All Resources

Journal Article

Science Sampler: How long is your day?

The tilt of the Earth on its axis and the manner in which sunlight strikes the Earth remains one of the most misunderstood concepts taught in an introductory astronomy course. The misconceptions that surround the reasons for the seasonal variations w...

Journal Article

The Early Years: Water Works

“You worked hard digging that hole,” “You really had to work to push that wagon,” and “Climbing on the monkey bars is hard work,” are phrases commonly heard on the playground. Children love to try difficult physical tasks that require ...

Journal Article

Every Day Science Calendar: August 2007

This monthly feature contains facts and challenges for the science explorer. ...

Journal Article

Cape Wind: A Public Policy Debate for the Physical Sciences

Since the industrial revolution, technological innovation and the application of basic scientific research have transformed society. Increasingly, critical conversations and legislation regarding national and international public policy have sophisti...

Journal Article

Science Shorts: A Matter of Volume

You may have frozen water in a bottle to take hiking or camping. Perhaps you’ve had the unfortunate experience of filling the bottle too full and discovering that the ice burst out of its container. This change in volume in going from a liquid to a...

Journal Article

Research and Teaching: How Constructivist Are We? Representations of Transmission and Participatory Models of Instruction in the <em>Journal of College Science Teaching</em>

Constructivism has become a widely understood and broadly accepted learning theory. Constructivism contends that each of us makes sense of our world by connecting new experiences to our existing understandings. Learners, as they encounter new situati...

Journal Article

A Science Club Takes Action

The after-school science club at Galtier Math, Science, and Technology Elementary Magnet School in St. Paul, Minnesota, learned some valuable lessons when they took newfound knowledge about pollution into their homes. After learning about the effect...

eBook

A Head Start on Science: Encouraging a Sense of Wonder (e-Book)

For the littlest scientists, the whole wide world can be a laboratory for learning. Nurture their natural curiosity with A Head Start on Science, a treasury of 89 hands-on science activities specifically for children ages 3 to 6. The activities...

Book Chapter

How Can Playing With a Motion Detector Help Children Learn to Write Clear Sequential Directions?

Kathleen Dillon Hogan is a kindergarten teacher in the Calvert County, Maryland, public schools. When this paper was written, she was a first-grade teacher at Hyattsville Elementary School in Hyattsville, Maryland. Kathleen heard a colleague describe...

Book Chapter

Introduction

This curriculum, A Head Start on Science, was written to help adults facilitate young children’s learning as they work as partners to explore their world. This complimentary Introduction serves as a navigational tool for early childhood teachers ...

Book Chapter

Introduction: The Environmental Context

The argument for teaching science in the environmental context is based on the reality of the science-environment relationship and on the potential that contextual teaching has for contributing to valuable student learning. At the same time, it must ...

Journal Article

The Case Study: Using a Case-Study Article to Effectively Introduce Mitosis

Community college students in a nonmajors biology class are introduced to mitosis by reading a case-study article that allows them to gauge how many times various parts of their bodies have been regenerated. The case-study article allows students to ...

Journal Article

Improving Advising in the Sciences: Analysis of the Educational Environments of Science- and Math-Related Majors

Students, faculty, and advisers must have ready access to current, accurate, and useable information about programs and curricula (Commission for Undergraduate Education 1995). College and university publications (e.g., bulletins, catalogs, schedul...

Journal Article

Research and Teaching: Improving Students’ Perceptions of Benefits of Science Demonstrations and Content Mastery in a Large-Enrollment Chemistry Lecture Demonstration Course for Nonscience Majors

A large enrollment, instructor-centered chemistry course taught with science demonstrations was transformed into one that was more student-centered. Course survey and examination results revealed more positive perceptions of the benefits of demonstra...

Journal Article

Integration of Field Studies and Undergraduate Research Into an Interdisciplinary Course: Natural History of Tropical Carbonate Ecosystems

According to Carl Sagan (1987), “Science is a way of thinking much more than it is a body of knowledge.” Field studies and undergraduate research provide students with the best opportunities for thinking about science, while at the same time acqu...

Journal Article

Point of View: Valuing the Prerequisite Course: Do Your Respect What You Require? Or Do You Send Mixed Messages to Your Majors?

Every science major has prerequisites: algebra, calculus, general chemistry, or introductory physics. As faculty, we understand the importance of these foundation courses. After all, we establish these prerequisites or, at least, review their utility...

Journal Article

Editorial: Creeping Passivity

In this month’s article, the editor discusses her observations regarding the lack of participation from her intellectually mature freshman class. However capable and accomplished they were, these young people didn’t seem to know how to advocate f...

Journal Article

Favorite Demonstration: The Nature of Color Subtraction: A Guided Inquiry Experience

Many college students profess to have an understanding of the nature of color. The study of color begins in the early grades, so it makes sense that students should feel confident regarding their knowledge. However, oral questions to probe understand...

Journal Article

Is Collaborative Grouping an Effective Instructional Strategy?

While problem solving is a generally accepted goal of most science courses, it has previously been difficult to determine the extent to which students’ problem-solving abilities are impacted by these courses. Interactive Multi-Media Exercises (IMME...

Journal Article

A Professional Development Teaching Course for Science Graduate Students

Although the majority of the teaching faculty at U.S. universities is composed of people who are scientific experts, research has found that most scientists do not have information about effective teaching methods (DeHaan 2005). Traditional lecture-s...

Journal Article

A Simple Approach to Improving Student Writing: An Example From Hydrology

Using the simple approach described in this article, college science instructors can help students become independent thinkers and writers in science. The unique character of this approach is that it shows students how to formulate the questions they...

Journal Article

Society for College Science Teachers: Teach for Understanding Before the Details Get in the Way

Several studies (Bruner 1996; Wiggins and McTighe 1998) have revealed that the teaching methods in college science classrooms often encourage students to memorize rather than comprehend. Too often, precious teaching time is spent going over details, ...