The next generations of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) workers are being trained in college and university classrooms by a workforce of instructors who learn pedagogical practice largely on the job. While inclusive instructional practices and their impacts are increasingly well-studied, this training is difficult to instill…

The Institute for Future PUI Faculty (IFPF) is a new two-week professional development experience for chemistry graduate students and postdoctoral scholars interested in pursuing an academic career at a Primarily Undergraduate Institution (PUI). With the traditional graduate and postdoctoral chemistry experience being devoid of preparation for…

The study explored science and science education professors' nature of science (NOS) understandings and perceptions on NOS instruction before (T1), during (T2), and after (T3) a professional development (PD) series. Using repeated measures design, findings showed an increasing trend across NOS aspects. Summary scores were used to classify…

An important facet of inclusive, student-centered science teaching is for college instructors to reveal and respond to student thinking. Professional development (PD) provides formal settings for instructors to develop skills attending and responding to student ideas in their teaching. Using the lens of sociocultural theory, the purpose of this…

Graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) are an integral part of the instructional personnel in undergraduate general chemistry courses. Professional development programs for GTAs are well-established across STEM disciplines ranging from two-day to week-long sessions, covering a wide variety of topics, ranging from pedagogy and safety standards to…

In the landscape of U.S. education, the widespread adoption of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) offers a unique vantage point for researchers to better understand teacher-, school- and classroom-level factors that advance reform initiatives in science classrooms. Addressing a gap in current knowledge, our study probes how secondary…

Physics graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) are tasked with multifaceted teaching assignments, such as leading tutorials and inquiry-based laboratories, yet their professional development rarely includes opportunities to rehearse complex pedagogical skills or receive feedback on their teaching. In this study, physics GTAs practiced specific…

Inaccurate sex and gender narratives have saturated the political landscape, resulting in legal restrictions for people with queer genders. Biology educators can correct these false narratives by teaching scientifically accurate and queer gender and intersex inclusive sex and gender curriculum. Here, we interviewed four undergraduate biology…

This case study was completed in Fall 2021 with elementary and middle grades pre-service teaching candidates. The goal of the study was to engage candidates in storytelling and reflection of their science identity. Science identity is important as science discourse is historically not diverse. Candidates completed a narrative podcasting assignment…

We provide a protocol for rapid DNA extraction from spiders suitable for undergraduate practical sessions. Students who were previously naïve to the theory and laboratory technique of DNA barcoding were successfully able to extract and recover 29 DNA sequences from 16 species of small spiders in the family Linyphiidae. We anticipate that with…

Graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) are key partners in the education of undergraduates. Given the potentially large impact GTAs can have on undergraduate student learning, it is important to provide them with appropriate preparation for teaching. But GTAs are students themselves, and not all of them desire to pursue an academic career. Fully…

Recent reform efforts in postsecondary science teaching have called for shifts in instructional methods to include more evidence-based instructional practices. However, a myriad of factors play a role in whether an instructor adopts these more student-centered methods. One such factor is teaching perspective. In this study, we explored the…

A future instructor's teaching beliefs contribute to whether they will use research-validated teaching strategies. We surveyed and interviewed potential future geoscience faculty as represented by graduate students and post-doctoral scholars to characterize their teaching beliefs, evaluate changes in those beliefs over time, and identify…

Background: Around the world, efforts are underway to include engineering design as part of elementary science instruction. A common rationale for those efforts is that Engineering Design-based Science Teaching (EDST) is a productive pedagogical approach for developing students' understanding of core science concepts. Effectively utilizing EDST…

Enhancing students' understanding of aspects of the nature of science (NOS) recommended by the science education community is an important goal of science instruction. This can occur only when teachers are adequately prepared for teaching NOS. However, the science education community is still considering what is needed to enhance the efficiency of…