This article will (1) initially outline first-year nursing and undergraduate exercise sciences student perspectives on examinations of the 2011 Michael-McFarland (M-M2011) core principles in physiology through an anonymous online survey, and (2) model an updated approach based on these qualitative findings. Briefly, for the first perspective (i of…

We review the state of genetics instruction in the United States through the lens of backward design, with particular attention to the goals and assessments that inform curricular practice. An analysis of syllabi and leading textbooks indicates that genetics instruction focuses most strongly on foundations of DNA and Mendelian genetics. At the…

In recent decades, the literature paid attention to students' conceptions of the nature of disciplines. This study aimed to investigate how students' cohesive and fragment conceptions of physics changed with a major change in senior high school physics syllabus. We obtained measures of conceptions of physics by utilizing a 20-item questionnaire…

A strong, recent movement in tertiary education is the development of conceptual, or "big idea" teaching. The emphasis in course design is now on promoting key understandings, core competencies, and an understanding of connections between different fields. In biochemistry teaching, this radical shift from the content-based tradition is…

Traditional courses for graduate students in the biological sciences typically span a semester, are organized around the fundamental concepts of a single discipline, and are aimed at the needs of incoming students. Such courses demand significant time commitment from both faculty and course participants; thus, they are avoided by a subset of the…

Believes that a student's understanding of energy concepts can be enhanced by introducing and using the concept of internal energy by articulating the first law of thermodynamics in a simple, phenomenological form without mathematical encumbrances. (Author/CCM)

Describes a course developed in the United Kingdom that uses a patterns approach to science teaching. Outlines eleven novel features of the course and describes a method of integration that offers complete instructional flexibility. (GS)

Discusses experience of teaching a "Search in Science" course to college nonscience majors entitled "From Myth to Mechanism: A Study of Man's Changing Concepts of the Universe from Early Mythological Beliefs to the Development of Modern Scientific Laws." Historical explanation of the development of physical concepts is stressed. (CC)

A university lecturer comments on the importance of adequate detail and individual interpretations of items in the core syllabus for A-level physics presented in the May 1980 issue of "Physics Education." Suggests that the syllabus fails in containing all essential elementary ideas necessary to master advanced concepts. (SK)

Evaluates an educational program carried out at the Institute for Desert Research in Israel, to test the possibilities of the desert as an educational resource for ecosystem study. The results of teaching a field-oriented ecology course are presented. (HM)

Within primary and secondary school technology education, engineering has been proposed as an avenue to bring about technological literacy. Different initiatives such as curriculum development projects (i.e., Project ProBase and Project Lead The Way) and National Science Foundation funded projects such as the National Center for Engineering and…

A project was conducted to develop a curriculum package that defined the specific math, science, and language arts skills presently being taught at a vocational skills center that offered training in 20 job skill areas and served an 11-school district. The information gathered during the project was to serve as a basis for granting cross-credit to…