Active learning is the new standard for teaching in higher education. As more faculty seek to expand their teaching practices by including active-learning activities that promote higher levels of learning, many are doing so in small doses by temporarily postponing traditional lectures in favor of group activities. While there is evidence…

Part of learning science is practicing reasoning, but some of the most common approaches to science instruction offer students little opportunity to do that, especially in the whole-class setting of large-enrollment courses. We present and closely examine a single episode of instructor listening--an instructor deliberately adopting a stance, and…

Helping students to understand complex processes is one of the core challenges in teaching biology courses. Concept mapping is a flexible pedagogical method that enables students to learn the complexities of a given subject while at the same time being versatile enough that instructors can easily pivot between instructional modalities and/or…

Quantitative reasoning (QR) competencies are increasingly called for in the data rich and complex environment of STEM disciplines, including biology. Curricular reform efforts in QR have been directed at disseminating course design and pedagogy but less work has been directed at understanding what faculty at large view as crucial for student…

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…

Quantitative reasoning, although included in most science courses, can be challenging to teach. In this article, we explore whether cooperative learning may help instructors teach quantitative reasoning and enhance students' understanding and learning experience. Our lesson was taught in a large introductory geoscience course. The lesson required…

This article showcases how a physics lab course was successfully redesigned to promote important reasoning abilities not explicitly addressed in the typical college setting. Student development of such abilities is essential for sound decision making, particularly when living in an information age. Essential features of our guiding curricular…

An introductory undergraduate biology laboratory session about vertebrate tissues was gamified to elucidate the effects of gameful learning on students' perceptions of their own learning and motivation. Student groups were randomly assigned a vertebrate tissue, including corresponding slides and content from the laboratory manual, and tasked with…

Three college faculty taught large general biology classes using case studies and personal response systems (clickers). Each instructor taught the same eight cases in two different sections, except the questions within the cases differed. In one section the questions were lower order (LO) factual inquiries, and in the other they were largely…

Quantitative reasoning is a key intellectual skill, applicable across disciplines and best taught in the context of authentic, relevant problems. Here, I describe and assess a laboratory exercise that has students calculate their "carbon footprint" and evaluate the impacts of various behavior choices on that footprint. Students gather…

We designed a physics course for prospective elementary and middle school teachers to foster aspects of scientific thinking recommended in reform documents. Because the elementary school curriculum focuses heavily on literacy, we also explicitly integrated physics and literacy learning in this course. By integrating physics and literacy learning,…

Three college faculty taught large general biology classes using case studies and personal response systems (clickers). Each instructor taught the same eight cases in two different sections, except the questions within the cases differed. In one section the questions were lower order (LO) factual inquiries, and in the other they were largely…

If a picture is worth a thousand words, think about how long it takes your students to read a thousand words. Case studies are effective and stimulating ways to teach a variety of subjects, including the biological sciences. In learning the details of a particular case, students develop skills in both deductive and inductive reasoning, hypothesis…

This study compares a traditional paper presentation approach and a case study method for the development and improvement of oral communication skills and critical-thinking skills in a class of junior forensic science majors. A rubric for rating performance in these skills was designed on the basis of the oral communication competencies developed…

Science literacy involves knowledge of both science content and science process skills. In this study, we describe the Assessment of Critical Thinking Ability survey and its preliminary application to assess the critical thinking skills of undergraduate students, graduate students, and postdoctoral fellows. This survey is based on a complex and…