Research shows that there are multiple benefits to giving college students oral rather than written exams. However, studies that examine, describe, and differentiate how students view their oral exams were never found in a literature search. The purpose of this study was to use Q methodology [Q] to describe the divergent student views about taking…

Students come into the classroom with a variety of background knowledge. Therefore, it is imperative that educators are able to help all students, regardless of their familiarity with the content. Since it can be challenging for some large enrollment classes to schedule recitation classes after lectures due to logistical constraints, this study…

First-year undergraduate nursing students enrolled in a GOB (general, organic, biological) Chemistry for Health Professions course often exhibit an initial apprehension in their chemical education. Due to students' varying backgrounds in chemistry, it becomes difficult to engage them in chemistry and gauge their comprehension of lecture concepts.…

Redox reaction is a core concept in teaching and learning chemistry. This article explores a new method for balancing organic redox reactions that requires the balancing of both atoms and charges. The H+, O, H[subscript 2]O, and e- are used as balanced vehicles in two half reactions. A non-oxidation number approach can be applied to both molecular…

There is a growing need for college science faculty to teach a diverse group of learners. The Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework can be used to create inclusive learning materials and activities in the higher education science classroom. A UDL Academy introduced science faculty to the UDL framework, which led to them implementing UDL in…

The incorporation of evidence-based practices into the classroom increases achievement and retention of students in STEM. However, the effectiveness of these practices depends on the degree to which faculty are knowledgeable about the strategies and implement the strategies in their teaching. This study investigates the familiarity, adoption, and…

Preliminary evidence regarding the effectiveness of a participation-based, formative assessment pedagogy in the laboratory component of undergraduate science classes is presented in this paper. The formative approach to teaching lab is unique in science education given the prevailing paradigm of summative assessment via grading lab reports. The…

Studies on the effectiveness of clickers in undergraduate chemistry courses are mixed, and there is disagreement on how to effectively leverage clickers to improve student learning performance. To fill a gap in the research, we analyzed three different teaching strategies (two involving clickers) in a General Chemistry I course over a 13-year time…

Part of learning science is practicing reasoning, but some of the most common approaches to science instruction offer students little opportunity to do that, especially in the whole-class setting of large-enrollment courses. We present and closely examine a single episode of instructor listening--an instructor deliberately adopting a stance, and…

This article provides two additional mnemonics that can serve to help undergraduate students recall how to apply the rules of writing net ionic equations. These mnemonics were incorporated into dozens of lecture and laboratory class content, which includes hundreds of undergraduate (health professions and physical science major) students. As a…

One of the major challenges of teaching science has been engaging students in discussions of concepts due to lack of perceived relevancy of topics to students' individual goals and societal issues. Science has been viewed as a set of abstract topics disconnected from the real world. To increase student motivation, self-efficacy, and interest in…

Chemical laboratory safety education is often synonymous with boring, dry, drawn-out lectures. In an effort to challenge this norm and stimulate vivid learning opportunities about laboratory safety, college chemistry classes analyzed a short, humorous video clip of a character, named Mr. Bean, who visits a chemistry laboratory and commits several…

This article describes the course design and teaching methodology for a polymer chemistry and applications lecture class specifically aimed at small college and university instruction.

In recent years, video-based lectures have been increasingly used in education as part of flipped classroom approaches, adult education, distance learning, and other applications. Though approaches in video-based lectures have been widely studied, less has been reported in the development of approaches to teach relevant technical skills, such as…

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…