The University of Maryland First-Year Innovation & Research Experience (FIRE) was launched in 2014 and initially developed to provide a broad range of undergraduate students with research experience. As the program has grown and matured during six years of operation, the student outcomes targeted have evolved to include a broader range of…

The author argues that significant inroads in the destigmatization of basic writing courses and students can be made when students are asked to choose not only which FYW course they believe best meets their needs (directed self-placement, or DSP) but also to choose from among a variety of courses (including corequisite courses, particularly those…

Studies have shown that students' positive experience during their first year in college plays a significant role in their success in terms of persistence and satisfaction. That premise has been the motivation for the development of a first-year connection course by the Department of Chemical Engineering at Tennessee Tech University. Recent…

Purpose: This study presents the development and evaluation of a Constructively Aligned Teaching Sequence (CATS) for teaching the organismal biology of Senior High School. It tried to explore teaching-learning activities and assessment tasks that may be designed to address students' conceptions and teachers' difficulties in teaching organ systems.…