Undergraduate science students are known to struggle in introductory courses and often focus their studying efforts on memorization-based, algorithmic processes instead of focusing on gaining a conceptual understanding of the course material. To address this issue, the current study investigates the effects training undergraduate chemistry…

Nearly half of all U.S. students who declare science majors in college do not graduate with science degrees within six years. Improvements in science outcomes are linked with active-learning pedagogies such as Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs). However, despite the need for education reform particularly in Alabama,…

Every year we join in on the celebration of high school students all over the country graduating and preparing for the next phase of their adult life, whether starting their careers or entering college. Some students who choose to continue their educational journeys by enrolling in college are shocked to discover that they are not as prepared as…

Distance courses are in high demand, post-secondary institutions are being encouraged to offer more. Some studies have found distance science classes to be as effective in content and student success, as on-campus courses. Distance courses often require greater self-motivation and study skills and as a result, the success of students in distance…

Student enrollment in undergraduate online education continues in an increasing trend toward the creation of new virtual degree programs. Academia and university faculty have observed comparable learning outcomes in both traditional and online classrooms, but minimal research exists discussing student perspectives of science-based coursework in…

Adaptive Learning, as a new online learning environment, intends to individualize the learning experience for each individual learner. Adaptive Learning suffers many shortcomings, as the date of the publication of this dissertation, however, it is considered the next generation of the learning environment for at least the next twenty years;…

There is a national effort to increase the number of undergraduate students graduating in science, math, engineering, and technology (STEM) (National Science Foundation, 2007). The majority of students initially populating these STEM majors ultimately switch to and graduate from non-STEM majors (Seymour & Hewitt, 2000; Seymour, 2002). The…