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Journal Article

Guest Editorial: The Need for More Schoolteachers in Science and Math—How Colleges Can Help

An opinion piece about the need for more schoolteachers in science and math and how colleges can help. This article appeared in an issue of "The Chronicle of Higher Education," and reprinted here, with permission....

Journal Article

Creating a Classroom Museum

Creating a classroom museum is one way to bring the excitement of a museum into the classroom year-round. In this activity, students have so much fun designing their own exhibits that they don't realize they are developing a deeper understanding of s...

Journal Article

Dopplerball

Dopplerball is used at the end of a unit on waves and sound to give students firsthand experience with the Doppler effect. Students play the game in silence wearing a blindfold....

Journal Article

Semester-Length Field Investigations in Undergraduate Animal Behavior and Ecology Courses: Making the Laboratory Experience the Linchpin of Science Education

Undergraduate science laboratory courses often use "cookbook" exercises where expected results are known without the need for thought or experiment. In this article the University of Iowa's elective courses Animal Behavior and Ecology provide an auth...

Journal Article

Research and Teaching: Cultural Factors in Science Education—Variables Affecting Achievement: Exploring the Relationship Between Mathematical Knowledge and Scientific Success

The course in this article is a first-semester general chemistry class with a large-enrollment lecture section of students with minimal background in chemistry at The University of Texas at San Antonio—a designated minority (primarily Hispanic) in...

Journal Article

Looking Out for Latex: Become aware of dealing with latex allergies

The author of this article shares information learned from actual classroom experiences with latex allergies. These allergies are new to the teaching profession as "a topic of which to be aware." Awareness of the numerous sources of latex in the clas...

Journal Article

Scope on the Skies: Pluto returns to the ninth position

This column focuses on astronomy throughout the year. This month’s issue highlights the rare event that takes place this February and everyone who thinks that Pluto is the ninth planet in our solar system will be in the right again....

Journal Article

Editor's Note: Come On, We Can Do It!

Science and Children’s editor shares thoughts regarding the current issue....

Journal Article

Guest Editorial: So, How Does a Multicultural Classroom Look? Sound?

An opinion piece about the importance of and the opportunities for learning in multicultural elementary classrooms....

Journal Article

The Case Study: The Bee and the Groundhog: Lessons in Cooperative Learning—Troubles with Groups

This column provides original articles on innovations in case study teaching, assessment of the method, as well as case studies with teaching notes. This month’s issue takes a look at a typical group of students struggling to survive a general biol...

Journal Article

Reading the Literature in the Jargon-Intensive Field of Molecular Genetics: Making Molecular Genetics Accessible to Undergraduates Using a Process-Centered Curriculum

Primary literature in molecular genetics is often inaccessible to undergraduates. This article describes an adaptation of a method of teaching students to read primary literature. The quality of students' lab projects improved, as did students' abili...

Journal Article

What's My Line?

A teacher adapts the format of the show What's My Line? for a unit on famous scientists and inventors. The project consists of a five-paragraph essay, an oral presentation in clue form, and a visual aid. For the oral presentation students create and ...

Journal Article

"Streamlined" Contract Grading—A Performance-Measuring Alternative to Traditional Evaluation Methods: Raising the Importance of Concept Mastery by Reducing the Emphasis on Grades

Grading in mass enrollment, introductory labs can easily consume a large amount of the instructor's time. This article features the "streamlined" contract grading scheme which has many potential advantages, including a reduction in instructor effort ...

Journal Article

SCST: Two Cultures? Pfui! On Complementarity in Science and Humanities Teaching

In this column the leadership of the Society for College Science Teachers (SCST) shares its views with JCST readers. This month's issue covers the SCST definition of scholarship in college science teaching that advances the concept that the teaching ...

Journal Article

A Fishy Adventure

This article features the "Fishing for Clean Water" activity which can be modified for K-12 students and can be inquiry based or problem solving in nature. It provides basic comprehension of the effects of direct and indirect human actions on freshwa...

Journal Article

Teaching Multiple Intelligences

In this article, a questionnaire was developed and administered to assess students' attitudes toward science. The results confirmed that many students have negative attitudes. Students also completed a multiple-intelligence inventory to identify thei...

Journal Article

After the Bell: Weekend home labs

Through a series of weekly homework assignments dubbed "Weekend Home Labs," families are enjoying learning science together. Students take home an assignment that asks them to use common household materials to demonstrate a scientific principle. They...

Journal Article

Build Your Own Motor

Most students perceive household appliances as "black boxes" that simply work when plugged in. In order to understand the science of electrical devices, students build simple electric motors for a hands-on investigation of what's going on inside the ...

Journal Article

National Science and Technology Week

The National Science Foundation (NSF) started the National Science and Technology Week because of the importance of nurturing children's natural interest in the wonders of science and technology....

Journal Article

Tech Trek: Fast-food fact finding

One of the goals of the Standards at the middle school age level is to develop a scientific understanding of health. This activity takes advantage of students' knowledge of popular culture and the Internet by examining a staple of most students' live...

Journal Article

Illustrating the Role of Latex Gloves as Barriers to Bacterial and Viral Pathogens: Teaching the Fundamental Concept of Infection Control in Future Health Care Workers

Adequate instruction in glove use is an essential component of medical and allied health education. Students are instructed in practical aspects of glove use during clinical training but laboratory demonstrations of latex as a barrier to disease tran...

Journal Article

Using Cooperative Learning to Introduce Undergraduates to Professional Literature: Assembling the "Jigsaw" Pieces in the Field of Environmental Communication

The field of environmental communication focuses on how multidisciplinary science, natural resource management, and environmental policy are communicated to different audiences. This activity uses the "jigsaw" approach as the form of cooperative lear...

Journal Article

Pressure, Pressure Everywhere: Using raps and hands-on activities to teach about air pressure

The activities in this article show how combining rap music with hands-on activities provides a valuable way to teach the concept of air pressure. It also allows a connection to content learning with students' everyday experiences and culture....