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Drawing on self-determination theory (Deci and Ryan, 2012) and Hew’s (2016) five-factor model, our study aimed to investigate the impact of two online training design factors (instructor accessibility and active learning) on learner’s self-efficacy and learning outcome amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

A randomized pretest-posttest control group field experiment was designed to assess participants’ self-efficacy and learning outcome of an online training program - territory business management plan, under three conditions: instructor accessibility, active learning, and controlled. Participants (N=87) were medical sales representatives from a Fortune-Global 500 pharmaceutical company’s subsidiary office in China. Data was analyzed with 2 (time) x 3 (group) MANOVA with time (pretest and posttest) as a repeated measure to investigate differences in changes in self-efficacy and learning outcome between three groups.

Overall, participants’ self-efficacy and learning outcome were significantly improved via the online training program for all three groups. Specifically, the impact of the training on learning outcome was the strongest for the active learning group, less strong for the instructor accessibility group, and the least strong for the control group.

Our research contributes towards understandings of the effectiveness of online talent training programs by examining two critical instructional design factors during a time of crisis. Our findings suggest that active learning (interactions with the training materials by purposeful self-reflection) might be a stronger predictor for increasing learning outcome than instructor accessibility (receiving feedback and tutoring sessions from the instructor) for online training programs.

The purpose of this paper is to determine students’ and instructors’ perceptions regarding the effectiveness of implementing active learning strategies in higher education courses conducted at a tertiary institution in Lebanon.

Pre-service education students completed a questionnaire, professors were interviewed, and class sessions were observed.

Main findings indicate that the majority of the learners as well as the instructors favoured active learning and are strong proponents of putting into effect this approach in all their courses. These findings indicate the positive perceptions towards active learning strategies and the possible impact that these perceptions have on students’ performance and learning.

Three major limitations have influenced the efficiency of this study. The number of participants is rather small. Only 37 education students were involved in this study. Furthermore, an additional limitation is that all the participants were females. Yet, it is worth noting that the majority of the students, who are majoring in education at that particular university, are females. Finally, it is worth mentioning that one of the researchers conducted the non-participant observations which might have influenced the data in one way or another.

Implications from the results of the study are far reaching. A major implication is for the programmes to reconsider the organization of the classrooms to have rooms that allows for cooperative and group work. Also, classroom organization should be student centred with the teacher’s place not necessarily at the front of the room but possibly at different places in the room or even sitting with the student for some of the assignments. A second implication is that the classroom is to be viewed as a learning situation where the teacher is a guide, a facilitator in the teaching/learning context which would be blended with the lecture method when needed. A further implication is that teacher professional development is a priority for the agenda of educational institutions to help promote teaching effectiveness of this clearly important active learning. After all, the students are doing the learning and the teachers need to guide them in this process.

The main value of this paper is to encourage university faculty members to change their teaching methods in order to engage and motivate learners.

While teaching of business ethics has been increasing in business schools worldwide, universities still face increasing pressure to do more to proactively defend and help avoid unethical business practices and scandals calling for more responsible education. This study aims to examine teaching business ethics in light of recent technological advances (i.e. teaching via the use of digital devices) and well-established pedagogical practices.

This study uses a 2 × 2 experimental design examining the effect of active (vs passive) and presence (vs absence) of digital devices in student learning of 192 US students.

The findings suggest that the active learning scenario, the usage of laptops and phones helped students get higher results in the test compared to active learning with no digital devices or passive learning with digital devices.

Active learning practices such as group discussions and peer assessment or the flipped classroom approach make a difference for business ethics teaching where students need to develop inquiry and interest for the subject and engage in ethical dilemmas and real-life examples. Further, students in the active learning scenario performed better in knowledge tests when they were asked to use their digital devices.

The purpose of this paper is to determine the extent of the use of active learning in the online tutorials of members of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) and to compare these results with those found in a similar study done in 1999 by Nancy Dewald, and also to determine what major types of active learning these sites offer.

The focus of the study in this paper was on “stand‐alone” library skills tutorials, as opposed to those tutorials that need to be used in conjunction with an in‐person course in order to be effective. After defining what counts as a “tutorial” and “active learning”, ARL sites were reviewed to determine whether they employ elements of active learning.

This study found that the percentage of ARL tutorials that employ active learning is significantly greater than the percentage of such tutorials in Dewald's study. Also, some categories of the methods of active learning employed in these tutorials are determined and examples for each category are provided.

Because web page content is fluid and open to frequent changes, the findings of this study may not be accurate by the time of publication.

This paper updates and expands on (by focusing on ARL members) the findings of Dewald's original study of online tutorials. Also, the categories of active learning discussed and the examples of these provided can offer some aid to libraries that wish to add to or expand the use of active learning in their online tutorials.

Students develop knowledge through an ongoing process of learning embodied in their daily experiences. As citizens, they develop an identity in their communities as they build relationships through recurrent interactions, thus constructing citizenship by strengthening stable interactions. This paper aims to examine the development of student active citizenship within a Jean Monnet module summer school that uses a participative approach and experiential learning.

The research provides a multi-level systems perspective on the learning experience in a Jean Monnet module. It combines state-of-the-art analysis of the Jean Monnet modules reports, analysis of a selected module’s activities and delayed participants feedback analysis. The methodology addresses complexity at multiple levels and leaves sufficient variance to invite readers to test the approaches themselves.

First, opportunities and gaps in the development of active citizen abilities were identified within the Jean Monnet modules. Second, it was established that the use of a participative approach and experiential learning aligned activities in the learning process yielded positive results in participant engagement. Third, long-term effects in the form of an improved understanding of active citizenship and the execution of activities in real life were also observed. The authors point to the need for active communication in the development of a full-cycle experiential learning process. Additionally, the multi-level monitoring model contributed positively towards the continual improvement of the learning process, and thus, provided a learning experience for teachers.

The research is limited regarding the clear articulation of the research results, rendering comparison with other learning experience reports challenging.

For lecturers, the importance of integrating the participative approach into the student learning process is documented; the effects of experience learning on students’ active participation are presented; and the importance of systems perspective on multiple aspects of the learning process is reinforced. For students, an example of the importance of being active in the learning process and using available resources is provided. For policymakers, the paper attests to the importance of learning programmes expanding the limitations of the regular curricula and the need to support additional programmes and the benefits of a participative approach and experience learning in the process of developing active citizens.

The authors point to the need for authentic situational-context experience and active communication in the learning process. Additionally, the authors provide an example of systems investigation of the learning process.

The paper identifies the gap between the Jean Monnet modules and active citizen abilities and provides a potential approach towards reducing them. It also provides a multi-level method for monitoring and adjusting the learning process.

Students entering Zayed University are expected to become active participants in their learning. However, the majority of these students have come from a public education system that is recognized to focus on teacher-centered passive learning. Students may be unprepared for this transition. This paper reports on a case study of changes in performance and motivation for students transitioning from passive learning to active learning.

Three students from the public education system were followed through two consecutive courses employing increasing active learning. Methods included observations, surveys, and interviews. Results indicate that the initial transition from passive learning to active learning has a negative impact, mainly due to inadequate preparation. However, subsequent development of skills through exposure results in improvement to the extent that motivation and performance exceed high school levels. It is concluded that the transition from active learning has the capacity to greatly improve student achievement if properly managed.

This study analyzes the effect of the techniques of active teaching and learning as a way of delivery on the outcomes of quality learning. Focusing on the courses of architectural science taught in a nontraditional method using various active learning strategies, the study takes the case study of the course Building Illumination and Acoustics (BIA) delivered in the academic year 2019–2020 at the University of Sharjah (UoS)'s Architectural Engineering Department (AED).

Utilizing both quantitative and qualitative research approaches, the study applied a case study and survey as methods. A questionnaire was designed and performed to assess the level of students' satisfaction with the implemented active teaching method.

The vibrant learning setting made the students actively engaged and more motivated and enthusiastic. The active learning practices used, including employing senses as in sight and hearing, reasoning rationally and intuitively, reflecting and acting, working steadily and in fits and starts, creating mathematical models, visualizing and memorizing and drawing analogies, were efficient in boosting their ability to comprehend theoretical concepts more effectively. The delivery style effectively enhances quality learning when various active techniques are used pedagogically beyond being merely a utilitarian instrument to prepare novice students of architectural engineering to fulfill practical challenges.

This article focuses specifically on a theoretical, scientific non-studio course in a particular program of architectural engineering in a particular semester before the dramatic changes in styles of teaching delivery that happened due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Future research could further highlight its results by comparing them to statistical evidence of the development of the course, especially for the duration of online teaching during the pandemic and the hybrid teaching period after it.

This article contributes to the development of teaching and learning of architectural engineering in the local Emirati context by putting original theories of teaching into practice. This paper further contributes to the field of architectural pedagogy in terms of the effect of active learning in the architecture field in the non-studio courses in higher education in the United Arab Emirates.

The purpose of this paper is to: (1) explore existing practices of STEM faculty at a private Lebanese university and (2) assess the extent of implementation of active learning among faculty members of selected STEM departments.

The Working Group on “Integrating Modern Scientific teaching methodologies in STEM” (IM-STEM) at a tertiary university in Lebanon advocates for novel research-based methods to enhance STEM education. This pilot study investigated, using a modified version of the Wieman and Gilbert “Teaching Practices Inventory”, the current teaching methods used by faculty members in selected STEM departments.

Remarkably, most respondents admit a willingness to incorporate new teaching methods. Main findings indicate that traditional teaching via didactic lecturing remains prevalent in the STEM classrooms at the tertiary academic institution in Lebanon despite sporadic individual efforts by faculty members to utilize unconventional methods and active learning.

One major limitation that influenced the efficiency of this study is the small number of respondents (71 faculty members). More in-depth data collection combining quantitative and qualitative data should be done in future studies.

Gaining insight into the actual methods used in STEM fields in various departments can help the university management to better understand the key importance of educational reform.

The main value of this paper is to serve as a prelude for educational reform at a tertiary academic institution.

Many scholars and practitioners have attempted innovative teaching practices in an effort to make complex ideas easier to comprehend and retain. The purpose of this study was to test the relationship between learning and the use of 3D models created to provide physical representations of abstract concepts students could hold and manipulate.

Using a quasi-experimental design, we test both the students' initial comprehension of the concept and their retention of the information four weeks later when the course concluded.

Findings included an initial boost in information retention and a likely increased retention of the information, showing promising trajectories for incorporating 3D objects to enhance teaching in the classroom.

This study provides a unique analysis of the use of 3D printing technology to illustrate abstract concepts. This teaching innovation provides another example of how technology can enhance and engage students through active learning. We find that this approach can increase student retention of material.

The purpose of this paper is to describe the challenges of teaching information literacy online to graduate students and evaluate software that supports using active learning techniques.

This conceptual paper analyzes different software tools and their functionality to aid in active learning, as well as describes elements of online teaching that facilitate active learning for information literacy.

Although software serves as the delivery tool, there is not one standalone product that provides all the needed aids to conduct active learning. Many other digital tools are needed in addition to the tutorial software to create active learning activities.

This paper provides activities and ideas to incorporate into the online information literacy session that contain active learning elements.

Although there is a wealth of literature about active learning of information literacy, very little surrounds teaching it online to graduate students. This paper focuses on this specific element of teaching information literacy through active learning methods in an online environment to graduate students.