We describe how a practical instructional development process helped a first-year assistant professor rapidly develop, implement, and assess the impact on her Analytical Chemistry course caused by three changes: (a) moving the lab into the same semester as the lecture, (b) developing a more collaborative classroom environment, and (c) increasing…

In the nonmajor science classroom, case studies--when used as learning tools--should help students build the necessary framework to understand the nature of science. For most students, the nonmajor science course (in this case, Astronomy 101) may be the last time that they interact with science in a formal learning setting. A National Science…

Broadening participation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers requires that underrepresented students, including women and minorities, persist in their studies and complete undergraduate and graduate degrees. Studies have shown that engaging students in undergraduate research and improving students' science…

Case study teaching had a long tradition in law and business before it made the jump to medical school education in the form of Problem-Based Learning (PBL) in the 1970s. Today, both the University of Delaware's Clearinghouse and the University of Buffalo's National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science (NCCSTS) have hundreds of cases and…

College faculty have myriad choices of resources for their students when designing courses. The rising prices of textbooks and the availability of cell phones with internet access open the question of using cell phones in the classroom. In this study, I compared student learning in an ecology course between a semester in which a textbook was used…

Cell phones have become ubiquitous in society, but they are typically seen as a problem in the classroom. This study was designed to assess the perspective of students regarding the use of cell phones as academic tools in the classroom. The author encouraged students to use their cell phones in an environmental issues course to find data and other…

The Index of Learning Styles (ILS) generates reliable data. Its ability to characterize learning preference has been validated. However, the ILS has had very limited application in biology education. In 2009, students in an introductory biology laboratory completed the ILS. Overall academic performance (2009) was negatively associated with…

We revised a sophomore-level genetics class to more actively engage the students in their learning. The students worked in groups on quizzes using the Immediate Feedback Assessment Technique (IF-AT) and active-learning projects. The IF-AT quizzes allowed students to discuss key concepts in small groups and learn the correct answers in class. The…

Science for Elementary Educators is a multidisciplinary, interactive learning course developed for the science instruction of childhood education majors. The course described here is a model for science education reform that requires relatively few resources, making it ideal for adoption at any institution. (Contains 4 figures.)

As a science teacher, the author strives to make science an effective component of a liberal arts education. In this article, he describes a conceptual physics/astronomy course integrated with such humanities fields as history, art, and literature, which he has been teaching over the last 5 years. The course, entitled Physics of Heaven and…