All Resources

Journal Article

Editorial: City Science—Filling the Education Vacuum for Our Inner-City Populations

The Journal of College Science Teaching’s editor shares thoughts regarding the need for an urban program sponsoring applied research related to the improvement of the lives of city residents....

Journal Article

Using E-mail to Improve Communication in the Introductory Science Classroom: An Excellent Tool for Encouraging Students to Enter Into Conversation with the Instructor and Each Other

This article focuses on the use of E-mail to improve student-instructor interaction and create an atmosphere of instructor support. E-mail also promotes the use of computer technology and provides a way to encourage students to write about topics dis...

Journal Article

Research and Teaching: Criteria for Designing Inquiry Activities that are Effective for Teaching and Learning Science Concepts: Constructing Effective Inquiry-Based Lessons—Bringing Teaching in Line with the “National Science Education Standards”

The criteria described in this article for designing inquiry activities is the result of an 8-year study completed by the author. This criteria should help educators construct effective inquiry-based lessons to achieve the goals enumerated in the N...

Journal Article

SCST: Using the Online Classroom—Lessons from English for Science Courses

In this column the leadership of SCST shares its views with JCST readers. In this month’s issue, the author discusses the use of technology in the classroom....

Journal Article

Research & Teaching: Using Action Research to Bring the Large Class Down to Size—Employing Focused Classroom Investigations to Improve Individual Teaching Practices

Action research is an approach to teaching that leads to the improvement of instructional practices. This article summarizes several action research studies conducted at Montana State University in an introductory astronomy course....

Journal Article

Guest Editorial: The National Science Imperative—Focusing on the Future: Increasing Research Funding and Making America Thoroughly Science Literate

The future will be dramatically different—not only from today but even from our best predictions. The 21st Century will be a rapid-paced century of scientific breakthroughs. This article features the major developments needed to encourage and maint...

Journal Article

SCST: Hypotheses, Theories, and Laws—A Look at Textbooks’ Treatment of an Issue from the CASE Standards

In this column the leadership of the Society for College Science Teaching (SCST) shares its views with JCST readers. This month's issue features an introduction to a document entitled "CASE Standards for Science Teacher Preparation."...

Journal Article

Hearing the Case for Genetic Engineering: Breaking Down the Barriers of Anonymity Through Student Hearings in the Large Lecture Hall

An effective way to implement active learning in a large lecture science classroom is to combine "learning cycle" instruction with a public hearing on an interesting issue. This article illustrates a model for active learning using the topic of "gene...

Journal Article

A Multi-Week Inquiry for an Undergraduate Introductory Biology Laboratory: Investigating Correlations Between Environmental Variables and Leaf Stomata Density

Many freshmen students lack sufficient confidence, organizational skills, and content background for open-ended student-directed investigations. In this article, one solution is an intermediate step that retains some of the ownership and empowerment ...

Journal Article

Using Internet Relay Chat to Provide On-Line Tutorials in a Distance-Learning Chemistry Course: Holding Class On-Line at a Commuter-Only University

With today's technological advances, distance education has progressed significantly from the old-fashioned correspondence course to encompass a smorgasbord of electronic communications options. This article features the challenge of distance learnin...

Journal Article

A Successful Model for Introducing Research in an Undergraduate Program: Confronting the Challenge of Drawing Minorities into Graduate Computer Programs at Florida A&M University

The challenges of introducing research in undergraduate programs at four-year institutions are many. Florida A&M University (FAMU) designed a model for stimulating research activities among faculty and students and for increasing the number of stude...

Journal Article

The Case Study: The Petition—A Global Warming Case Study: Debating the Causes and Consequences of Earth's Changing Climate

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 learn about the greenhouse effect, global warming and its possible causes....

Journal Article

An Integrated Mechanics and Calculus Course for Poorly Prepared Students: Avoiding the All-too-Pervasive Assumption that Students have a Common Starting Point

This article reports on a new coordinated introductory precalculus, calculus, and mechanics course designed to overcome the barriers presented by traditional courses. The course is based on the premise that all students can succeed given appropriate ...

Journal Article

Targeted Test Revision—Another Approach to Science Testing: Treating Physics Learning as a Work in Progress

The essential feature of the "targeted test revision" process is that students are encouraged to rework exam problems that they did not complete successfully. Instead of punishing students for not doing their best work, more could be accomplished by ...

Journal Article

What Works in the Nonmajors' Science Laboratory: Some Practical Advice on How to Build a Workable and Meaningful Introductory Science Laboratory

Science laboratories can be "cookbook" or discovery based. Since nonmajors usually lack experience in and motivation for the laboratory, a balanced use of both these approaches works best. This article provides advice on how to build an introductory ...

Journal Article

Point of View: Is Learning Just a Matter of Tricks? So Why are We Educating? A Rude Awakening for a Science Educator—Promoting Meaning Becomes an Endangered Concept

This column shares reflections or thoughtful opinions on issues of broad interest to the community. In this month’s issue find out what the author faced while expressing interest in some summer part-time work to apply his teaching skills in a diffe...

Journal Article

Guest Editorial: Inner Guidelines for Undergraduate Teaching—Some Thoughts, News, and Views on K-16 Science Education

An opinion piece about undergraduate teaching where the author shares inner guidelines derived from more than 40 years of teaching in hope that they may be useful to others....

Journal Article

Introducing College Students to the Scientific Literature and the Library: Analyzing the Scientific Method of Researchers in the Library Component of a Washington State University Course for Nonmajors

In this article, the author helped incorporate a library component into an experimental section of Environmental Science/Resource Planning—a class for nonscience majors. Students were assigned readings from popular science literature followed by a ...

Journal Article

Research and Teaching: The Cognitive Profile Model of Learning Styles: Differences in Student Achievement in General Chemistry—Considering the Ways Our Students Learn and Teaching to Their Strengths

At Clemson University, a study was conducted to establish relevance and significance of a new model to describe individual differences in learning patterns among students. Results showed significant differences between populations defined by the mode...

Journal Article

Stressed Stream Analysis—Addressing Environmental Problems in Local Communities: Using Environmental Impact Analysis as a Unifying Theme

For environmental science education to be effective, students must be exposed to the way environmental science is done in the real world. In this article, the author uses an environmental impact analysis as a theme in describing his techniques for ev...

Journal Article

SCST: The Scholarship of College Science Teaching—A Statement from the Society for College Science Teachers

In this column the leadership of the SCST shares its views with JCST readers. This month's issue features the position statement on the scholarship of college science teaching adopted by the SCST executive board. ...