Inquiry-based course experiences provide a scalable and equitable way to engage students in research. In this study, we describe how we introduced inquiry-based experiences to ten lower-division and upper-division courses across the biology curriculum at a regionally comprehensive public university serving the diverse population in a major…

Future needs and challenges, especially in complex real-world problem-solving, require education to equip individuals with quality skills. Inquiry-based learning that integrates socio-scientific issues (SSI) can significantly develop students' problem-solving skills. This study aims to test the effects of the Socio-Scientific Real-world Inquiry…

This study sought to develop and evaluate an online module based on inquiry learning with digital laboratories, which was intended to address students' misconceptions in a science domain. In a quasi-experimental design, 171 first-year students in a higher education introductory physics course on circular motion were as their existing groups…

We show how learning can be improved, beyond that shown in actively taught classrooms, by also transforming the homework using the principles of deliberate practice. We measure the impact of transforming the homework on student learning in a course that had already implemented an active approach to teaching in class. We compare performance on the…

As higher education transitions from an exclusivist to a more accessible endeavour, class sizes are continuously increasing, prompting academics to explore different strategies to facilitate quality learning. In this paper, we explore the current practices of Australian biochemistry and molecular biology academics to understand how academics cope…

The authors determined whether positive perceptions of integrating lecture and lab in Anatomy and Physiology courses persisted from 2015-2018. Students (843) and instructors (56) completed the Student Assessment of Their Learning Gains survey; perceptions were positive and consistent between both groups. Participant narratives identified the…

There is room for improvement in the amount of active learning that takes place during physiology laboratory exercises. This paper describes a protocol designed to examine the human dive response, with the goal of creating an integrative laboratory experienced focused around improving active learning. The objectives of this laboratory exercise…

Active learning yields better learning outcomes than traditional, lecture-based teaching. Common approaches in large lecture courses are activating elements during the lectures and warm-up activities using online learning environments. However, implementing warm-up exercises, on which students work on by themselves makes formative feedback…

Despite the need for public understanding about groundwater resources, groundwater is among those topics that instructors most struggle to teach at pre-college and college levels. Although constructivist theories suggest student-held conceptions can be used as teaching tools for active learning, there remains a question about how to draw out and…

In this design case, we describe our work to develop a gameful learning design for use in an introductory, undergraduate biology laboratory course for science majors. Our design team included three university-based mathematics and science educators and a biologist responsible for the management of curriculum and instruction in the course under…

Since the advent of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) programs, first in K-12 and now in college curricula, many variants of STEM have arisen to include other disciplines in developing cross-disciplinary literacy among students. This paper briefly defines our own variant STE[A]M branch within the context of cross-disciplinary…

Physical chemistry students often have negative perceptions and low expectations for success in physical chemistry, attitudes that likely affect their performance in the course. Despite the results of several studies indicating increased positive perception of physical chemistry when active learning strategies are used, a recent survey of faculty…

How can we best support instructors to learn, practice, and retain student-centered, active-learning teaching strategies in their undergraduate courses? While approaches like professional development workshops may inspire some, permanent adoption of new pedagogy is rare. Here, we investigate "paired teaching" to achieve adoption and…

The aim of the present work was to transfer a wider concept of teamwork and self-learning to the laboratory, encouraging students' capabilities when seeking, acquiring, and processing knowledge. This educational innovation was carried out with a total of 38 students (fourth year of degree in Biology) in the area of physiology (Advances in…

Students learn best by being actively engaged in the learning process. This essay describes a teaching technique where students generate their own questions about a course topic. This occurs at the beginning of each new section of a course. The instructor works with the class to answer the students' own questions throughout that section of…