Quantum mechanics is an integral course for physics students. An understanding of quantum concepts is imperative for enrollment in physics graduate programs, participating in research within physics fields, and employment with companies developing quantum technologies. This study analyzes 188 U.S. research-intensive institutions' course catalogs…

Inaccurate sex and gender narratives have saturated the political landscape, resulting in legal restrictions for people with queer genders. Biology educators can correct these false narratives by teaching scientifically accurate and queer gender and intersex inclusive sex and gender curriculum. Here, we interviewed four undergraduate biology…

Language, and thus scientific language, is essential for chemistry teaching and learning. To be able to successfully teach the scientific language of chemistry, the Chemish, (prospective) chemistry teachers need to possess pedagogical scientific language knowledge (PSLK).Thus, teacher preparation needs to focus explicitly on Chemish and its…

School-based citizen-science can be a powerful means to engage youth in environmental education, yet developing robust science curricula around citizen-science activities is tremendously challenging. Prior research provides limited examples and very little guidance for curriculum designers. To support the designers of school-based citizen-science…

Research on mechanistic thinking in organic chemistry has shown that students attribute little meaning to the electron-pushing (i.e., curved arrow) formalism. At the University of Ottawa, a new curriculum has been developed in which students are taught the electron-pushing formalism prior to instruction on specific reactions--this formalism is…

The authors of this article, all of whom have been a part of this effort to assess argumentation in literacy-rich science curriculum, have struggled with our attempts to build 3 argument-related assessments--understanding, critiquing, and constructing arguments about scientific phenomena in both oral and written modes. Loosely affiliated with the…

AAAS (American Association for the Advancement of Science) is collaborating with BSCS (Biological Sciences Curriculum Study) in the development of a curriculum unit for eighth grade students that connects fundamental chemistry and biology concepts to better prepare them for high school biology. Recognizing that teachers play an influential role in…

Undergraduate educational settings often struggle to provide students with authentic biologically or medically relevant situations and problems that simultaneously improve their understanding of physics. Through exercises and laboratory activities developed in an elective Physics in Biomedicine course for upper-level biology or pre-health majors…

Describes the evaluation of the Introductory University Physics Project (IUPP). This project tested four model curricula of calculus-based introductory physics at nine sites. A brief project description and details of the project evaluation plan, implementation, and analysis are included. Contains 31 references. (DDR)

Discusses processes for change that have been used to introduce innovative learning processes into laboratory courses. In one case the content of the course was not changed, just the order of presentation. In the second example cooperative learning processes were introduced in order to facilitate a change in the course content. (AIM)

Describes the development and validation of the Curriculum Adaptation Scheme (CAS) to aid curriculum developers in their curriculum adaptation endeavors. Provides a copy of the instrument. (DS)

This article highlights the structure of a college horticulture course designed for students with nonscience majors. With an underlying emphasis that science is the manifestation of a basic human need to explain, the course outline illustrates the primary goal of developing and maintaining students' motivation for learning contemporary scientific…

Presented is an evaluation of the Research Extended As Classroom Help (REACH) Kit. Developed by the University of Arkansas physics faculty, the REACH KIT is intended to bring current energy-related research results into college physics classrooms. The completed product consists of a package of instructional materials which contains a text, slides,…

This guide is part of a series of curriculum guides for the middle grades that use a special framework to examine and implement standards-based curricula. In this guide, for developing science curricula for the middle grades, a set of critical questions is posed for curriculum decision making that corresponds to a framework of three components of…

Addresses some of the major issues discussed in the report of the National Commission on Excellence in Education. Discusses possible reasons for student avoidance of math and science courses. (EL)