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Journal Article

Problem Solver: Teaching Tropisms

Plants are found in most locations in the world and have the remarkable ability to capture and store energy from sunlight. Without the green plant’s ability to carry out the process we call photosynthesis, Earth would be a lifeless, barren planet. ...

Journal Article

Flying through Genetics

When teaching heredity and genetics, a problem-centered, open-ended approach allows students to feel like scientists solving real problems. This investigation of fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) gives students independence, responsibility, and o...

Journal Article

What College Science Faculty Can Learn About Change: The K-16 Continuum—Viewing School Teachers as Partners in Change

K–12 teachers, who sometimes know more about teaching and learning than college professors, can be a great source of information about effective teaching strategies. This paper presents a synopsis of typical K–12 experiences that college educator...

Journal Article

SCST: What Happened to Scott? Helping Our Students Through Online Courses and Distance Education

In this column the leadership of the Society for College Science Teachers (SCST) shares its views with JCST readers. In this month’s issue, the president shares thoughts about online courses and distance education....

Journal Article

Conceptual Change in the Classroom

When was the last time you tried a new teaching method? The conceptual change model of learning may be what you need. In this article, three teachers agreed to try the new teaching method and reported that modifying their established routine was easy...

Journal Article

Studying Our Skin: Students learn about skin using the learning-cycle structure

Investigative activities enabling students to explore the many purposes of our skin can create meaningful understanding of its functions. These activities can also help children construct an understanding of the skin as an always present but constant...

Journal Article

Video-Based Labs for Introductory Physics Courses: Analyzing and Graphing Motion on Video

Video-based labs are a powerful tool for improving student understanding of one of the most difficult and important topics in physics: graphs. This article describes common student graphing difficulties, the history of VBL, techniques for improving s...

Journal Article

Full Application of the Scientific Method in an Undergraduate Teaching Laboratory: A Reality-Based Approach to Experiential Student-Directed Instruction

Classroom experiments are often designed for convenience, ignoring fundamental scientific processes. Even “hands-on” experiences seldom allow the student to define the problem or design the experiment. The example outlined here incorporates the e...

Journal Article

Scope on the Skies: The sky is falling

This column focuses on astronomy throughout the year. In this issue, learn about the special events occurring in the months of November and December....

Journal Article

Making Environmentally Friendly Cleaners

The emphasis on science education involves students "doing science" with hands-on and minds-on activities. In this article, students do science by making, testing, and comparing the effectiveness, cost efficiency, and safety of environmentally friend...