Academic help-seeking can allow students to moderate their anxiety in difficult academic contexts, but students often shy away from asking for needed assistance. Muddiest point assignments in a hybrid human anatomy and physiology (A&P) course can address student struggles with academic help-seeking by making it an activity in which all…

This article describes the implementation of alternative grading (AG) strategies in an upper-division kinesiology and functional human anatomy course. Traditional point-based grading systems can negatively impact student mental health, decrease intrinsic motivation, and hinder learning. To address these issues, a proficiency-based grading approach…

Personalization in education describes instruction that is tailored to learners' interests, attributes, or background and can be applied in various ways, one of which is through choice. In choice-based personalization, learners choose topics or resources that fit them the most. Personalization may be especially important (and under-used) with…

A major goal of physics education is to develop strong problem-solving skills for students. To become expert problem solvers, students must have opportunities to deliberately practice those skills. In this work, we adopt a previously described definition of problem solving that consists of a set of 29 decisions made by expert scientists. We…

This communication describes our initial experience modifying traditional (written and calculation-based) assignments in the surface and colloid chemistry course given as a part of the chemical engineering program. The new exercises contain a more relatable context that is easier to understand and remember in terms of future challenges in…

A science, technology, society, and environmental (STSE) impact assignment framework was developed that bridges the gap between analytical chemistry education and broader societal and environmental contexts. Over the course of [approximately]8 weeks, students were provided with the opportunity to engage in a self-directed learning opportunity to…

It has been well documented that for many students science is difficult to learn. Thus, as a food chemistry teacher, it has been my mission to continually search for and implement better ways to help my students learn chemistry. One strategy for improved learning, based on Johnstone's Triangle, that has been shown to be exceedingly effective, is…

World-class science requires inspiration, so how can we spark creativity in the modern university environment? Creativity does not come automatically: in the modern age, factors from electronic devices to time pressure can stifle creative thought. Yet, to solve the major problems of the future, it will be essential to stimulate creativity in…

We evaluate the impact of a low-stakes easy-to-implement course-level intervention, Scientist Spotlight assignments, which feature personal and professional stories of diverse scientists. This work extends previous studies by examining whether shifts in relatability differ across student identities, particularly students who identify as…

Knowledge translation (KT) is key to the scientific process, yet academic work produced often does not reach the public. In this article a unique undergraduate KT term assignment is presented where students summarize a large body of research into an artifact for public use. This assignment model may increase student engagement and learning…

The main aim of this research is to determine the types of homework assigned in the 5thgrade Science and Technology course at public primary schools in Northern Cyprus and to explore the opinion of the teachers regarding homework practices. A qualitative case study design was used. The research was conducted during the 2018-2019 school year. The…

As science and technology create an ecosystem that is becoming increasingly more knowledge-intensive, complex, and interconnected, the next generation science standards include systems thinking and systems modeling among 21st skills that should be fostered. We examined the effect of an online cross-disciplinary learning process on the development…

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…

Dealing with students' conceptions is one of the central elements of student-oriented teaching. To be able to organize learning processes efficiently, it is necessary to look at the learners in a differentiated way and to approach their conceptions individually. The first necessary step is the individual diagnosis of each student's conceptions.…

Laboratory courses can serve as important avenues to equitably support introductory biology students to develop foundational scientific literacy skills while experiencing the authentic research process. We present a model for an equity-focused redesign of an introductory organismal biology laboratory course at a teaching institution with limited…