effective visualizations, drawn from the educational literature and from experts in the field. For example, a case is made for careful selection of visualizations so that faculty can align the correct visualization with their teaching goals and audience level. Appropriate visualizations will contain the desired geoscience content without adding extraneous information that may distract or confuse students. Features such as labels, arrows and contextual information can help guide students through imagery and help to explain the relevant concepts. Because students learn by constructing their own mental image of processes, it is helpful to select visualizations that reflect the same type of mental picture that students should create. A host of recommended readings and presentations from the On the Cutting Edge visualization workshops can provide further grounding for the educational uses of visualizations. Several different collections of visualizations, datasets with visualizations and visualization tools are available on the website. Examples include animations of tsunamis, El Nino conditions, braided stream formation and mountain uplift. These collections are grouped by topic and range from simple animations to interactive models. A series of example activities that incorporate visualizations into classroom and laboratory activities illustrate various tactics for using these materials in different types of settings. Activities cover topics such as ocean circulation, land use changes, earthquake simulations and the use of Google Earth to explore geologic processes. These materials can be found at http://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/visualization. Faculty and developers of visualization tools are encouraged to submit teaching activities, references or visualizations to the collections.

Perspectives.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Science Activities, 1995

1995-01-01

Presents a Project WET water education activity. Students analyze public values regarding water issues to help them evaluate approaches to managing water resources. Students recognize that people have different values, evaluate strengths and weaknesses of proposed solutions, and examine the purpose of diverse advocacy groups. (LZ)

American Food and World Hunger.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Czarra, Fred R.; Long, Cathryn J., Eds.

1983-01-01

Describes activities to help students in grades 7-9 learn about American food production and distribution. Students learn about the American diet over the centuries; the production of American Corn; the meaning of the term hunger; and the need for protein. (CS)

Seven Birds with One Magic Bullet: Designing Assignments that Encourage Student Participation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Krause-Jensen, Jakob

2010-01-01

At the Danish University School of Education we have experimented with a form of assessment called "active participation". A week before each class students are given reading guidelines and questions to help them approach the texts, and on the basis of one of those questions the students each write a two-page essay. The students are…

Project Real World: Economic Living Skills for High School Students. Module III, Resource Management Skills--What Money Can't Buy.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Federal/Provincial Consumer Education and Plain Language Task Force (Canada).

Project Real World, a self-contained, activity-based Canadian consumer science program, provides students with systematic instruction in economic living skills. It gives students in grades 10-12 an orientation to the economic realities and opportunities in society. The program helps students function effectively within the rapidly changing…

Social Studies Now!: Put Storybook Characters on Trial to Spark Students' Interest in the Justice System.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lindquist, Tarry

1998-01-01

This social studies activity helps primary students understand the trial process by putting literary characters on trial (e.g., Goldilocks for breaking and entering or Cruella DeVille for stealing dalmatians). Alternatively, students can try real-life problems such as bullying on the playground. Through role playing, students learn how the justice…

Student-inspired activities for the teaching and learning of engineering ethics.

PubMed

Alpay, E

2013-12-01

Ethics teaching in engineering can be problematic because of student perceptions of its subjective, ambiguous and philosophical content. The use of discipline-specific case studies has helped to address such perceptions, as has practical decision making and problem solving approaches based on some ethical frameworks. However, a need exists for a wider range of creative methods in ethics education to help complement the variety of activities and learning experiences within the engineering curriculum. In this work, a novel approach is presented in which first-year undergraduate students are responsible for proposing ethics education activities of relevance to their peers and discipline area. The students are prepared for the task through a short introduction on engineering ethics, whereby generic frameworks for moral and professional conduct are discussed, and discipline and student-relevance contexts provided. The approach has been used in four departments of engineering at Imperial College London, and has led to the generation of many creative ideas for wider student engagement in ethics awareness, reflection and understanding. The paper presents information on the premise of the introductory sessions for supporting the design task, and an evaluation of the student experience of the course and task work. Examples of proposals are given to demonstrate the value of such an approach to teachers, and ultimately to the learning experiences of the students themselves.

Creativity and Criticism. The Components of Scientific Thought.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zielinski, Edward J.; Sarachine, D. Michael

1990-01-01

Presented are six activities that help to promote critical and creative student thinking. Activities include discrepant events and questioning, divergent thinking, dilemma discussions, and drawing objects from symbols. Activities can be adapted to any science discipline. (KR)

The STRATegy COLUMN for Precollege Science Teachers: Volcanic Activity.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Metzger, Ellen Pletcher

1995-01-01

Describes resources for information and activities involving volcanoes. Includes an activity that helps students become familiar with the principal types of volcanoes and explores how the viscosity of magma affects the way a volcano erupts. (MKR)

Attending to the Grammatical Errors of Students Using Constructive Teaching and Learning Activities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wornyo, Albert Agbesi

2016-01-01

This study was a classroom-based action research. In this study, constructive teaching and learning activities were used to help learners improve on their grammar and usage with a focus on how to help them internalize subject verb agreement rules. The purpose of the research was to assist learners to improve upon their performance in grammar and…

Book club elective to facilitate student learning of the patient experience with chronic disease.

PubMed

Plake, Kimberly S

2010-04-12

To evaluate the impact of a book club experience on pharmacy students' learning about chronic illness. Students read autobiographies/biographies regarding the patient experience of chronic illness. Similar to a traditional book club, small group discussions were held based on questions submitted by students. Other activities included written reflections, a final paper, and an oral presentation. A retrospective pretest and posttest were administered at the end of the course. Students indicated improvement in the key aspects of the course with significant differences (p < 0.01) between retrospective pretest and posttest scores for all course objectives assessed. Students also indicated that the course contributed to their development as pharmacists, motivated them to learn about new topics, and helped them reconsider their attitudes. A book club elective course was successful in helping students understand the patient experience.

Learning about Disabilities.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Popp, Rita Ann

1983-01-01

The author describes lessons provided for regular class elementary students to help them understand disabilities and disabled persons. Objectives, materials needed, and activities are outlined for six lessons focusing on the following topics: individual differences, wheelchairs; devices that help people walk; amputation, artificial limbs, and…

Taking an active stance: How urban elementary students connect sociocultural experiences in learning science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Upadhyay, Bhaskar; Maruyama, Geoffrey; Albrecht, Nancy

2017-12-01

In this interpretive case study, we draw from sociocultural theory of learning and culturally relevant pedagogy to understand how urban students from nondominant groups leverage their sociocultural experiences. These experiences allow them to gain an empowering voice in influencing science content and activities and to work towards self-determining the sciences that are personally meaningful. Furthermore, tying sociocultural experiences with science learning helps generate sociopolitical awareness among students. We collected interview and observation data in an urban elementary classroom over one academic year to understand the value of urban students' sociocultural experiences in learning science and choosing science activities.

Science at the Seashore. Project Impact.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Grant, David; Draxler, Susan

These materials were developed for use at the Ocean Institute at Sandy Hook Park in New Jersey. They are used by the students in Brookdale College's Project Impact, an early intervention program for sixth- and seventh- grade students. These activities are designed to help students learn more about the history, geology, biology, and career…

Elementary Students' Roles and Epistemic Stances during Document-Based History Lessons

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nokes, Jeffery D.

2014-01-01

This article reports on a study that repositioned elementary students in new roles as active, critical participants in historical inquiry--roles that required a more mature epistemic stance. It reports 5th-grade students' responses to instructional methods intended to help them understand the nature of historical knowledge, appreciate the work of…

Core Goals and Their Relationship to Semester Subgoals and Academic Performance.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schutz, P. A.; White, V. E.; Lanehart, S. L.

2001-01-01

Thirty-nine students in an undergraduate educational psychology course identified and organized their core goals into ten goal domains. They then identified semester subgoals and tracked their time in relation to their goals. Results suggest that courses intended to increase student retention should use activities that help students identify their…

Content-Free Computer Supports for Self-Explaining: Modifiable Typing Interface and Prompting

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chou, Chih-Yueh; Liang, Hung-Ta

2009-01-01

Self-explaining, which asks students to generate explanations while reading a text, is a self-constructive activity and is helpful for students' learning. Studies have revealed that prompts by a human tutor promote students' self-explanations. However, most studies on self-explaining focus on spoken self-explanations. This study investigates the…

Application of Games in College English Teaching in China

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yang, Qiaoyan; Dixon, Virginia L.

2015-01-01

Games are an activity with rules, goals, and create fun (Hadfield, 2007). Games can stimulate learning and motivation, and students get very absorbed in games, some of which are suitable for college students in studying English as their second language. Appropriate use of games in college English teaching could help students eliminate the…

Engaging Engineering Students in Geoscience through Case Studies and Active Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Holley, Elizabeth A.

2017-01-01

This study reports on a case study-based curricular intervention designed to help undergraduate engineering students make connections between geoscience and its applications. Teaching through case studies resulted in a measurable and significant improvement in the confidence that students had in their ability to apply geoscience concepts in an…

Raising the Grade: A Title IX Curriculum.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Susan J.; Fleming, Paula

Building an effective classroom for all boys and girls is the first step in increasing student achievement. This curriculum guide is a collection of practical tools for teachers and fun activities for kindergarten through twelfth-grade students, developed to help all students to succeed in the classroom. The curriculum is designed to be used…

The Association of Self-Reported Sleep, Weight Status, and Academic Performance in Fifth-Grade Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stroebele, Nanette; McNally, Janise; Plog, Amy; Siegfried, Scott; Hill, James O.

2013-01-01

Background: To improve support and justi?cation for health promotion efforts in schools, it is helpful to understand how students' health behaviors affect academic performance. Methods: Fifth-grade students completed an online school-administered health survey with questions regarding their eating behavior, physical activity, academic performance,…

Creating Memorable Learning Experiences with Foldables in AP Human Geography

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Purcell, Jane

2014-01-01

Many teachers struggle with helping their students simultaneously comprehend and retain the information that they read. These classroom educators have students take notes (copious amounts of notes) that neither produces the intended learning effect nor actively engages the student in the learning process. One way to increase retention is through…

Apples and Pears: Engaging Social Work Students in Social Dialogue

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reyneke, Roelof P.

2017-01-01

Purpose: To investigate how an adventure-based activity could help facilitate dialogue and enable a safe process where students could engage in a difficult topic such as diversity without feeling threatened. Method: A qualitative study was used in which 89 social work students who took part in diversity training gave permission that their…

Entomology: Promoting Creativity in the Science Lab

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Akcay, Behiye B.

2013-01-01

A class activity has been designed to help fourth grade students to identify basic insect features as a means of promoting student creativity while making an imaginary insect model. The 5Es (Engage, Explore, Explain, Extend [or Elaborate], and Evaluate) learning cycle teaching model is used. The 5Es approach allows students to work in small…

Use of Concept Mapping in an Undergraduate Introductory Exercise Physiology Course

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Henige, Kim

2012-01-01

Physiology is often considered a challenging course for students. It is up to teachers to structure courses and create learning opportunities that will increase the chance of student success. In an undergraduate exercise physiology course, concept maps are assigned to help students actively process and organize information into manageable and…

Applying a Framework for Student Modeling in Exploratory Learning Environments: Comparing Data Representation Granularity to Handle Environment Complexity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fratamico, Lauren; Conati, Cristina; Kardan, Samad; Roll, Ido

2017-01-01

Interactive simulations can facilitate inquiry learning. However, similarly to other Exploratory Learning Environments, students may not always learn effectively in these unstructured environments. Thus, providing adaptive support has great potential to help improve student learning with these rich activities. Providing adaptive support requires a…

A Conceptual Framework for Tiered Intervention in Physical Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dauenhauer, Brian; Keating, Xiaofen; Lambdin, Dolly; Knipe, Robert

2017-01-01

Our goal as physical educators is to help all students develop the knowledge, skills and dispositions to be physically active for a lifetime. Despite efforts to address the diverse needs of students through quality physical education, the reality is that some students still need additional support beyond physical education to achieve their full…

Student Motivations as Predictors of High-Level Cognitions in Project-Based Classrooms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stolk, Jonathan; Harari, Janie

2014-01-01

It is well established that active learning helps students engage in high-level thinking strategies and develop improved cognitive skills. Motivation and self-regulated learning research, however, illustrates that cognitive engagement is an effortful process that is related to students' valuing of the learning tasks, adoption of internalized goal…

Student Success: Stories That Inform High School Change

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shepard, Jerri; Salina, Chuck; Girtz, Suzann; Cox, Jonas; Davenport, Nika; Hillard, Tammy L.

2012-01-01

Sunnyside High School in rural Washington faces many tough issues common to urban schools but has shown a remarkable ability to help students at risk for academic failure. The Sunnyside Intervention Program was developed for students with a history of poor academic performance, many of whom were involved in dangerous activities, including gangs.…

Bridging Algebra & Geometry with "n"-Gram Proofs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Craven, Joshua D.

2010-01-01

For many students, geometry is the first course in which mathematical proof takes center stage. To help ease students into writing proofs, the author tries to create lessons and activities throughout the year that challenge students to prove their own conjectures by using tools learned in previous mathematics courses. Teachers cannot get all…

Learning about Minerals through the Art of Jewelry Making: A Multicultural Science Connection

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Russell, Melody L.; Tripp, L. Octavia

2010-01-01

This article presents an activity that focuses on helping students investigate the formation of rocks, minerals, and gemstones. Students describe visual, textual, and physical properties of various specimens of minerals. Using compare and contrast skills, students can classify the primary types of rock, ask questions about the Earth's inner…

Promoting Physical and Mental Health among College Students: A Needs Assessment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bezyak, Jill; Clark, Alena

2016-01-01

Purpose: To conduct an initial needs assessment of physical and mental health behavior among college students to improve understanding of physical and mental health needs among future helping professionals. Method: A sample of 24 undergraduate students was used to provide a description of mental health, physical activity, and healthy eating…

Soil and Oil, Trees and Seas: Building Nations through Natural Resources

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hu, Helen

2014-01-01

This article describes the activities of the tribal colleges and universities in building programs aimed at helping students and energy companies acquire the skills needed for employment in the natural resource industries around the Native nations. Students are learning many skills--welding, construction technology, and safety. Students are also…

Effects of Physical Models and Simulations to Understand Daily Life Applications of Electromagnetic Induction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tural, Güner; Tarakçi, Demet

2017-01-01

Background: One of the topics students have difficulties in understanding is electromagnetic induction. Active learning methods instead of traditional learning method may be able to help facilitate students' understanding such topics more effectively. Purpose: The study investigated the effectiveness of physical models and simulations on students'…

Algebra from Chips and Chopsticks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yun, Jeong Oak; Flores, Alfinio

2012-01-01

Students can use geometric representations of numbers as a way to explore algebraic ideas. With the help of these representations, students can think about the relations among the numbers, express them using their own words, and represent them with letters. The activities discussed here can stimulate students to try to find various ways of solving…

Effect of Computer Simulations at the Particulate and Macroscopic Levels on Students' Understanding of the Particulate Nature of Matter

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tang, Hui; Abraham, Michael R.

2016-01-01

Computer-based simulations can help students visualize chemical representations and understand chemistry concepts, but simulations at different levels of representation may vary in effectiveness on student learning. This study investigated the influence of computer activities that simulate chemical reactions at different levels of representation…

Impact of Work Awareness Instruction for Adolescents with Special Needs.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Black, Rhonda S.

A work awareness curriculum designed to help disabled students develop the core social skills critical to success in the workplace was developed and presented to disabled students in two states. The core social skills were identified in a literature review. The curriculum included activities to increase students' awareness of often-unstated…

Justicia = Justice. Level II. Student Book and Teacher's Edition.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Center for Civic Education, Calabasas, CA.

This curriculum is designed to help students understand and apply basic principles and considerations useful in examining issues of justice so they can determine for themselves what would be just in a particular situation. From such activities, students should gain an increased awareness of the importance of justice in their own lives and its…

Decision Making in a Nuclear Age.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Austill, Chris, Ed.

These activities help high school students develop an understanding of nuclear weapons within the context of human beings making choices. Students learn to evaluate information and to identify the political stand or bias in what they hear and read. To record their own growth and change, students are encouraged to keep a journal. Teachers can…

Sources of Strength: Women and Culture. A Teacher's Guide.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hunter, Lisa K.; And Others

The document presents teaching methods, content, and learning activities for units in multicultural women's studies for secondary students. The major objective is to help students answer the question, "How much control can a person exercise over her/his own life?" Students learn about the ways women have lived their lives and perceived…

Teaching Students to Infer Meaning through Material Culture

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brewer, Ernest Andrew; Fritzer, Penelope

2011-01-01

Social studies students can learn to glean historical information from the study of material culture through active engagement as curators. Teachers can guide students through a pre-survey of helpful reading materials and then through selecting items of personal significance to them: creating labels that objectively describe the chosen items as to…

Manipulating 3D-Printed and Paper Models Enhances Student Understanding of Viral Replication

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Couper, Lisa; Johannes, Kristen; Powers, Jackie; Silberglitt, Matt; Davenport, Jodi

2016-01-01

Understanding key concepts in molecular biology requires reasoning about molecular processes that are not directly observable and, as such, presents a challenge to students and teachers. We ask whether novel interactive physical models and activities can help students understand key processes in viral replication. Our 3D tangible models are…

Using Reciprocal Peer Review to Help Graduate Students Develop Scholarly Writing Skills

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Palmer, Betsy; Major, Claire Howell

2008-01-01

We developed an innovative instructional method to actively engage students in writing and critiquing scholarly work. We tested the effectiveness of this pedagogy using a mixed methods research design. Compared to control group peers, students in the experimental classes perceived gains in their own writing, research ability, and motivation to…

The Mathematics of Fountain Design: A Multiple-Centres Activity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gordon, Marshall

2013-01-01

Teachers of mathematics recognize the difficulty of reaching every student when the range of student abilities puts a considerable strain on the classroom discussion and time. In a response to the problem, students are grouped so that those with greater mathematical aptitude help those who have difficulties. While this approach is to be…

Island Explorations: Discovering Effects of Environmental Research-Based Lab Activities on Analytical Chemistry Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tomasik, Janice Hall; LeCaptain, Dale; Murphy, Sarah; Martin, Mary; Knight, Rachel M.; Harke, Maureen A.; Burke, Ryan; Beck, Kara; Acevedo-Polakovich, I. David

2014-01-01

Motivating students in analytical chemistry can be challenging, in part because of the complexity and breadth of topics involved. Some methods that help encourage students and convey real-world relevancy of the material include incorporating environmental issues, research-based lab experiments, and service learning projects. In this paper, we…

Harassment Hurts: Sex-Role Stereotyping and Sexual Harassment, Elementary School Resources.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Staton, Pat; Larkin, June

Sex role stereotyping can lead to sexual harassment, even in elementary school. This activity kit is designed to help elementary school students understand the link between sex role stereotyping and sexual harassment, to educate students about the harmful effects of sex role stereotyping and sexual harassment, and to provide students with the…

Indonesian EFL Students' Anxiety in Speech Production: Possible Causes and Remedy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Anandari, Christina Lhaksmita

2015-01-01

This research examined what causes speech-production-related foreign-language anxiety among Indonesian students majoring in English Language Education. Furthermore, it also looks into whether and how self-reflective activities are able to help these students reduce their anxiety. The data were gathered from a qualitative research conducted on a…

"The Capture:" Kidnapping Students' Interests Using the "Guardians of Ga'Hoole"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bradbury, Leslie; Frye, Beth; Gross, Lisa

2013-01-01

This project describes a fourth-grade unit that integrated science and language arts using the book "The Capture" as a focal point. During the unit, students engaged in science activities and language arts lessons that focused on owls. Students conducted investigations that helped them develop a deeper understanding of the adaptations of…

Capturing Student Progress via Portfolios in the Music Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mills, Melissa M.

2009-01-01

A common desire among music educators is to help students develop the ability to reflect on and evaluate their own music making. To achieve this goal, music educators often provide their students with a variety of instructional activities, such as watching their ensemble's latest concert performance and writing a critical review of it, allowing…

A Change in Seasons: Increasing Student Observation Skills

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sterling, Donna R.

2006-01-01

Using the seasons in the science classroom increases student observation skills as they focus on subtle differences such as shades of color and differences in structures. In this article, the author presents a variety of activities that can help students identify and demonstrate patterns and changes in leaf or plant development. The ability to…

ASPECT: A Survey to Assess Student Perspective of Engagement in an Active-Learning Classroom

PubMed Central

Wiggins, Benjamin L.; Eddy, Sarah L.; Wener-Fligner, Leah; Freisem, Karen; Grunspan, Daniel Z.; Theobald, Elli J.; Timbrook, Jerry; Crowe, Alison J.

2017-01-01

The primary measure used to determine relative effectiveness of in-class activities has been student performance on pre/posttests. However, in today’s active-learning classrooms, learning is a social activity, requiring students to interact and learn from their peers. To develop effective active-learning exercises that engage students, it is important to gain a more holistic view of the student experience in an active-learning classroom. We have taken a mixed-methods approach to iteratively develop and validate a 16-item survey to measure multiple facets of the student experience during active-learning exercises. The instrument, which we call Assessing Student Perspective of Engagement in Class Tool (ASPECT), was administered to a large introductory biology class, and student responses were subjected to exploratory factor analysis. The 16 items loaded onto three factors that cumulatively explained 52% of the variation in student response: 1) value of activity, 2) personal effort, and 3) instructor contribution. ASPECT provides a rapid, easily administered means to measure student perception of engagement in an active-learning classroom. Gaining a better understanding of students’ level of engagement will help inform instructor best practices and provide an additional measure for comprehensively assessing the impact of different active-learning strategies. PMID:28495936

Analyzing Forces on Amusement Park Rides with Mobile Devices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vieyra, Rebecca E.; Vieyra, Chrystian

2014-03-01

Mobile device accelerometers are a simple and easy way for students to collect accurate and detailed data on an amusement park ride. The resulting data can be graphed to assist in the creation of force diagrams to help students explain their physical sensations while on the ride. This type of activity can help students overcome some of the conceptual difficulties often associated with understanding centripetal force and typical "elevator-type problems" that are inherent in so many amusement park rides that move, lift, and drop riders. This article provides some sample data and examples from a visit to Six Flags Great America.

Experiences of nursing students and educators during the co-construction of clinical nursing leadership learning activities: A qualitative research and development study.

PubMed

Ha, Laurence; Pepin, Jacinthe

2017-08-01

Student voice posits that students' unique perspectives on teaching and learning can be used in conjunction with those of educators to create meaningful educational activities. The study aimed to describe nursing students' and educators' experiences during the co-construction of educational activities involving clinical nursing leadership. Qualitative research and development model. The study was conducted at a French-Canadian nursing faculty that provides a 3-year undergraduate program. Five undergraduate nursing students, four nursing educators, and the principal investigator formed the co-construction team. Data collected included all documents (written and audio) related to the co-construction process: three 2-hour team meetings, PI's fieldnotes and a focus group discussion that occurred once the co-construction process was completed. Thematic analysis was performed guided by Paillé and Muchielli's (2010) method. Data analysis revealed two interrelated themes: (1) unique, purposeful collaboration and (2) change that makes a difference. A space described as safe, without hierarchy and that included the "right" people helped the team achieve their objective of creating new educational activities on clinical nursing leadership. The two new learning activities developed by the team were perceived as useful for future nursing students. At the individual level, team members appreciated how co-construction helped them understand teaching and learning from new perspectives. A structured, efficient co-construction process contributed to positive changes in the nursing program and participants. Additional research is required to enhance understanding of the factors that facilitate and hinder student-educator collaboration outside the classroom. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Witness to History: Using Hands-On Activities, A Guidebook for High School History Teachers.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Metzler, Suzanne

This guidebook is intended to help high school students discover the connection between themselves and the people from the past by being engaged in hands-on activities. The guidebook allows students to create artifacts or recreate a process known well to people from times past. The guide is arranged to provide historical background, materials…

Improving Reading Comprehension Strategies Using Student Produced CD's Combined with More Traditional Activities.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Goss, Gail

Readers possess vast amounts of knowledge gained from their prior experiences and exposures. The more they are helped to use that knowledge for connecting new ideas to known subjects as they read, the better their comprehension will be. Discussions before reading have been a traditional way to activate students' schema for stories, but a new…

The Effects of Computer-Aided Concept Cartoons and Outdoor Science Activities on Light Pollution

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Aydin, Güliz

2015-01-01

The purpose of this study is to create an awareness of light pollution on seventh grade students via computer aided concept cartoon applications and outdoor science activities and to help them develop solutions; and to determine student opinions on the practices carried out. The study was carried out at a middle school in Mugla province of Aegean…

English for Everyday Activities: A Picture Process Dictionary.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zwier, Lawrence J.

These books are designed to help English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) students learn the skills they need to communicate the step-by-step aspects of daily activities. Unlike most picture dictionaries, this is a verb-based multi-skills program that uses a student text with a clear and colorful pictorial detail as a starting point and focuses on the…

High-Impact Practices and the First-Year Student

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tukibayeva, Malika; Gonyea, Robert M.

2014-01-01

High-impact practices, programs, and activities where students commit considerable time and effort in different settings can help to define the first-year college experience and are likely to increase success in areas like persistence, deep learning, and self-reported gains.

The Politics of Safety.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Paine, Carolyn

1984-01-01

Automobile accidents are the leading cause of death among children aged 1-14. This article provides information for teacher use to help make students aware of current and proposed automobile safety standards. Suggested classroom activities and resources for both student and teacher are offered. (DF)

The CORALS Connection

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Plankis, Brian; Klein, Carolyn

2010-01-01

The Ocean, Reefs, Aquariums, Literacy, and Stewardship (CORALS) research program helps students connect global environmental issues to local concerns and personal choices. During the 18-week program, students strengthen their understanding of coral reef decline through a classroom aquarium activity, communicate with science experts, and create…

Opening Lab Doors to High School Students: Keys to a Successful Engagement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Slayton, Rebecca M.; Nelson, Keith A.

2005-01-01

A project to invite high school students into research laboratories to plan and carry out an investigation over several weeks, using the sophisticated equipment available there, can help to break down social barriers and enhance outreach activities.

Clicker Implementation Models

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

White, Peter J. T.; Delaney, David G.; Syncox, David; Akerberg, Oscar Avila; Alters, Brian

2011-01-01

Student response systems can help instructors integrate active learning into their classrooms. Such technology is known by a variety of names, including classroom response systems, student response systems, audience response systems, electronic response systems, personal response systems, zappers, and clickers. The "system" consists of three…

Learning Through Reading Scientific Papers.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Valderrama, Jose O.

1986-01-01

Describes an activity in which undergraduate students read an international publication to help them have a broader vision of the subject being studied, encourage constructive criticism, promote discussion, and stimulate efforts toward better oral and written communication in the students' native language. (JN)

Teaching Business Ethics--A Conceptual Approach.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nappi, Andrew T.

1990-01-01

The study of ethics has much to offer secondary school students. As students search to define their moral values and responsibilities, business educators can help them to develop their ability to reason carefully about complicated issues and problems. (Includes learning activities.) (Author)

School Counselors: Untapped Resources for Safe Schools.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Callahan, Connie J.

2000-01-01

Principals should consider redirecting school counselors' responsibilities to include directing safe-school teams; establishing networks to identify at-risk students and violent behavior signs; developing conflict-resolution activities; assessing and counseling misbehaving students; devising crisis- management plans; and helping staff predict and…

The Last Nine Weeks: Helping Seniors Say Goodbye.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Molnar, Bonnie

1999-01-01

Describes a unit for the final nine weeks of a senior English class which helps seniors say goodbye. Discusses how reading Sandra Cisneros'"The House on Mango Street" and writing their own versions of excerpts of it (along with other class activities) helps students define what they are leaving and come to terms with it. (SR)

Discovery Science: Newton All around You.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Prigo, Robert; Humphrey, Gregg

1993-01-01

Presents activities for helping elementary students learn about Newton's third law of motion. Several activity cards demonstrate the concept of the law of action and reaction. The activities require only inexpensive materials that can be found around the house. (SM)

The Citizen Science Program "H2O SOS: Help Heal the Ocean—Student Operated Solutions: Operation Climate Change" teaches middle and high school students about ocean threats related to climate change through hands-on activities and learning experiences in the field. This is a continuation of the Program presented last year at the Poster Session.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Weiss, N. K.; Wood, J. H.

2017-12-01

TThe Citizen Science Program H2O SOS: Help Heal the Ocean—Student Operated Solutions: Operation Climate Change, teaches middle and high school students about ocean threats related to climate change through hands-on activities and learning experiences in the field. During each session (in-class or after-school as a club), students build an understanding about how climate change impacts our oceans using resources provided by ExplorOcean (hands-on activities, presentations, multi-media). Through a student leadership model, students present lessons to each other, interweaving a deep learning of science, 21st century technology, communication skills, and leadership. After participating in learning experiences and activities related to 6 key climate change concepts: 1) Introduction to climate change, 2) Increased sea temperatures, 3) Ocean acidification, 4) Sea level rise, 5) Feedback mechanisms, and 6) Innovative solutions. H2O SOS- Operation Climate change participants select one focus issue and use it to design a multi-pronged campaign to increase awareness about this issue in their local community. The campaign includes social media, an interactive activity, and a visual component. All participating clubs that meet participation and action goals earn a field trip to Ocean Quest where they dive deeper into their selected issue through hands-on activities, real-world investigations, and interviews or presentations with experts. In addition to self-selected opportunities to showcase their focus issue, teams will participate in one of several key events identified by Ocean Quest.

A Career Guidance Curriculum for Ninth Grade Students. Occupational Cluster Learning Activities. Business-Environmental. Part 1 of 2. Ninth Grade Guidance Project. Project Duration: July 16, 1979, to June 30, 1980.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cape May County Vocational Schools, NJ.

This first of two parts presents learning activities for four occupational clusters of a ninth-grade cluster program. It contains theory and hands-on activities that explore the occupational requirements and working environment of these areas to help students make intelligent decisions of possible career choices based on levels of interest and…

It's in the Box.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kurtz, Kevin

1996-01-01

Describes a California elementary school's plan to help teachers develop portfolios for year-end assessments. Teachers toss notes from parents, student work samples, photographs of class activities, lesson materials, and other "artifacts" into cardboard boxes. They help each other sort by four subject categories and develop final…

Physical activity helps to control music performance anxiety.

PubMed

Rocha, Sérgio F; Marocolo, Moacir; Corrêa, Elisangela N V; Morato, Gledys S G; da Mota, Gustavo R

2014-06-01

We evaluated if regular physical activity could influence musical performance anxiety (MPA) in college music students. Levels of MPA, as measured with the Kenny MPA Inventory, and a survey about the physical activity habits were obtained from 87 students of music. The results showed that physically active musicians had lower MPA scores (p<0.05) than non-active ones, independent of gender. We conclude that there is an association between physical activity and minor MPA, and studies with a longitudinal design should be done to explore this important issue.

Comparison of individual answer and group answer with and without structured peer assessment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kablan, Zeynel

2014-09-01

Background:Cooperative learning activities provide active participation of students leading to better learning. The literature suggests that cooperative learning activities need to be structured for a more effective and productive interaction. Purpose: This study aimed to test the differences among three instructional conditions in terms of science achievement. Sample:A total of 79 fifth-grade students, 42 males (53%) and 37 females (47%), participated in the study. Design and Methods:In the first condition, students answered the teacher's questions individually by raising hands. In the second condition, students discussed the answer in groups and came up with a single group answer. In this condition, the teacher provided only verbal directions to the groups without using any strategy or material. In the third condition, students used a 'peer assessment form' before giving the group answer. A pre-/post-test experimental design was used. Multiple-choice and open-ended tests were used for data collection. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted to test the differences in the test scores between the three groups (individual answer, unstructured group answer and structured group answer). Results:Results showed that there were no significant differences among the three learning conditions in terms of their multiple-choice test scores. In terms of the open-ended test scores, students in the structured group answer condition scored significantly higher than the students in the individual answer condition. Conclusions:Structuring the group work through peer assessment helped to monitor the group discussion, provided a better learning compared to the individual answer condition, and helped students to participate in the activity equally.

Toward understanding writing to learn in physics: Investigating student writing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Demaree, Dedra

It is received wisdom that writing in a discipline helps students learn the discipline, and millions of dollars have been committed at many universities to supporting such writing. We show that evidence for effectiveness is anecdotal, and that little data-based material informs these prejudices. This thesis begins the process of scientific study of writing in the discipline, in specific, in physics, and creates means to judge whether such writing is effective. The studies culminating in this thesis are an aggressive start to addressing these complex questions. Writing is often promoted as an activity that, when put into classrooms in specific disciplines, not only helps students learn to write in the methods of that discipline but also helps students learn content knowledge. Students at the Ohio State University are being asked to write more in introductory courses, and the Engineering schools want their students to have more writing skills for the job market. Combined with the desire of many educators to have students be able to explain the course content knowledge clearly, it would seem that writing activities would be important and useful in physics courses. However, the question of whether writing helps learning or whether students learn writing within a non-English classroom helps learning in the discipline are open to debate, and data are needed before such claims can be made. This thesis presents several studies aimed at understanding the correlation of writing and content, and tracking and characterizing student writing behaviors to see how they are impacted by writing in physics courses. It consists of four parts: summer and autumn 2005 focus on writing in introductory physics labs with and without explicit instruction, while winter and spring 2006 focus on tracking and analyzing student writing and revising behavior in Physics by Inquiry (PbI). With these related projects, we establish three main results. First, there is a need for quantitative studies of Writing to Learn, and in specific of Writing to Learn within physics. Second, we have also made progress in characterizing student behaviors in an effort to quantify the study of writing: the link between writing and learning content is not obvious, and we have shown that students may not even be learning to write through practice in the context of physics. Third, we have developed a valuable new tool, a novel program to track and analyze student writing, that supplies quantitative information about student writing. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

Owning Their Learning: Using "Assessment for Learning" to Help Students Assume Responsibility for Planning, (Some) Teaching and Evaluation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Conway, Robin

2011-01-01

Robin Conway's interest in student-led enquiry derived from a concern to encourage his students to take much more responsibility for their own learning. Here he explains how his department gradually learned to entrust students with defining the enquiry questions and planning the kinds of teaching and learning activities to be used over the course…

Cooperative Learning in Industrial-sized Biology Classes

PubMed Central

Chang, Shu-Mei; Brickman, Marguerite

2007-01-01

This study examined the impact of cooperative learning activities on student achievement and attitudes in large-enrollment (>250) introductory biology classes. We found that students taught using a cooperative learning approach showed greater improvement in their knowledge of course material compared with students taught using a traditional lecture format. In addition, students viewed cooperative learning activities highly favorably. These findings suggest that encouraging students to work in small groups and improving feedback between the instructor and the students can help to improve student outcomes even in very large classes. These results should be viewed cautiously, however, until this experiment can be replicated with additional faculty. Strategies for potentially improving the impact of cooperative learning on student achievement in large courses are discussed. PMID:17548878

Cooperative learning in industrial-sized biology classes.

PubMed

Armstrong, Norris; Chang, Shu-Mei; Brickman, Marguerite

2007-01-01

This study examined the impact of cooperative learning activities on student achievement and attitudes in large-enrollment (>250) introductory biology classes. We found that students taught using a cooperative learning approach showed greater improvement in their knowledge of course material compared with students taught using a traditional lecture format. In addition, students viewed cooperative learning activities highly favorably. These findings suggest that encouraging students to work in small groups and improving feedback between the instructor and the students can help to improve student outcomes even in very large classes. These results should be viewed cautiously, however, until this experiment can be replicated with additional faculty. Strategies for potentially improving the impact of cooperative learning on student achievement in large courses are discussed.

The Geography of Wind Energy: Problem Solving Activities.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lahart, David E.; Allen, Rodney F.

1985-01-01

Today there are many attempts to use wind machines to confront the increasing costs of electricity. Described are activities to help secondary students understand wind energy, its distribution, applications, and limitations. (RM)

Science Is What Scientists Do.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shaw, Jean M.; Cliatt, Mary Jo Puckett

1981-01-01

Describes four activities for the elementary science classroom to help students develop their powers of description, explanation, and prediction. Topics of the activities are spool "gears," crystal comparisons, yeast magic, and clay cargo carriers. (DS)

Possible Aural Activities in the Listening Class.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zhiqian, Wu

1989-01-01

Some aural activities are described that can help language students with their listening comprehension. They include dictation, a "who am I?" exercise, sketch-drawing, chart completion, a comparison exercise, and a flow diagram. (LB)

Wiki technology enhanced group project to promote active learning in a neuroscience course for first-year medical students: an exploratory study.

PubMed

Mi, Misa; Gould, Douglas

2014-01-01

A Wiki group project was integrated into a neuroscience course for first-year medical students. The project was developed as a self-directed, collaborative learning task to help medical students review course content and make clinically important connections. The goals of the project were to enhance students' understanding of key concepts in neuroscience, promote active learning, and reinforce their information literacy skills. The objective of the exploratory study was to provide a formative evaluation of the Wiki group project and to examine how Wiki technology was utilized to enhance active and collaborative learning of first-year medical students in the course and to reinforce information literacy skills.

GeoMapApp Learning Activities: A Virtual Lab Environment for Student-Centred Engagement with Geoscience Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kluge, S.; Goodwillie, A. M.

2012-12-01

As STEM learning requirements enter the mainstream, there is benefit to providing the tools necessary for students to engage with research-quality geoscience data in a cutting-edge, easy-to-use map-based interface. Funded with an NSF GeoEd award, GeoMapApp Learning Activities ( http://serc.carleton.edu/geomapapp/collection.html ) are being created to help in that endeavour. GeoMapApp Learning Activities offer step-by-step instructions within a guided inquiry approach that enables students to dictate the pace of learning. Based upon GeoMapApp (http://www.geomapapp.org), a free, easy-to-use map-based data exploration and visualisation tool, each activity furnishes the educator with an efficient package of downloadable documents. This includes step-by-step student instructions and answer sheet; an educator's annotated worksheet containing teaching tips, additional content and suggestions for further work; and, quizzes for use before and after the activity to assess learning. Examples of activities so far created involve calculation and analysis of the rate of seafloor spreading; compilation of present-day evidence for huge ancient landslides on the seafloor around the Hawaiian islands; a study of radiometrically-dated volcanic rocks to help understand the concept of hotspots; and, the optimisation of contours as a means to aid visualisation of 3-D data sets on a computer screen. The activities are designed for students at the introductory undergraduate, community college and high school levels, and present a virtual lab-like environment to expose students to content and concepts typically found in those educational settings. The activities can be used in the classroom or out of class, and their guided nature means that the requirement for teacher intervention is reduced thus allowing students to spend more time analysing and understanding geoscience data, content and concepts. Each activity is freely available through the SERC-Carleton web site.

Make Science Matter. Hands on Science.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kepler, Lynne

1992-01-01

Presents class activities to help elementary students learn about changes in the state of matter by making ice cream. In addition to making observations on the changes of state, students can practice measuring and identifying the properties (e.g., color, size, and shape). (SM)

Estimating Cloud Cover

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moseley, Christine

2007-01-01

The purpose of this activity was to help students understand the percentage of cloud cover and make more accurate cloud cover observations. Students estimated the percentage of cloud cover represented by simulated clouds and assigned a cloud cover classification to those simulations. (Contains 2 notes and 3 tables.)

Looking/Learning Drawing: Trees.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hurwitz, Al; Blume, Sharon

1985-01-01

Secondary students are asked to study and compare three reproductions--Van Gogh's "Grove of Cypresses," Da Vinci's "Study of a Tree," and Mondrian's "Tree II." The activity will help students develop their powers of observation and analysis, powers that can be applied to their own drawings. (RM)

"Galileo Calling Earth..."

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Washington, DC.

This guide presents an activity for helping students understand how data from the Galileo spacecraft is sent to scientists on earth. Students are asked to learn about the concepts of bit-rate and resolution and apply them to the interpretation of images from the Galileo Orbiter. (WRM)