Introductory science courses play a critical role in the recruitment and retention of undergraduate science majors. In particular, first-year courses are opportunities to engage students in scientific practices and motivate them to consider scientific careers. We developed an introductory course using a semester-long series of established…

Traditional lecturing has been shown again and again to be a less effective teaching method regarding student engagement and promotion in the sciences. Studies that compare different teaching methods often face limitations because, over time, courses are either substantially changed and/or are taught by different instructors. This article presents…

We describe a third-year undergraduate course that focuses on multiscale modeling and protein folding and has as its primary goal the encouragement of students to integrate thinking across and beyond disciplinary boundaries. The ability to perform innovative and successful research work in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics)…

Undergraduate biology lab courses have long been criticized for engaging students in "cookbook" experiences in which students follow a given protocol to collect data that help answer a predetermined question. Recent reform documents in biology education have suggested that students should engage in lab courses that provide more authentic…

Describes the laboratory portion of a biology course which has been changed to incorporate a self-paced concept allowing students to attend the laboratory at their own convenience. (EB)

Presents guidelines and content description of a course in electron microscopy. Discusses three types of learning modules: material preparation, instrumentation, and information processing. (MA)

Discussed is the use of volunteers to teach an astronomy laboratory course. Amateur astronomy groups were recruited to help teach this course. Advantages of using volunteers are listed. A list of student field experiences is included. (KR)

An introductory course is designed with relevance for directly instilling into the students a sense of the unity and coherence of chemical ideas. The sequence also has the flavor'' of a research project. (DF)

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

Describes the rationale and incentive for the development of investigative laboratories at the University of Nebraska. Details the training and continuing support system that allows the utilization of a largely undergraduate student teaching staff. Outlines problems created by the nature of the students enrolled in the course. (GS)

Describes a course which emphasizes all facets of analytical chemistry, including sampling, preparation, interference removal, selection of methodology, measurement of a property, and calculation/interpretation of results. Includes special course features (such as cooperative agreement with an environmental protection center) and course…

"How the World Works" is an interdisciplinary science and mathematics course in which students design and perform their own experiments, analyze the data, and present their results orally and in writing. Evaluations indicate that most students learn how to do science and gain a better appreciation for science as a process. (SAH)

Presents a description of the development of a laboratory-oriented chemistry course and the results noticed when the course was implemented. The syllabus was considered to be highly successful. (EB)