Viruses are all around--and within. They replicate inside the cells of living organisms. An estimated 1.6 million to 40 million of them occupy each cubic meter of the air people breathe. The activity described in this article helps students understand how the structure of a virus allows it to infect a specific set of organisms and cell types.…

Inspiring Science Education (ISE) (http://www.inspiringscience.eu/) is an EU funded initiative that seeks to further the use of inquiry-based science learning (IBSL) through the medium of ICT in the classroom. The Basketball Shot is a scenario (lesson plan) that involves the use of video capture to help the student investigate the concepts of…

The current learning environment is substantially different than what existed for most of the 20th century. Learners and teachers today must navigate in perpetually changing contexts where education is influenced by technological advancement and obsolescence, economic barriers, a changing employment landscape, and even international politics.…

This classroom guide is intended to inspire and expand teachers' thinking about effective assessment in project-based learning (PBL). The tips listed in this guide are organized to follow the arc of a project. First comes planning, then the launch into active learning, and then a culminating presentation. Reflection is the final stage, and it's…

Web-based instruction is not a new phenomenon. There are 15-20 years of research and literature to support the effectiveness of web-based instruction. The purpose of this article is to synthesize the research in this field in order to determine which factors are critical to the success of web-based instruction. We created a toolkit to assist…

As part of a curriculum development project entitled Crossing Boundaries, these authors designed an inquiry-based activity that introduces students to landscape change and potential impacts on associated biological communities. Using pairs of current and historical satellite images, students explore landscape change in a variety of U.S. and…

Project-Based Learning (PBL) connects standards-based content to real-world scenarios through the use of projects to improve student achievement. By engaging students in authentic problems that do not have a predetermined solution, students learn both subject matter and critical 21st-century skills. This "Focus On" addresses what…

Describes an attempt to systematically incorporate "active learning" into the structure of an elective course designed to instruct students in computer-based approaches to statistics. Concludes that this approach to statistics instruction resulted in both high student learning and high student motivation to learn. Contains 15 references.…

Presents a student project in which students in groups of three or four study an animal type using different learning styles and methods, including electronic media. (YDS)

Uses the World Wide Web to provide an active learning environment with rapid and accurate homework feedback which is also an effective tool to foster critical thinking skills. Allows students to submit a second chance homework following feedback to a previously wrongly answered question. (YDS)

Like a spirited idea exchange among experienced professors, "Teaching Tips: Innovations in Undergraduate Science Instruction" brings the best thinking from campuses nationwide about how to engage undergraduate science students. Published to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the founding of the Society for College Science Teachers (SCST), "Tips"…

Design of student-centered instruction for telecourses must take into consideration the variables that contribute to meaningful and motivated student learning: clarity; connections; teacher immediacy behaviors; and active learning. Unlike much conventional instruction, telecourse teaching isn an intensive and demanding team process requiring…

Observes that the development of new instructional technologies has produced a proliferation of distance learning courses and programs. Examines one mode of distance learning, known as asynchronous learning networks, and discusses some pedagogical principles and practices that can guide this delivery mode. Points to some positive aspects of online…

Describes an active learning approach used in an introductory biology class and evaluates the project with student surveys. Presents students' answers to survey questions. (Contains 16 references.) (YDS)

This book offers an overview of the cooperative learning process, including its rationale, research base, value, and practical considerations, with an emphasis on two key characteristics: cooperative learning's ability to create communities within classrooms, and well-structured, sequenced assignments which allow students to internalize…