Modeled in this column is the teaching of a text mapping routine that supports students reading and remembering the salient features of the text. The authors renamed the story mapping technique "text mapping plus" because they found that as students added relational words and graphics to their maps their retells of both fiction and nonnarrative…

Phylogenetic trees provide visual representations of ancestor-descendant relationships, a core concept of evolutionary theory. We introduced "tree thinking" into our introductory organismal biology course (freshman/sophomore majors) to help teach organismal diversity within an evolutionary framework. Our instructional strategy consisted…

"I Wonder" boards are a teaching strategy that can be used in the classroom, as well as during science learning opportunities in nonformal settings, such as after-school science programs or summer camps.This simple strategy has led to deeper science exploration in 4-H, as young people learn alongside program staff, teachers, or…

Spreadsheets are useful for large data sets but they may be too wide or too long to print as conventional tables. Response grids offer solutions to the challenges posed by any large data set. They have wide application throughout science and for every subject and context where visual data displays are designed, within education and elsewhere.…

The media plays a significant role in shaping cultural norms and attitudes, concomitantly reinforcing "body" and "beauty" ideals and gender stereotypes. Unrealistic, photoshopped and stereotyped images used by the media, advertising and fashion industries influence young people's body image and impact on their feelings of body…

This article explores a multidisciplinary lesson on nanotechnology that can provide an effective means for teaching about both STEM and social studies topics. This approach encourages students to consider the "role that science and technology play in our lives and in our cultures." The extraordinary promise of nanotechnology, however, is…

The activities described here allow students to explore the concept of diffusion with the use of common equipment such as computers, webcams and analysis software. The procedure includes taking a series of digital pictures of a container of water with a webcam as a dye slowly diffuses. At known time points, measurements of the pixel densities…

A learning module for molecular level analysis of protein structure and ligand/drug interaction through the visualization of X-ray diffraction is presented. Using DeepView as molecular model visualization software, students learn about the general concepts of protein structure. This Biochemistry classroom exercise is designed to be carried out by…

The challenges of learning statistics, particularly distributions and their characteristics, can be potentially monumental for vision impaired and blind students. The authors provide some practical advice for teaching these students.

Writing instruction is central to the implementation of the Common Core State Standards. It is embedded across all curricula. Under the Common Core guidelines, students must produce writing that includes not only narrative and literary responses as part of the language arts curriculum but also argumentative and informative/explanatory texts in…

A single subject alternating treatment design across three teacher-student dyads was used to investigate the comparative impact on student academic engaged time (AET) of three common opportunities to respond (OTR) interventions, a) guided notes, b) class-wide peer tutoring, and c) response cards. Subjects were three students with…

Scientific inscriptions--graphs, diagrams, and data--and argumentation are integral to generating and communicating scientific understanding. Scientific inscriptions and argumentation are also important to learning science. However, previous research has indicated that learners struggle to understand and learn science content represented in…

We analyze the interaction of 3 students working on mathematics problems over several days in a virtual math team. Our analysis traces out how successful collaboration in a later session is contingent upon the work of prior sessions and shows how the development of representational practices is an important aspect of these participants' problem…

This study describes the classroom environment that students with visual impairment typically experience in regular Australian early education. Adequacy of the classroom environment (teacher training and experience, teacher support, parent involvement, adult involvement, inclusive attitude, individualization of the curriculum, physical…

Established in 1873, Drury College in Springfield, Missouri, provided a unique experience for their undergraduate students. A limited amount of research has been conducted on the institution but no work has been done to specifically look at the undergraduate student experience. Using archival research methods and information from literature on…