This qualitative study was conducted to understand the instructional strategies used by high school integrated STEM (iSTEM) teachers to apply real-world problem solving in their classrooms in the state of Indiana. The problem addressed by this study was the need to understand the instructional strategies employed by iSTEM teachers in their…

The Scientific Computing for Chemists course taught at Wabash College teaches chemistry students to use the Python programming language, Jupyter notebooks, and a number of common Python scientific libraries to process, analyze, and visualize data. Assuming no prior programming experience, the course introduces students to basic programming and…

With the introduction of "Next Generation Science Standards" ("NGSS"), teachers have been called to find meaningful and engaging ways to teach science content while incorporating engineering practices and, to a lesser extent, computing and computational thinking. The task becomes even more complex when they also have to…

Facilitating student growth and development in diagnosing and solving technical problems remains a challenge for technology and engineering educators. With funding from the National Science Foundation, this team of researchers developed a self-guided, computer-based instructional program to experiment with conceptual mapping as a treatment to…

In this paper I describe classroom experiences with pre-service secondary mathematics teachers (PSMTs) investigating and extending patterns embedded in the Pythagorean configuration. This geometric figure is a fruitful source of mathematical tasks to help students, including PSMTs, further develop habits of mind such as visualization,…

This paper describes a student-centered approach to a power engineering technology course using the flipped or inverted classroom as well as active learning in the form of group discussions and team problem solving. The study compares student performance and perceptions of a traditional, teaching-centered classroom to two different flipped…

Promoting and sustaining effective discussion--that which contributes to learning--is a skill that eludes many instructors (Darling-Hammond, 2008; Ge, Yamashiro, & Lee, 2000). This study explored the role and strategies of an expert instructor in an online advanced instructional design (ID) course that utilized a case-based learning (CBL)…

The How Far Do You Think You Can Jump? activity (see EJ1174770) was completed in three different contexts: an after-school mathematics enrichment program at Woodland and Country Schools in Weston, Massachusetts; a small-group pull-out of second graders at Wren Elementary in Piedmont, South Carolina; and a family math night in Lafayette, Indiana.…

Problem solving is a necessary component of developing a strong mathematics curriculum that will help all students achieve their life goals, regardless of their specific academic plans. What day-to-day instructional decisions do teachers need to make if they believe that problem solving is a vehicle for learning mathematical content? In this…

A central goal of nonmajors chemistry courses is to instill within students the sense that chemistry does not occur in a vacuum but rather permeates everyday life. To encourage students to consider chemistry within the broader context of society and public policy, a week-long module in a survey course for nonmajors was designed to connect…

Introductory undergraduate physics courses aim to help students develop the skills and strategies necessary to solve complex, real world problems, but many students not only leave these courses with serious gaps in their conceptual understanding, but also maintain a novice-like approach to solving problems. "Matter and Interactions"…

Design thinking is about using design to improve the human experience. It combines collaboration, systems thinking, and a balance of creative and analytical habits. It also fuels what the students want for themselves: making an impact on the real world in real time and having adults take their passions seriously. The process essentially comes down…

The study explored the effects of a computer-assisted COnceptual Model-based Problem-Solving (COMPS) program on multiplicative word-problem-solving performance of students with learning disabilities or difficulties. The COMPS program emphasizes mathematical modeling with algebraic expressions of relations. Participants were eight fourth and fifth…

As a foundational course in medical education, gross anatomy serves to orient medical and veterinary students to the complex three-dimensional nature of the structures within the body. Understanding such spatial relationships is both fundamental and crucial for achievement in gross anatomy courses, and is essential for success as a practicing…

The purpose of this study was to investigate how modeling-based instruction combined with an interactive-engagement teaching approach promotes students' problem solving abilities. I focused on students in a calculus-based introductory physics course, based on the matter and interactions curriculum of Chabay & Sherwood (2002) at a large state…