Student motivation within a STEM course is dependent on their perceived relevance and utility of the topics learned. This paper presents an Informative Utility Value Intervention (IUVI) designed to promote perceptions of utility. The IUVI was designed as a series of assignments for general chemistry students in large lecture courses, but the…

This paper describes the collaboration of a Writing Center director and a professor of a Fisheries Biology course in support of a research paper entitled, "The World Without," which asks students to convince readers of the likely ecological consequences associated with the extinction of a finfish species or aquatic habitat. Opportunities…

We investigated the impact of an assignment wrapper in promoting self-regulation of learning in a series of written assignments for a First-Year Biology laboratory. Students completed a planning survey prior to submitting an Introduction assignment. Upon receipt of the graded Introduction, students completed an assignment wrapper, two more written…

Critical thinking is essential in academia and the workforce. Although writing can be used as a pedagogical tool for fostering deeper subject matter understanding, increased retention, and critical thinking, relatively few science courses are writing based. This writing-based introductory science course provided an opportunity for students to…

In this article, we discuss Micro Assignment Guided Inquiry and Collaboration (MAGIC), an active learning method that draws on the merits of inquiry-based learning in STEM courses. We describe the use of Micro Assignments (MAs) consisting of a series of short, instructive guiding questions that scaffold the course material. Students work through…

This paper describes an introductory biology course for undergraduates that heavily incorporates quantitative problem solving in activities and homework assignments. The course is broken up into a series of units, each organized around a motivating biological question or theme. Homework assignments address the theme or question, and typically…

The communication of scientific findings through writing is an important skill for undergraduate science majors to develop as they move through their respective degree programs. Seeing the importance of science communication skill development, we brought a science communication blog written by graduate students on the same campus to the attention…

This column provides original articles on innovations in case study teaching, assessment of the method, as well as case studies with teaching notes. This issue discusses dialogue writing guidelines most relevant to case writing.

This article provides and reflects on an original lesson plan for engaging high school, undergraduate, or graduate students in learning fundamental concepts of environmental ethics. Implementation of this lesson plan effectively promoted critical analysis, reflection, and communication of environmental ethics issues in a seminar for second-year…

Students in introductory college science courses often have a simplified understanding of the scientific method. To introduce students to the complexity of the scientific process and the value of empirical observations, I implemented a semester-long assignment that required introductory-level college science students to build and calibrate weather…

National science education documents emphasize new learning outcomes of elementary students; therefore, the preparation of elementary teachers should be revised to meet these challenges. This article describes how science educators at a large southeastern university developed specialized science training for elementary preservice teachers (EPSTs)…

Students in a junior- and senior-level Anatomy and Physiology course have the opportunity to correct missed exam questions ("regrade") and earn up to half of the original points missed. The three objectives of this study were to determine if: (a) performance on the regrade assignment was correlated with scores on subsequent exams, (b)…

This article details the aim, development, and implementation of the Chemistry-Genetics Course Collaborative (CGCC), a cotaught offering of a human genetics course with an honors introductory chemistry course. The CGCC was formed to fully integrate the two courses, along with the associated chemistry lab, to create an interdisciplinary scientific…

Although knowledge of disciplinary concepts and epistemic understanding of science are foundations of scientific literacy, students must learn to apply their knowledge to real-world situations. To engage effectively with contemporary water-related challenges with scientific and social dimensions, students need to understand the properties of water…

We describe the impact of a hybrid Earth and space science course, taught online and complemented by a 2-hour face-to-face lab, on the science teaching self-efficacy of elementary preservice teachers over a 3-year span. Guided by the two overarching objectives of engaging students in the content and increasing their comfort level with teaching…