Recent solar eclipses provide relevant real-world contexts for learning about the scientific phenomena of the lunar phases. News coverage of the phenomenon may have raised questions such as, "Why does the Moon look different at different times, and sometimes as if it is not there?," and "What patterns can be found in the lunar…

Cyclic voltammetry (CV) is the most popular electrochemical technique for the study of electrode processes. One of the reasons for its popularity is its adjustable timescale which can vary several orders of magnitude simply by varying the rate at which the potential is scanned. Changing the scan rate affects CV features including the current,…

Many education researchers have advocated grounding abstract mathematical and scientific concepts in students' lived experiences, environmental interactions, and perceptions. This dissertation explores the causal effects of various grounding strategies in instructional settings, specifically on the topic of statistical sampling. The first chapter…

Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) have been noted to enhance student learning by supporting spatial reasoning and visualization, long-term memory, engagement, and increased motivation. The researchers situated the exploration of these tools for learning within the culturally responsive pedagogy (CRP) in mathematics education. The…

Inspired by the approach first employed by C.S. Holling in his classic "disc experiment," this article provides a sequence of learning activities that increase students' understanding of the mechanisms behind saturating effects in predator-prey scenarios. The proposed lesson is recommended for inclusion in courses that address…

In this featured lesson, entitled "Fishy Feeding Frenzy," fourth-grade students engage in a classic science activity that requires them to experience the interdependent relationships of organisms in an ecosystem. The students explore how adaptations increase the survival of a member of a species by participating in an active "fishy…

In this article, the authors describe classroom use of technology that successfully engaged fourth grade students (typically aged 9-10) in the United States in learning about fractions. The activities involved the use of an interactive simulation designed to support student learning of fractions, and whole-class discussion where students were…

Tossing a fair coin 1000 times can have an unexpected result. In the activities presented here, players keep track of the accumulated total for heads and tails after each toss, noting which player is in the lead or whether the players are tied. The winner is the player who was in the lead for the higher number of turns over the course of the game.…

SCILAB is a lesser-known program (than MATLAB) for numeric simulations and has the advantage of being free software. A challenging software-based activity to analyze the most common linear reversible inhibition types with SCILAB is described. Students establish typical values for the concentration of enzyme, substrate, and inhibitor to simulate…

We developed an introductory statistics course for pre-service elementary teachers. In this paper, we describe the goals and structure of the course, as well as the assessments we implemented. Additionally, we use example course work to demonstrate pre-service teachers' progress both in learning statistics and as novice teachers. Overall, the…

Least squares regression is the most common method of fitting a straight line to a set of bivariate data. Another less known method that is available on Texas Instruments graphing calculators is median-median regression. This method is proposed as a simple method that may be used with middle and high school students to motivate the idea of fitting…

Mathematical modelling activities related to everyday situations (e.g., traffic lights) can be used to develop probability concepts. (SD)

Analysis of variance (ANOVA), a technique included in many introductory statistics courses, analyzes the relationship between a quantitative dependent variable and one or more independent qualitative variables. The nature of the relationship is expressed in a model with unknown parameters. Many textbooks emphasize the mechanics of the technique…

In a very large Introductory Statistics class, i.e. in a class of more than 300 students, instructors may hesitate to apply active learning techniques, discouraged by the volume of extra work. In this paper two such activities are presented that evoke student involvement in the learning process. The first is group peer teaching and the second is…

Provided are three program listings which may be used to illustrate this fractal figure. Extensions of these algorithms and their use in the study of chaos and fractals are suggested. (CW)