Many college science educators have moved away from the traditional lecture format and toward learner-centered classroom environments. Yet many of us struggle to cover large content loads, reverting at times to rote memorization. This paper suggests rote memorization simply does not work and students must be actively engaged to learn. (Contains 1…

At Colorado College, the energy retrofit of a building is used as a service-learning research project to teach physics and chemistry in a variety of courses. In introductory courses for nonscience majors, the project helps students appreciate the scientific method and quantitative reasoning. Within the physical-chemistry course, students see that…

Recent studies have indicated that college undergraduates have retained little understanding of the information in the science courses they have taken when they graduate. Science is taught as detailed, factual content, and most students are evaluated by their ability to recall and summarize the information provided. As such, students concentrate…

Presents a brief life history of Carl Linnaeus, a professor of medicine and botany in Uppsala, Sweden. Highlights his work in developing a classification system for plants and animals, and his botanical lectures and demonstrations. (JRH)

Describes an introductory course in geology for nonscience majors that involves students in laboratory exercises related to rock classification. (GS)