The goal of this research was to test the effectiveness of a new science curriculum focused on increasing awareness and knowledge of microplastic pollution in middle school students. The curriculum utilized three teaching methods including lectures, object-mediated learning, and peer collaboration to enhance student engagement and learning. The 84…

Large lecture courses are an efficient way to convey material to many students but have potential limitations, most notably the tendency for them to promote passive learning opportunities rather than active pedagogies. The curriculum at Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University, like many veterinary schools, contains many large…

We show how learning can be improved, beyond that shown in actively taught classrooms, by also transforming the homework using the principles of deliberate practice. We measure the impact of transforming the homework on student learning in a course that had already implemented an active approach to teaching in class. We compare performance on the…

Nearly every introductory physics or chemistry course includes live lecture demonstrations, which can range from simple illustrations of a pendulum to elaborate productions with specialized apparatus and highly trained demonstrators. Students and instructors often consider "demos" to be among the highlights of these classes. Yet, in some…

The authors determined whether positive perceptions of integrating lecture and lab in Anatomy and Physiology courses persisted from 2015-2018. Students (843) and instructors (56) completed the Student Assessment of Their Learning Gains survey; perceptions were positive and consistent between both groups. Participant narratives identified the…

Students often struggle in introductory health sciences courses; some students have difficulty in upper level classes. To address this, we converted three lecture/lab courses, traditional first-year Anatomy and Physiology (A&P I), upper level Biomechanics, and upper level Microbiology to an integrated studio model. We used the Student…