Science fiction literature and film are an underappreciated source for the teaching of history. Finding material that can excite a student's curiosity can be a key towards greater student engagement, especially among students who are taking history as a requirement, rather than from interest. The discovery that they can read or watch science…

All students pursuing STEM careers need to be adept at interpreting and evaluating primary research literature. The complexity of research articles requires significant practice and training in order to become skilled and efficient at this process. Thus, an early start in undergraduate education is essential and allows for development and practice…

This article explores how primary sources can be used to teach students about race and racism. Researchers co-taught a general education class on Critical Race Theory and utilized a combination of primary and secondary sources. This article includes a review of relevant literature that informed the development of this class and one major…

Background: Rapid changes brought on by generative artificial intelligence (AI) have emphasized the need to teach students to work with this technology while also developing the "robot proof" human skills future workers will need, such as creativity, communication, and critical thinking. Objective: The study objective was to explore…

Students in the sciences learn to engage with primary research articles as a fundamental part of their discipline, essential to both writing and research. These sources are difficult to navigate, leading students to use (and misuse) these sources in a variety of complex ways. As instructors and researchers, we are aware of these challenges, but…

This study explores how undergraduates, as historical thinkers, learn to interact with history and construct their understanding of the past, and examines the role that primary and secondary sources play in narrative construction and revision. Using the African American civil rights movement as a content focus, participants used images to create…

Evidence-based practice (EBP) is a three-dimensional approach to professional services in which high-quality and current research evidence is integrated with practitioner expertise along with client values to inform assessment and treatment decisions. The primary objective of this study is to promote the importance of EBPs for…

Learning basic cell biology in an essential module can be daunting to second-year undergraduates, given the depth of information that is provided in major molecular and cell biology textbooks. Moreover, lectures on cellular pathways are organised into sections, such that at the end of lectures, students might not see how various processes are…

While research has long been recognized as a high impact practice in undergraduate education, much of the scholarship on undergraduate research has focused on students in the final years of their degree. This article describes a study of the ability of first year students to undertake historical research in an introductory level course at a small…

Currently, there is widespread interest in how Web 2.0 tools can be used to improve students' learning experiences. Previous studies have focused either on the advantages of wikis or on concerns over the use of Wikipedia. In this study, we propose to use Wikipedia as a classroom wiki. In doing so, we discuss how students can improve their standard…

At California State University, Northridge (CSUN), many students lack the skills needed to locate, analyze, and apply essential contexts associated with primary sources. Using these sources requires critical inquiry, which is a fundamental theme in pedagogy, the California State University system's Core Competencies, and the Association of College…

To develop information literacy skills in chemistry and biochemistry majors at a primarily undergraduate institution, a multiyear collaboration between chemistry faculty and librarians has resulted in the establishment of a semester-long capstone project for Organic Chemistry II. Information literacy skills were instilled via a progressive…

Scholars often define historical reasoning as constructing defensible interpretations of past events. Drawing on critical theory, this article suggests that it also entails consciously framing one's topic of inquiry. The article examines an instructional unit that aimed to foster this expanded view of historiography. Forty students, ages 14-15,…

The traditional approach to the education of newcomer students separates English language development from content instruction. It is assumed that English language proficiency is a prerequisite for subject-matter learning. The authors take the alternate view that the integration of historical thinking and digitized primary sources enhances English…

This study sought to compare undergraduate's perceptions of and attitudes toward an educational psychology course in which two distinct types of course readings were used, namely an education psychology textbook versus primary sources. A total of 15 students were enrolled in the course during the fall semester and used the textbooks (Anita…