Description

Two-year colleges are critical to science education’s future—in fact, some data indicate that half of future science teachers will take their first years of science at a two-year school. To address the unique challenges of this special setting, Teaching Science in the Two-Year College presents 24 articles featuring the most useful and relevant insights and advice from NSTA’s Journal of College Science Teaching. The collection is divided into four sections, all written from the two-year college perspective:

•An Overview of the Uniqueness of Teaching Science in a Two-Year College examines the isolation faculty members experience, the science anxiety many students feel, the special issues of part-time faculty, staffing crises, and the value of forming a partnership with the counseling department.

•Curricular Issues includes the importance of the National Science Education Standards; fresh approaches to designing courses for nonscience majors; key methodological and content-oriented ingredients; teaching strategies for adult learners; and case studies about a community-oriented science-learning activity and an integrated science course for nonscience majors.

•Teaching Strategies covers the hazards of lecture courses, the challenges and rewards of student-centered instruction, and case studies for teaching everything from biology to the value of science.

•Using Information and Communication Technologies looks at computerized quizzes in the classroom and developing, adapting, and evaluating distance learning for science students.

Table of Contents

Introduction
Timothy M. Cooney

Section I
An Overview of the Uniqueness of Teaching Science in the Two-Year College

Hello! Is Anybody Out There?
Mario Caprio (February 1997)

The First Day of Class on a Two-Year Campus
M.M. Cowan and K.W. Piepgrass (November 1997)

Adjunct Faculty
Mario Caprio, Nathan Dubowsky, Robert L. Warasila, Diane D. Cheatwood, and Frances T. Costa (December 1998/January 1999)

The Graying of Science Faculty in U.S. Colleges and Universities Nathan Dubowsky, Elliott Hartman, Jr., Leonard Simons, and Jerry Przybylski (May 2000) The Counseling/Science Connection
Kathleen Lillo Sowell (October 2001)

Section II
Curricular Issues in the Two-Year College

Navigating the Standards: A Preview of the College-Level “Pathways to the Science Standards”
Mario Caprio (December 1999/ January 2000)

Designing Nonmajors’ Science Courses—Is There a Better Way?
Mario Caprio (November 1999)

Designing Science Literacy Courses
Art Hobson (October 2000)

Teaching to Learn: Why Should Teachers Have All the Fun?
Mario Caprio and Debra S. Borgesen (March/April 2001)

A Practical Application of Andragogical Theory Assumptions in Introductory Biology Courses
Bruno Borsari (March/April 1999)

A Path Toward Integrated Science—The First Steps
Mario Caprio, Parris Powers, Jeffery D. Kent, Susan Harriman, Charles Snelling, Paula Harris, and Melissa Guy (May 1998)

Section III
Teaching Strategies for the Two-Year College

Are We Cultivating “Couch Potatoes” in Our College Science Lectures? Thomas R. Lord (September/October 1999)

Chaos and Opportunity: Minimizing Obstacles Along the Track to the Constructivist Approach
Mario Caprio (May 1999)

Getting There from Here
Mario Caprio and Lynda B. Micikas (December 1997/January 1998)

An Experimental Project Approach to Biology
Chris E. Petersen (November 2000)

The Antimicrobial Properties of Red Algae
Christine L. Case and Michael Warner (December 2000/January 2001)

Inquiry in the Community College Biology Lab
Eddie Lunsford (December 2002/January 2003)

A Two-Sided Mirror of Science Education
James E. Heath, Jr. (May 1999)

LifeLines OnLine: Curriculum and Teaching Strategies for Adult Learners
Ethel D. Stanley and Margaret A. Waterman (March/April 2000)

Trouble in Paradise: A Case of Specialization
James A. Hewlett (March/April 2001)

Section IV
Using Information and Communication Technologies

A Computerized Approach to Mastery Learning
Ken Garver (November 1998)

Screening Prospective Laboratory Telecourse Students
Robert L. Warasila and George S. Lomaga (November 2000)

Teaching Introductory Agriculture Courses Through Distance Education Technology at Louisiana State University
Bruno Borsari (September/October 1998)

Introductory Biology Online: Assessing Outcomes of Two Student Populations
Margaret Johnson (February 2002)

Appendix A
Resource List

Appendix B:
NSTA Convention Schedule

Appendix C:
List of Contributors

Index