This case study outlines the process of designing and implementing a professional development program that is inclusive of VITAL faculty within the College of Science and Mathematics at Kennesaw State University. We begin by providing background about the institution and developments that precipitated the creation of the 2022 Faculty Learning…

Introduction: Undergraduate research in science is recognized for fostering positive professional and personal development. Several studies have revealed these gains to be accomplished when research work is embedded in a structured setting, with additional programming. This research examines the implementation of remote programming in the Amgen…

Disease ecology classes were conducted at two residential middle school summer camps held at a university--a camp for local youth who paid tuition and a free camp for youth from statewide underserved communities including Native, low-income, and rural. Disease ecology is defined as the ecological study of host-pathogen interactions within the…

We use Paper Chase as a team science model to engage interdisciplinary learners in research. Paper Chase is a structured collaborative writing approach for rapidly disseminating research findings and serves as a collaborative active learning professional development program for students at a southeastern university. We evaluated the impacts across…

Office hours are a widely used, optional form of academic support that allow students to meet with their instructors outside of class time. Despite evidence that students benefit from student-faculty interactions, instructors broadly report that office hour attendance is poor. This article describes the implementation of a weekly "Alternative…

Course-based undergraduate research experiences (CURE) enhance student retention in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), particularly among students who belong to historically excluded communities. Yet the mechanisms by which CUREs contribute to student integration and persistence are poorly understood. Utilizing the tripartite…

This article describes the implementation of alternative grading (AG) strategies in an upper-division kinesiology and functional human anatomy course. Traditional point-based grading systems can negatively impact student mental health, decrease intrinsic motivation, and hinder learning. To address these issues, a proficiency-based grading approach…

Chemistry education researchers have, for many years, explored different ways of learning chemistry through modeling and open-ended problem-solving. With the emergence of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools such as ChatGPT, students now have access to dynamic scaffolds that can potentially support them in modeling. However, we still…

NMR prediction using ChemDoodle, NMR calculation with Gaussian, and hands-on data collection using a benchtop NMR spectrometer were explored to assess their synergistic capacity in teaching NMR to organic chemistry students. Nine molecules representing functional groups commonly encountered in undergraduate organic chemistry were selected. Spectra…

This paper analyzes the relationship between the development of pedagogical innovation projects in experimental sciences and the establishment and evolution of Professional Learning Communities (PLC) in higher education, within an open innovation framework. To achieve this, an evaluative study employing a mixed-methods approach was conducted,…

Virtual laboratories (VL) can provide students with learning experiences simulating practical experiments in a traditional laboratory. Evidence is presented that students believe in the truth of results from the VL as well as those from the traditional laboratory. The underlying reasons for these beliefs are explored, through Russell's description…

The Ouchterlony double immunodiffusion technique is used as a teaching tool for studying immune responses and exemplifying differences in antigen-antibody reactions. Although commonplace in undergraduate labs, standardized commercial kits limit learning experiences because they have fixed modalities of use, a low shelf-life, and impose budgetary…

Group work is commonly adopted in university science laboratories. However, student small-group discourse in university science labs is rarely investigated. We aim to bridge the gap in the literature by characterizing student discourse group roles in inquiry-based science labs. The instructional context for this study was a summer program hosted…

There are conditions that lead professors to use different text formats in quantum physics courses. Studying these conditions is an important aspect to understand the dynamics of physics pedagogy, and philosophy of science can be used as an orientation to do so. A case study was conducted at a Brazilian initial physics teacher training program.…

This 4-year longitudinal study identified the impact of a multifaceted mentoring and tutoring program on the retention and graduation rates of a diverse body of undergraduate college students enrolled in high-risk science courses. Findings revealed that the program was successful in increasing the retention and graduation rates of students who…