This project produced an online astronomy course based on the free, online OpenStax textbook. When this project was conceived, about a year before the COVID-19 pandemic, the authors had no idea that in a short period of time, most college and university classes would be online. This abrupt change in modalities of courses, from traditional,…

The simulation that we present here was designed to introduce students not only to climate change policy making but also to the Green Climate Fund and the process of negotiation. Rather than concentrating on either the political debate about climate change or doom and gloom scenarios, the focus of this simulation is on taking action and…

During the 2016 election season, the authors--a collection of staff, faculty, and students at a rural, four-year comprehensive college--piloted a new format for a student-driven, campus-wide, nonpartisan voter mobilization campaign anchored in a political science course and supported by a credit-bearing internship and advanced graphic design…

Biology labs often make use of student teams. However, some students resist working in teams, often based on poor experiences. Although instructors sometimes struggle with student teams, effective teams in biology labs are achievable. We increased student learning and satisfaction when working in research teams by (1) including in the syllabus a…

As part of a campus-wide effort to transform introductory science courses to be more engaging and more accurately convey the excitement of discovery in science, the curriculum of an introductory physical geology lab course was redesigned. What had been a series of ''cookbook'' lab activities was transformed into a sequence of activities based on…

It has been noted that undergraduate project-based laboratories lead to increased interest in scientific research and student understanding of biological concepts. We created a novel, inquiry-based, multiweek genetics research project studying Ptpmeg, for the Introductory Biology Laboratory course at Brandeis University. Ptpmeg is a protein…

An upper-division undergraduate polymer chemistry course was developed as a blended/hybrid course. The students met face-to-face once a week for 75 min with all other components being available online. Face-to-face meetings were used for class discussions/problem-based lectures, student presentations, hands-on activities, and examinations. Online…

Rapid changes in health care services and delivery suggest an upcoming paradigm shift in the field of mental health. Recent national reports, health care policy changes, and growing evidence support a shift toward prevention-focused mental health care. The social work profession is uniquely positioned to act as leaders in this shift as the…

Few medical schools require a stand-alone course to develop knowledge and skills relevant to substance use disorders (SUDs). The authors successfully initiated a new course for second-year medical students that used screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment (SBIRT) as the course foundation. The 15-hour course (39 faculty teaching…

This article provides a description of service learning implemented in an introductory special education course focused on the culture of disability. Collaborating with liaisons from five community service organizations, students provided services to individuals with disabilities in a variety of projects across two semesters. Communication and…

Over the past several years I have taught a career orientation course at St. John Fisher College. This course was designed to increase student awareness of potential careers following their undergraduate studies in our Biology program. Additionally, the course has also been used as a model for similar experiences in our Psychology, Chemistry,…

The processes of developing and the results of testing a master's degree program designed to increase the number and quality of secondary-level earth science teachers are described in this paper. The master's program is intended to serve practicing secondary-level science and math teachers who lack subject-area endorsement in earth science. There…

Using an action research model, biology faculty examined, implemented, and evaluated learner-centered instructional strategies to reach the goal of increasing the level of student achievement in the introductory biology course BIO 181: Unity of Life I, which was characterized by both high enrollments and a high DFW rate. Outcomes included the…

Undergraduate research experiences have been shown to enhance the educational experience and retention of college students, especially those from underrepresented populations. However, many challenges still exist relative to building community among students navigating large institutions. We developed a novel course called "Entering…

This paper describes the theoretical foundations of an online course to teach clinical educators how to convert a traditional face-to-face course for either flexible or distance delivery. We describe the design research approach to the creation of the course and the pedagogical theory behind the course development. We also present the details of…