The COVID-19 pandemic emphasized the importance of peer communication networks for student outcomes. Herein, we describe the use of supplemental instructional videos created by former students and integrated into electronic lab notebooks, to restore the lost community-learning component using student voices in a de-densified upper-division…

Creation of videos is one of the many ways faculty and teachers have had to cope with the limitations of teaching chemistry laboratory at this time of COVID-19 restrictions. In this communication, I describe ideas for videos generated by students in a class I taught entitled "Teaching of Biology". The students were required to interview…

As a means to encourage engagement in a large introductory organic chemistry class, students were tasked with the creation of digital tutorials for specific problems sourced from the assigned class textbook. Students had the freedom to choose how to produce their tutorials as long as the final product was a digital object suitable for sharing with…

Earth's easily seen surface features (mountains, volcanoes, and islands)--and the movement of the tectonic plates that lie below--offer hints about the processes that produced them. Inquiries in seismology, the study of earthquakes and other ground movements, can help students learn about Earth's geologic processes. This article describes an…

Advances in 3D printing technology over the past decade have led to its expansion into all subfields of science, including chemistry. This technology provides useful teaching tools that facilitate communication of difficult chemical concepts to students and researchers. Presented here is the use of 3D printing technology to create tangible models…

The "Next Generation Science Standards" (NGSS) challenges science teachers to think beyond specific content standards when considering how to design and implement curriculum. This lesson, "Windmills by Design," is an insightful lesson in how science teachers can create and implement a cross-cutting lesson to teach the concepts…

The green chemistry course taught at Westminster College (PA) incorporates nontraditional teaching techniques and texts to educate future chemists about the importance of using green chemistry principles. The course is designed to introduce green chemistry concepts and demonstrate their inherent necessity by discussing historical missteps by the…

As a chemistry teacher, Rosemary Davidson has found "infographics" (information graphics) successfully engage her students in science--not only in carrying out the research for classroom projects but also in presenting the results of their research to their peers. This article will help teachers integrate student-created infographics…

Students engage with science content when they are asked to explain and communicate their knowledge to others. In particular, encouraging students to create various digital media forms such as videos, podcasts, vodcasts, screencasts, digital stories and animations to explain science is usually engaging, especially if they have ownership of the…

Of the eight scientific practices highlighted in "A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas," the first is for students to develop abilities to ask questions and define problems (NRC 2012). Constructing a range of questions about an object or phenomenon validates not only what students have…

Students developing their labs lead them to enhance the laboratory experience. This benefits the students as they learn more about the experiments and they get benefit by peers led labs through a more fluid discussion.

The Examination where the Student Asks the Questions is a system-oriented teaching/evaluation strategy initially implemented in freshman chemistry which includes a prearranged oral examination whereby the course professor is examined by students using home-prepared, written questions. (11 references) (Author/MKR)

The use of mobiles to illustrate a number of basic principles in ecology teaching is rewarding, particularly with less able students, and an attractive end-product to decorate the biology laboratory. Suggestions for constructing the mobiles and a diagram of a sample mobile are provided. (Author/JN)

As an alternative to traditional science projects, students in introductory organic and inorganic chemistry were given the opportunity to produce an "audiovisual" term paper. Rationale for the project, responses from student self-evaluation questionnaires, and comments on implementing the project (including cost and time factors) are…

The extensive use of commercial kits in molecular biology and biochemistry has prompted us to design a series of practical sessions to help students become familiar with the uses and limitations of pre-packaged assay systems. To facilitate an understanding of these assay systems and to promote reflection on their appropriate use, students…