Peer learning programs have been developed to support many introductory science courses by providing additional instruction and engagement. These programs are beneficial to both learners and instructors, providing content learning and confidence and attitudinal gains. There is evidence that the benefits of peer learning are higher when students…

Acceptance of human evolution seems to be the majority position for the U.S. population; however, acceptance of evolution among conservative Christian groups is low, sometimes below 50%. There are many different reasons for this low acceptance, leading to a significant disconnect between scientific specialists and the general population. This…

The main objective of this study was to characterize the acceptance of evolution among biology majors. Semi-structured interviews were carried out to track the opinions of students in relation to two aspects of evolution: (1) attitudes toward evolution in general; and (2) attitudes toward human evolution. The participants characterized their…

Historically, societies have relied on universities and colleges to provide a space for young citizens to experiment with and explore the innovative approaches needed to address contemporary problems. Yet today, many universities serve as diploma mills that succeed in getting students onto the job market, but fail to give those students tools for…

Women are underrepresented in most scientific disciplines, with achievement gaps expanding throughout the career trajectory. Gender differences in perceptions of scientific competence are evident at an early age. We examined the extent to which college-level instructor gender affects the confidence of males and females in their scientific…

This article investigates the mechanisms through which undergraduate research experiences for community college students can have second-order and multiplier effects on other students and home community college science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) departments and thus build STEM pipeline capacity. Focus groups with the science…

Using the simple approach described in this article, college science instructors can help students become independent thinkers and writers in science. The unique character of this approach is that it shows students how to formulate the questions they need to answer in their writing, as well as how to answer them. Rather than using a cookbook…

In this project, introductory college physics students (noneducation majors) were asked to teach simple machines to a class of second graders. This nontraditional activity proved to be a successful way to encourage college students to think critically about physics and how it applied to their everyday lives. The noneducation majors benefited by…

We describe a team-taught course entitled Chaos in Science and Literature. Our course goals were to place science in a nontechnological context, emphasizing its intellectual and cultural aspects, and to provide a forum for the exchange of ideas between "scientists" and "humanists," with the authors serving as role models. (Contains 4 figures.)

Incorporating social justice into science curricula can attract and maintain the interest of students who shy away from science because of a lack of immediate relevance or role models, and permits them to make connections between what they learn in the classroom and what is portrayed in their everyday lives. (Contains 9 resources.)

This article describes problems of junior science faculty members and suggests recommendations explaining how mentoring and role modeling can be supplied to assist faculty members with ascending the "faculty ladder." (PR)

Good teaching highlights underlying connections between creation and dissemination of knowledge. Analysis of successful biology departments for underlying themes in improving undergraduate education led to the following conclusions: the best kind of teaching is one-on-one; change must be firmly grounded at the departmental or programmatic level;…