Students must be able to evaluate primary literature, yet few options exist within the undergraduate curriculum to develop the necessary skills. In this article, we offer an adapted journal club that provides students opportunities to critically analyze selected research articles, emphasizing scientific communication, critical thinking, and…

A perennial goal of science educators is to develop functional scientific literacy in their students, especially those who will not become professional scientists. This article provides an example of implementing a socioscientific issues approach in an undergraduate environmental science course that enables students to develop the knowledge,…

Evidence-based pedagogies to improve student success in STEM disciplines are now recognized, but their successful incorporation can be hampered by faculty wariness of novel pedagogical research. To support these pedagogies' effective implementation, a research team at a southeastern Historically Black College and University (HBCU) provided its…

The Coronavirus outbreak allows for a number of possible applications to classroom teaching (biology, computer science, Earth science, physics, statistics), as well as student research. A number of simple models reproduce fairly well the case numbers (total confirmed cases) of the Coronavirus pandemic in specific regions. These models may also be…

This article aims to explore the experiences of science instructors who are active participants in the design and enactment of an interdisciplinary science course with student-centered pedagogy in a large-enrollment class. The data were collected through interviews with instructors and analyzed using the inductive thematic approach. Results show…

This paper highlights the design process and implementation for an "all majors" undergraduate course that allows students a chance to reconnect with the natural world. During this course students explore a wide range of biological and physical science based topics that seek to highlight human intervention and our impacts on the planet.…

The Integrated Concentration in Science (iCons) 4-year program at the University of Massachusetts Amherst was designed to promote interdisciplinary STEM collaboration in the solution of real-world problems and encourage student independence and interdependence through a student-centered teaching approach that structures all projects as group…

The ability to read and compose original scientific literature is critical to educating informed citizens, yet may be severely lacking in undergraduate curricula. We developed a linked course offering in fall 2017 consisting of a 16-student group taking an introductory biology course paired with a first-year composition course. The composition…

Although argumentation is a critical historical component of scientific literacy, the recent coronavirus pandemic and associated issues have highlighted the importance of argumentation in science practice. Argumentation that aligns with functional scientific literacy requires gathering evidence and reasoning to support or refute claims related to…

Liberal arts programs encompass a range of academic disciplines, and their effectiveness relies not only on what these disciplines are, but also on how they are integrated. The natural sciences are one important component of liberal arts programs that may be difficult to assimilate with the rest of the curriculum. In this paper, the topic of…

A growing number of Introductory Physics for Life Sciences courses have been developed to prepare biology, premedicine, and prehealth majors for cross-disciplinary connections between physical principles and biological systems. Many students find it challenging to apply idealized algebra-based general physics to more complex biological systems. A…

Many institutions are preparing graduate students and postdoctorals (future faculty) for effective teaching in undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Interestingly, little is known about beneficial features of teaching-development (TD) programs for future faculty after they transition into professoriate roles, and…

Historically, societies have relied on universities and colleges to provide a space for young citizens to experiment with and explore the innovative approaches needed to address contemporary problems. Yet today, many universities serve as diploma mills that succeed in getting students onto the job market, but fail to give those students tools for…

Interdisciplinary education offers a collaborative approach to multifaceted topics, such as environmental sustainability. In this article, we present the conceptual framework and lessons learned from a team-taught course, entitled Sustainability, Energy, and the Green Economy (SEGE). Faculty from the departments of Physics, Chemistry, and Biology…

Many undergraduate students will experience being taught by graduate teaching assistants (GTAs); therefore, focusing on GTA pedagogy is in the best interest of the students and university as a whole. Based on a Masters of Arts in Teaching program, a 5-week intensive summer training session for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics…