Large Language Model (LLM) artificial intelligence tools present a unique challenge for educators who teach programming languages. While LLMs like ChatGPT have been well documented for their ability to complete exams and create prose, there is a noticeable lack of research into their ability to solve problems using high-level programming…

Collaborative statisticians are instrumental to maintaining the rigor and reproducibility of multidisciplinary projects on which they collaborate. Clear, complete, well-annotated records of data, its revising, analysis, interpretation, and presentation are essential. Many students do not know how to systematically and consistently organize their…

Homework completion and self-regulatory ability have both been extensively studied to examine their impact on learning achievement. Moreover, the reciprocal nature of how these two qualities affect one another is also an area of research. While evidence shows that voluntary completion of assigned homework predicts self-regulation in students, a…

Economics has become increasingly empirical and, alongside this shift, has come more demand for improved transparency and reproducibility in empirical economic research. In this article, we distribute a survey to almost 1500 economics faculty from the top 161 liberal arts colleges with an economics major (according to U.S. News & World Report)…

Background and Context: Considerable numbers of Computer science (CS) undergraduate majors struggle in Theory of Computation (ToC) courses, which strengthen bimodality beliefs of student performance. Reasons for students struggling are assumed to be manifold but substantial ground is based on studies providing singular insights into this matter.…

Assessments play a pivotal role in student performance within higher education courses. in this article the effect of deemphasizing homework assignments and focusing on the course driven project had on undergraduate students' performance is clearly described. Using student grades as data sets, performance is compared over the Fall 2020, Fall 2021,…

In this article, we discuss Micro Assignment Guided Inquiry and Collaboration (MAGIC), an active learning method that draws on the merits of inquiry-based learning in STEM courses. We describe the use of Micro Assignments (MAs) consisting of a series of short, instructive guiding questions that scaffold the course material. Students work through…

Since it was released on November 30, 2022, ChatGPT has offered numerous opportunities for higher education professors to improve their course offerings. However, not all information provided by the application is accurate. The application has been known to yield highly inaccurate information with high confidence. Yet, with that knowledge, ChatGPT…

This preliminary study reports upon students' experiences in engaging friends and family members in discussing global climate change for required assignments in a laboratory-centered physics course for prospective elementary and middle school teachers, (https://open.oregonstate.education/physicsforteachers). Research questions included: What…

This paper describes an introductory biology course for undergraduates that heavily incorporates quantitative problem solving in activities and homework assignments. The course is broken up into a series of units, each organized around a motivating biological question or theme. Homework assignments address the theme or question, and typically…

My thesis work is focused on conceptual and epistemic learning and characterizing the environments in which this learning takes place. Earlier studies conducted by the Stowe group explored how instructional practices, instructional emphasis, and assessment emphasis relate to student outcomes in general and organic chemistry courses. Student…

An undergraduate online course on Applied Biochemistry and Molecular Biology was developed through different formats of case study that included lecture, class discussion, small-groups discussion, and individual work. Cases covering health, biotechnology, agriculture, and other issues were developed or adapted from the literature to reach the…

Background: Multimedia creation and curation for assignments have the potential to engage students in deeper learning. Objective: This study explored whether the same homework assignments delivered in paper versus multimedia format resulted in different student experiences. Method: Introductory psychology students submitted either traditional…

We describe four classical undergraduate physics experiments that were done with everyday objects and low-cost sensors: mechanical oscillations, transmittance of light through a slab of matter, beam deformation under load, and thermal relaxation due to heat loss. We used these experiments to train students for experimental homework projects but…

At the college level, it can be difficult to engage students outside the classroom through the use of effective homework assignments. Although it is straightforward to create assignments that test the ability to carry out computations as discussed in class, it is more challenging to create assignments that encourage students to think more…