JoinAll Resources
Book Chapter
Introduction to Nanotechnology
Imagining differences in scale can be very easy (a softball is bigger than a baseball) or very difficult (how can we imagine the size of a galaxy?). It is perhaps most challenging to build conceptual frameworks for objects that are too small to see. ...
Book Chapter
Team Teaching Science at the High School Level
The focus of this chapter is the specific challenges of team teaching each individual discipline in the typical high school or secondary school. Although science curricula vary not only from state to state, but even district to district, there is gen...
Journal Article
Student Performances in Various Learning Protocols
A comparison was made between students' overall performance, as measured by overall grade, in different teaching and learning protocols. The data gathered indicate that students' conceptual learning is enhanced by the self-guided inquiry eBook and gr...
Journal Article
Favorite Demonstration: Learning the BCD-To-Seven-Segment Decoder By Counting Coins
This activity helps instructors to demonstrate a method of converting seven-bit binary numbers to decimal numbers and vice versa....
Journal Article
The GK–12 program offers graduate students unique teaching opportunities as students are paired with a teacher in a K–12 classroom. This article documents the benefits for teaching fellows in numerous areas, such as communication with various aud...
Journal Article
An Astronomical Misconceptions Survey
Misconceptions that students bring with them to the introductory science classroom are especially prevalent in astronomy. One way to identify and possibly dispel some of these misconceptions is through using a misconceptions survey. This article repo...
Journal Article
The Journal of College Teaching’s editor shares thoughts regarding the current issue....
Journal Article
Point of View: Teach Both Sides on Global Warming
This column shares reflections or thoughtful opinions on issues of broad interest to the community. In this month’s issue the author encourages teachers to teach both sides of global warming, thus teaching students how to evaluate evidence and reco...
Journal Article
The Use of Mastery Learning With Competency-Based Grading in an Organic Chemistry Course
Mastery learning is an instructional method based on the idea that students learn best if they fully understand one concept before moving to the next and has been shown to be extremely effective in math and science curricula. Competency-based grading...
Journal Article
Strategies for the Introduction of Neuroscience for Underrepresented University Students
The University of Puerto Rico Mayaguez hosted a series of academic and applied neuroscience activities as part of a Brain Awareness Week (BAW). The study in this article explores the impact of the BAW events as a vehicle for advancing interest in and...
Journal Article
Using Google Earth to Teach the Magnitude of Deep Time
Most timeline analogies of geologic and evolutionary time are flawed, causing an understanding of relative time with little comprehension of absolute time. Using Google Earth, one can construct an ideal timeline analogy relative to a point in the cla...
Journal Article
Hot Under the Collar: Weighing the Dangers of a Weight-Loss Drug
This column provides original articles on innovations in case study teaching, assessment of the method, as well as case studies with teaching notes. In this month’s issue the goal of the case study is for students to expand their understanding of m...
Journal Article
Instructor Gender and Student Confidence in the Sciences: A Need for More Role Models?
This article examines the extent to which college-level instructor gender affects the confidence of males and females in their scientific abilities....
Journal Article
Battling Ecophobia: Instilling Activism in Nonscience Majors When Teaching Environmental Issues
This article describes an approach to teaching about environmental issues that helps instill a sense of agency in the young learner. Students identify five lifestyle behaviors that contribute to environmental degradation and come up with an alternati...
Journal Article
The Brooklyn Opportunities in Science and Careers (BOSC) program aims to increase student participation in physics, environmental studies, geology, and teaching science using a career-focused strategy to recruit students. Students work in collaborati...
Journal Article
McLean v. Arkansas (1982) and Beyond: Implications for Biology Professors
To assess current trends of evolution instruction in high schools of the mid-South, the authors had Arkansas high school biology teachers and students enrolled in a freshman-level nonmajors biology course at a midsize public Arkansas university respo...
Journal Article
A Comparison of Two Forms of Assessment in an Introductory Biology Laboratory Course
Because of enrollment increases, many institutions have advocated the replacement of free-response exams with forced-choice exams as a time-saving strategy. The study in this article evaluated the replacement of free-response practical-examination qu...
Journal Article
A Novel Instrument for Assessing Students' Critical Thinking Abilities
In this article the authors describe the Assessment of Critical Thinking Ability survey and its preliminary application to assess the critical thinking skills of undergraduate students, graduate students, and postdoctoral fellows....
Book Chapter
Butter Battle: Physical Changes Versus Chemical Changes
When passing hot rolls around the dinner table, buying popcorn at a movie theater, or making cookies, it is there: butter. Creating butter in a bottle helps students see how a physical change can be more drastic than an ice cube melting. This experi...
Book Chapter
Cinnamon Rolls: Creating a Control Set to Analyze the Role of Yeast in Baked Goods
Have you ever taken part in a food fight? There are foods flying left and right, and all you can think about is how you don’t want to get mustard on your new shirt. But instead of worrying about stains, you really should be thinking about density...
Book Chapter
Growing a Pancake: How Environmental Factors Impact Fungi Growth in a Sourdough Starter
Many people spend time cultivating and tending gardens that grow items such as tomatoes, herbs, strawberries, and other produce. But how many people do you know who can grow pancakes? This experiment is all about growing pancakes, or at least an i...
Book Chapter
This experiment presents a different approach to using the biological agent of yeast in a liquid format. Rather than using the yeast in a baking procedure, the fermentation process is highlighted as part of the creation of a carbonated beverage. In...
Book Chapter
If your students are ready to take on more responsibility in the lab, then this is the experiment for you. This experiment guides students through the process of creating their own procedure to test a given independent variable. Students are instr...