The past [approximately]15 years have seen increasing interest in defining disciplinary core concepts. Within the field of physiology, Michael, McFarland, Modell, and colleagues have published studies that defined physiology core concepts and have elaborated many of these as detailed conceptual frameworks. With such helpful definitions now in…

Course and learning objectives are important tools for setting goals, navigating the course, and measuring performance. Unfortunately, when multiple interrelated objectives are presented as a list of statements, students perceive them as having little utility and tend to misunderstand or ignore them. To increase students' attention to course…

We describe a lecture-free problem-solving Mathematical Communication and Reasoning (MCR) course that helps students succeed in the Introduction to Advanced Mathematics course. The MCR course integrates elements from Uri Treisman's Emerging Scholars workshop model and Math Circles. In it students solve challenging problems and form a supportive…

We are living in an era where reality, truth, and facts are being turned upside down and inside out. Fake news and falsehoods are being spewed out in increasing exponential rates. I was prompted to do something about the propensity of fake news through post-truth discourse and designed an undergraduate course that I titled: Bullshit, Fake News,…

This study aimed to improve the implementation of a redesign of teacher preparation programs at a large public university in the United States. This complex redesign impacted over 150 courses across 27 programs, involving over 200 faculty and 2,500 students annually. Implementing the redesign posed significant challenges for supporting fidelity…

Quasi-internships can have a transformative impact on information systems' capstone courses. Realizing this potential depends on pedagogical design, course delivery, and student engagement. This paper presents a teaching method based on experiential-learning pedagogical design to engage students via quasi-internships to improve career preparedness…

The Chemistry Department at Sonoma State University teaches two upper division capstone laboratory courses as culminating experiences for our BS chemistry and biochemistry majors. The courses share complementary learning experiences and have student learning objectives (SLOs) of literature competency, experimental design, development of…

Previously, we described a course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE) for first-year students that featured a unique approach to brain mapping in a model organism (rat). In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we adapted this course for an online learning environment, emphasizing image analysis (identifying immunoreactive signal in an…

Extant research has demonstrated a positive effect of ethics education in public affairs and administration programs, yet the same suggests the lack of a unifying framework for teaching ethics in the discipline. Since the ratification of the 2013 revised ASPA Code of Ethics, scholars have called for NASPAA programs to incorporate the Code in their…

At Ciudad Community College (pseudonym) and across the Colorado Community College System, the course competencies for Technical Writing I (ENG 131) have more than tripled to accommodate ENG 131 as a guaranteed transfer course equivalent to ENG 121: English Composition I. Unfortunately, this has had the effect of increasing the workload for…

Social media has been used in massive open online courses (MOOCS) from the beginning of the MOOC movement. Social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Google Hangouts have provided collaborative and engaging spaces for MOOC students to work together on projects and activities, and for instructors to guide students. Instructional…

Scientific literacy is an increasingly important skill for today and tomorrow's citizens. Encapsulated in the definition of being scientifically literate, one must be knowledgeable about science and technology in context and be able to interpret and communicate the information well. Introductory science courses, like general chemistry, are key…

Portuguese language instruction is relevant to global businesses, diplomacy, security, and environmental affairs, yet it accounted for only 0.7% of total world language enrollments at universities in the United States in 2016. As part of an attempt to promote enrollments in Portuguese at an American public research institution with a top-rated…

The success and satisfaction of students with online courses is significantly impacted by the sequencing of learning objectives and activities. Equally critical is designing online degree programs and structuring multiple courses to reduce learners' cognitive load and attain maximum learning success. In its current form, the evaluation of program…

Students' negative perceptions of physical chemistry courses are well-known and are likely impacting their learning and performance in this upper-division course for majors. The syllabus can be the first interaction students have with a course and instructor and can be central to the expectations student set for the learning experience. While…