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eBook

Scientific Argumentation in Biology: 30 Classroom Activities (e-book)

“Individuals who are proficient in science should be able to understand the language of science and participate in scientific practices, such as inquiry and argumentation. Empirical research, however, indicates that many students do not develop thi...

Journal Article

The Impact of Active-Learning Exercises on the Grade Distribution in a Large-Lecture, General Education Biology Course

To make our general education biology course for nonmajors more relevant and engaging, we recently implemented an instructional approach featuring collaborative, active-learning exercises. The primary point of interest in this study was the impact of...

Journal Article

Transforming Undergraduate Science Education With Learning Assistants: Student Satisfaction in Large-Enrollment Course

Large-enrollment undergraduate science courses are often seen as “gatekeepers” and tend to support less-than-ideal pedagogical approaches. Student satisfaction with teaching and learning and gains in student conceptual understanding in these cour...

Journal Article

Structuring a Science-Mathematics Partnership to Support Preservice Teachers' Data Analysis and Interpretation Skills

As science teacher educators attempt to prepare teachers to underscore the aims of the Next Generation Science Standards alongside the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics, they must pay close attention to the intersection of these two content...

Journal Article

Helping Students Save: Assigning Textbooks Early Can Save Money and Enhance Learning

Education costs, especially textbook prices, are outpacing inflation and becoming a serious financial burden for college students. Because student textbook use is linked to academic performance, making textbooks more affordable and accessible is one ...

Journal Article

The Power of Educational Robotics as an Integrated STEM Learning Experience in Teacher Preparation Programs

The use of integrated science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) instruction has the affordances of combining harmonious content area connections into real-world experiences that are both engaging and challenging. This article introduce...

Journal Article

An Improved Design for In-Class Review

We present the theory and implementation of a review strategy based on testing rather than lecturing. We also show the results of a beginning-of-course review using the format of a two-stage examination, in which students complete a set of questions ...

Journal Article

Two-Year Community: Integrating Reading Skills in an Introductory Science Classroom

Typically science textbooks communicate information in a discipline-specific manner. To read an average science textbook, students need to understand cause/effect, learn a new language, interpret charts/graphs, and make sense of static drawings depic...

Journal Article

Case Study: The 20/80% Rule: Presentation Is the Key

There are a million things that we do in the classroom every day that make or break a lesson. Just as there are good ways to give a lecture, there is an assortment of ways to encourage discussion, starting with how we look and act in front of our stu...

Journal Article

Research and Teaching: Assessing and Refining Group Take-Home Exams as Authentic, Effective Learning Experiences

The learning goals of a lower division honors course, Science as a Way of Knowing, include critical thinking, scientific literacy, quantitative reasoning, communication, and teamwork. To help students develop skills and competencies for the course le...

Journal Article

Research and Teaching: During POGIL Implementation the Professor Still Makes a Difference

One common notion is that all classrooms using Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning (POGIL) are the same. Though POGIL has essential components, this research found that students’ conceptual achievement, a classroom outcome, can be differential...

Journal Article

Research and Teaching: Laboratory Workload Calculation and Its Impact on Science Instruction at the Community College Level

Despite the large body of evidence that indicates activity-based instruction is more effective than lecture-only instruction, for the purpose of workload calculation, many community colleges assign less value to the time spent in science lab than in ...

Journal

Journal of College Science Teaching—May/June 2015

See the Two-Year Community column to learn how one group of authors integrated reading and comprehension skills in an introductory biology course for students requiring biology remediation in a community college. Another article explores whether larg...

eBook

Learning Science and the Science of Learning: Science Educators' Essay Collection (e-book)

Sure, you teach science. But do your students really learn it? Students of all ages will absorb more if you adapt the way you teach to the way they learn. That's the message of this thoughtful collection of 12 essays by noted science teachers. Based ...

eBook

Classroom Creature Culture: Algae to Anoles (e-book)

Living organisms are important classroom resources and require appropriate, responsible care. This anthology of articles from NSTA's award-winning journal Science and Children provides the basics about collecting, investigating, and caring for plants...

eBook

Reimagining the Science Department (e-book)

What if you could change the department-level factors that don’t support teaching and learning? Explore answers to this fascinating question and many more with Reimagining the Science Department. In five thoughtful chapters, the book invites you t...