We present a detailed description of a Cryptography and Computer Security course that has been offered at Knox College for the last 15 years. While the course is roughly divided into two sections, Cryptology and Computer Security, our emphasis here is on the Cryptology section. The course puts the cryptologic material into its historical context…

A new course development is intended for students to investigate the intersection of mathematics with seemingly disparate areas of art, music, architecture, and nature. The course is designed to allow students to explore the hidden connections between the aesthetic pleasures of art, music and nature and that of mathematical foundations and how the…

Mastery-based assignments typically provide students with multiple opportunities to improve their performance, but getting students to take advantage of these opportunities is difficult. We report on the implementation of a two-part series of nudges designed to improve students' engagement with and performance on mastery-based assignments in…

Online collaborative learning (OCL) based on the community of inquiry (CoI) framework is often implemented in the form of an online discussion activity for teaching subjects that require learners to revise their understandings and invent ways to solve problems. However, implementing OCL is challenging due to the difficulty of fostering…

Integrating computational thinking (CT) into various disciplines via computer science (CS) methods such as unplugged, block-based, text-based, and physical programming is a trending topic in educational sciences. This study presents a perspective on implementing an unplugged computer science activity to integrate CT into mathematics education.…

Research has frequently demonstrated negative effects of placing students into developmental education, but very little inquiry has considered the impact of placing students into different levels of non-developmental coursework. The present study explored this issue within sequenced pairs of STEM gateway courses using doubly-robust propensity…

This paper describes the implementation of a STEM scholarship program which utilized a holistic approach to providing a multi-dimensional student support system. The program has been successful in encouraging and supporting women in Applied Mathematics and Computer Science by offering a diverse suite of extracurricular opportunities, actively…

Flipped classroom (FC) pedagogical frameworks have recently gained considerable popularity, especially at secondary school levels. However, there are rich opportunities to explore FC at tertiary levels, but progress on the area requires instructors' attention to well-designed tasks for students' collaborative learning. Realistic Mathematics…

The opportunity to innovate, experiment, and take chances in the classroom should be accessible to all students regardless of the social identities they hold; however, white women and women of color (WOC) in male-dominated physics, engineering, math and computer science (PEMC) learning environments, and STEM broadly, have been expected to take…

Background: With the increasing interdisciplinarity between computer science (CS) and other fields, a growing number of non-CS students are embracing programming. However, there is a gap in research concerning differences in programming learning between CS and non-CS students. Previous studies predominantly relied on outcome-based assessments,…

Undergraduate mathematics education research focused on Introduction to Proofs courses has gained traction as more students are experiencing challenges in their proof-based courses. While studies have analyzed the teaching and learning of proofs, there is a growing need for research in students' understanding of mathematical logic and set theory…

The present review intends to show the current state of teaching quantum-related content, to analyze and compare its learning efficiency, and to give a systemized overview of quantum-educational activities in the last years. We focus on teaching and learning elements, their innovative tools, and process-oriented studies that are empirically…

In the fall of 2009 and in the spring of 2012, supported by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) in the National Institutes of Health (NIH), we designed a course "Phylogenetic Analysis and Molecular Evolution" (PAME), the first cross-listed course across three different colleges (College of Arts and Sciences,…

The notion of algorithm may be perceived in different levels of abstraction. In the lower levels it is an operational set of instructions. In higher levels it may be viewed as an object with properties, solving a problem with characteristics. Novices mostly relate to the lower levels. Yet, higher levels are very relevant for them as well. We…

Many women do not work in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) occupations even though they have degrees in these subjects. To shed light on this problem, we use information from the German Graduate Panel and show a significant gender gap among STEM graduates working in degree-related occupations after graduation. Therefore, we…