Leading voices in the biological sciences have called for a transformation in graduate education leading to the PhD degree. One area commonly singled out for growth and innovation is cross-training in computational science. In 1998, the University of Tennessee (UT) founded an intercollegiate graduate program called the UT-ORNL Graduate School of…

Inquiry-based science interventions aim to improve students' science proficiency by helping them understand scientific processes. In these interventions, students conduct hands-on investigations of science concepts and everyday phenomena, construct explanations for what they observe, consider alternative explanations, and communicate and justify…

Inquiry-based science interventions aim to improve students' science proficiency by helping them understand scientific processes. In these interventions, students conduct hands-on investigations of science concepts and everyday phenomena, construct explanations for what they observe, consider alternative explanations, and communicate and justify…

This article describes a museum-based urban teacher-residency (UTR) program's approach to building subject-specific content knowledge and research experience in Earth Science teacher candidates. In the museum-based program, graduate-level science courses and research experiences are designed and implemented specifically for the UTR by active Earth…

The principles of course redesign that were applied to a gateway Cell Biology course at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee are applicable to courses large and small, and to institutions of any size. The challenge was to design a content-rich science course that kept pace with present and future content and at the same time use principles of…

Project LOGgED ON was a project supported by the U.S. Department of Education that maintained two initiatives, a.) to provide online case based professional development for teachers in gifted education, b.) to provide online advanced science curriculum for underserved gifted students. For the purposes of this study, the author will examine the…

We report on an outcomes assessment of the Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE) Program at Emory University in Atlanta, GA. Using follow-up survey data and academic transcripts, we gauge SURE's impact on levels of interest in, preparedness for, and actual pursuit of graduate study and professional careers in the sciences for the…

The Program for Leadership in Earth Systems Education (PLESE), a teacher enhancement program sponsored by the National Science Foundation in 1990-94, was a coordinated effort to infuse Earth Systems concepts throughout the K-12 science curriculum across the United States. Characteristics of the program are reviewed in this paper and the results of…

Web-based computer-aided instruction (CAI) has become increasingly important to medical curricula. This multi-year study investigated the effectiveness of CAI and the factors affecting level of individual use. Three CAI were tested that differed in specificity of applicability to the curriculum and in the level of student interaction with the CAI.…

This paper summarizes the findings of a twenty year old pre-engineering program that is aimed at improving both the recruitment and retention of under-represented students pursuing careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). The Wright Science Technology and Engineering Preparatory Program (STEPP) was initiated in 1988 for…

Understanding the relevance of basic science knowledge in the determination of patient assessment, diagnosis, and treatment is critical to good medical practice. One method often used to direct students in the fundamental process of integrating basic science and clinical information is problem-based learning (PBL). The faculty facilitated small…

There is a general agreement that academic standards in Papua New Guinea high schools are below those in many other countries. This paper will examine this problem generally and also in relation to the teaching of mathematics and science. At Goroka Teachers' College, which is the only teacher training college for secondary school teachers in Papua…

A 1998 National Science Foundation report says minorities and women are still underrepresented in science and technology fields. "Saturday Science," an enrichment program designed by the School Board of Broward County (Florida) and Broward Community College, substantially increased racial/gender participation and GPAs in nonintroductory…

The co-authors have been co-Principal Investigators on two large-scale National Science Foundation-funded teacher enhancement projects for the past eight years. One of the projects focused on middle and high schools and the second focused on the elementary school. The design of each was different, reflecting the differing natures of the…

In July 2001, the Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA) agreed to the development of assessment instruments and key performance measures for reporting on student skills, knowledge and understandings in primary science. It directed the newly established Performance Measurement and Reporting Taskforce…