The Student Participation Observation Tool (SPOT) is a web-based classroom observation protocol developed for higher education STEM courses and based on research on evidence-based practices. The low-inference and objective nature of the SPOT and visual outputs make it an optimal tool for teaching professional development. The SPOT allows novice…

Liberal arts programs encompass a range of academic disciplines, and their effectiveness relies not only on what these disciplines are, but also on how they are integrated. The natural sciences are one important component of liberal arts programs that may be difficult to assimilate with the rest of the curriculum. In this paper, the topic of…

This column provides original articles on innovations in case study teaching, assessment of the method, as well as case studies with teaching notes. This month's issue describes incorporating a journal article into the classroom by first converting it into a case study.

Faculty learning communities (FLCs), established prepandemic to disseminate and discuss evidence-based teaching practices as part of an NSF-funded project, Investigating Student Success Using Evidence-Based Strategies-eXpanded (ISSUES-X), proved effective at facilitating learning during a pandemic. As our university made the decision to operate…

Passive, lecture-based forms of instruction are often ineffective in helping students develop deep conceptual understanding of scientific concepts. Student-centered forms of instruction based in a constructivist framework, where students are guided toward actively constructing their understanding, have been met with greater success. However,…

In this study, conservation biology faculty and practitioners from across the United States designed classroom exercises and teaching interventions intended to bolster oral communication skills. Through repeated oral presentation assignments integrated into course requirements, the authors examined individual student learning gains via…

Teaching in the 21st century requires a modern teaching practice coherent with the evolutions of the Information Age. Interestingly, teaching practices have stretched beyond an art form and into the realm of science. Following these scientific trails, one can argue that one of the greatest challenges educators currently face is to maintain student…

This article discusses the challenges of keeping international students involved in class activities.

Introductory science, math, and engineering courses often have problems related to student engagement, achievement, and course completion. To begin examining these issues in greater depth, this pilot study compared student engagement, achievement, and course completion in a small and large section of an introductory biology class. Results based on…

The study described in this article incorporates qualitative research through in-depth, individual, structured interviews with 12 biology faculty from two Midwestern universities to explore perceptions about how they have learned to teach and how they work to improve their skills.

Most timeline analogies of geologic and evolutionary time are fundamentally flawed. They trade off the problem of grasping very long times for the problem of grasping very short distances. The result is an understanding of relative time with little comprehension of absolute time. Earlier work has shown that the distances most easily understood by…

This article provides readers with details concerning the implementation of four active learning techniques used to help undergraduate students critically discuss primary literature. On the basis of undergraduate and graduate student perceptions and experiences, the authors suggest techniques to enhance the quality of dual-listed courses and…

The authors describe a collaborative group-testing strategy implemented and studied in undergraduate science classes. This project investigated how the assessment strategy relates to student performance and perceptions about collaboration and focused on two sections of an undergraduate biotechnology course taught in separate semesters.

Undergraduate engineering education in the United States is in need of reform that addresses the recruitment and retention of a diverse population of students. Change Chem is a curriculum reform model that has been created to address this issue for freshman students. This article reports on a mixed method efficacy study of Change Chem, which uses…

Introducing students to the newest research in a field is a challenging task for an instructor. Commercially available course material is at least two to three years old, is not citable, and is not a realistic training aid for students planning to enter a scientific field. In addition, engaging students in discussions about current research topics…